Nokia Lundmark CEO will be replaced by Intel Ai Hotard Chief – The Daily Star

The Finnish Telecommunication Equipment giant Nokia has announced on Monday that CEO Pekka Lundmark will withdraw and will be replaced by Justin Hotard, AI head and data centers at the US chip Intel.

Lundmark, who has been the CEO of Nokia since 2020, will leave his position on March 31, a company said.

“I want to go from executive roles to work in different capacity as a professional on board,” said Lundmark, who has been a career for more than 20 years leading companies on the list.

Justin Hotard is currently serving as the CEO President of Intel and as a general manager of the company’s artificial intelligence and data group, according to the Intel website.

He will take over as CEO of Nokia on April 1.

Previously, Hotard has “held several leadership roles in major technology companies” for over 25 years, such as Hewlett Packard and NCR Corporation, Nokia said.

“I’m glad to start and I look forward to continuing to travel the Nokia transformation to maximize its potential for growth and value creation,” Hotard said.

“Networks are the spine that power societies and businesses, and make it possible for change in generations like the one we are currently experiencing in AI,” he said.

Nokia chairman Sari Baldauf said Hotard has a “strong attempt to accelerate growth in technology companies, along with the vast experience in the AI ​​markets and the data center that are critical areas for the future Nokia growth.”

Profit after a decline

The change at the top comes after Nokia publishes armor profits, as telecommunications companies seek to recover from a decline.

In 2023, the company announced it would reduce to 14,000 jobs as profits fell as weakened demand for 5G equipment in North America.

Last month, Nokia reported an 89 percent growth in net profit for 2024, with sales growing in India and North America in the last three months of the year.

Baldauf said Lundmark has joined the company “at a difficult time in Nokia history” and will leave “with our highest respect”.

“Under its term, Nokia has restored its technological leadership on 5G radio networks and built a strong position in the main major networks in the cloud,” she said.