Nokia to Sharpen Customer Organization Focus as the 5G Era Accelerates

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Nokia plans to realign its primary customer-facing organization into two regional groups: one covering the Americas and the other responsible for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. The company also announced changes in the composition of the Nokia Group Leadership Team.

"As we enter the 5G era, extreme customer focus is a must," said Nokia President and Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Suri. "The changes we are announcing today will ensure that we continue to have the senior management capacity necessary for superb customer relationships in a world of increasing speed and complexity. I am extremely pleased that we have two very strong leaders, Ricky Corker and Federico Guillén, to lead these new groups."

Ricky Corker is appointed President of Customer Operations, Americas. Corker is currently Executive Vice President and President North America, and he has played an instrumental role in returning the business in North America to growth and positioning Nokia strongly in 5G and other technologies. Prior to this he was Head of the Asia Pacific Region and held senior roles in Europe and Australia. He has a degree in Communications and Electronics from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Corker will report to Suri and, effective January 1, 2019, will join the Nokia Group Leadership Team.

Federico Guillén is appointed president of customer operations, EMEA & Asia. Guillén is currently President, Fixed Networks, where he has delivered consistently strong financial performance while also investing in future-oriented opportunities such as the cable market.  Prior to this he was President of Alcatel-Lucent Spain and head of the Telefónica account team.  His extensive international experience includes leadership roles across Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and India. He also sits on the board of Nokia Shanghai Bell. He has a degree in Telecommunications Engineering and a Master's degree in Switching & Communication Architectures from the ETSIT at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Guillén will continue to report to Suri and remain a member of the Nokia Group Leadership Team. A new leader for Fixed Networks will be announced in due course.

Ashish Chowdhary will continue to lead customer operations and remain a member of the Nokia Group Leadership Team until the end of 2018. He will then leave Nokia to take a leadership position in another company.

"Everyone has a time in their career when they want to try something new and, after 15 successful years at Nokia, Ashish has reached that moment," said Suri. "The decision to leave Nokia was his alone, but he goes with my full support. Ashish has been a close friend, confidant and business partner for many years. He is a person with deep integrity, far-reaching insight, strong leadership skills and a work ethic like few others. I am pleased that he will be joining one of the world's great companies in a prominent role, and I wish him every success." 

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governments, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing.

We adhere to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. Nokia is enabling the infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things to transform the human experience. For more information, click here.