Telecom equipment maker Nokia has announced the appointment of Justin Hotard as President and CEO.
Justin Hotard’s appointment will be from April 1, 2025.
Pekka Lundmark, who has led Nokia since 2020, has decided to step down to transition into a new phase of his career.
Justin Hotard
Justin Hotard brings over 25 years of experience in the technology sector, currently leading Intel’s Data Center & AI Group. His previous leadership roles include positions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NCR Corporation.
Sari Baldauf, Chair of Nokia’s Board of Directors, emphasized that his strategic insight, vision, and leadership skills make him the right choice for Nokia’s next phase of growth.
Under the leadership of Pekka Lundmark, Nokia has regained its technology leadership in 5G, strengthened its cloud-native core networks, and improved its network infrastructure and patent licensing business. Additionally, Nokia has positioned itself for future growth in areas such as data centers, private wireless, industrial edge, and defense.
Before joining Intel in January 2024, Justin Hotard served as executive vice president and general manager of High-Performance Computing, AI and Labs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). While at HPE, he was responsible for delivering AI capabilities to customers addressing some of the world’s most complex problems through data-intensive workloads. He also directed the company’s central applied research group, Hewlett Packard Labs.
Prior to joining HPE in 2015, Justin Hotard served as president of NCR Small Business and held corporate development and operating positions at Symbol Technologies and Motorola Inc.
Justin Hotard earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
