2022 Speakers

As Corporate Vice President of the Cybersecurity Solutions Group at Microsoft, Ann Johnson oversees the go-to-market strategies of cybersecurity and compliance solutions for one of the largest tech companies on our planet.

As a recognized thought leader on cybersecurity, Johnson is a sought-after global speaker and digital author specializing in cyber resilience, online fraud, cyberattacks, compliance and mobile security.

Prior to joining Microsoft, her executive leadership roles included CEO of Boundless Spatial, President and COO of vulnerability management pioneer Qualys, Inc. and Vice President of World Wide Identity and Fraud Sales at RSA Security, a subsidiary of EMC Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Weber State University with a dual major in political science and communication. She has completed the majority of the required coursework toward her MBA with a concentration in statistics.

Dedicated to giving back to her community, Johnson currently serves on the boards and as a board advisor of the Security Advisor Alliance, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), Executive Women’s Forum, HYPR (a biometric security firm) as well as the Executive Sponsor of the Microsoft Women in Security Group and co-executive sponsor of Microsoft GLEAM. In addition, Johnson dedicates her philanthropy – in terms of time and fundraising – to animal and youth causes.

Anthony Batt, Cofounder & EVP Products, WevrLabs at Wevr, is an expert in the software and culture driving the Metaverse. Batt brings all markets including game development, film, design and fashion to life using game engine and Web3 technologies.

Ari Banerjee works for Netcracker as Senior Vice President of Strategy, responsible for the company’s strategic direction and enabling it to address changing market and technology opportunities. He is responsible for all aspects of Netcracker’s strategic initiatives across its portfolio of software solutions, including customer, product and technology management, market direction and corporate communications. Ari interfaces with CTOs and CIOs at customers and prospects to ensure the alignment of technology, products and services while providing strategic input to the CTO office, product management and R&D teams. In his role, Ari collaborates with industry organizations, standards bodies, media and analysts and is responsible for running marketing and strategic partner programs for Netcracker.

Caroline Chan is General Manager of 5G Infrastructure Division within Intel’s Network Platform Group. Caroline has overall responsibility for Intel’s global network infrastructure strategy and solution development related to 5th-generation wireless technology. Chan and her team identify and develop use cases that incorporate the Internet of Things, innovation in wireless technologies and deployment models.   

Chan was previously VP and GM of Intel 5G Infrastructure Division and had overall responsibility for Intel’s global network infrastructure strategy and solution development related to 5th-generation wireless technology. Chan and her team identified and developed use cases that incorporate the Internet of Things, innovation in wireless technologies and deployment models, such as mobile edge computing and alternative spectrums that will enable new service providers and enterprise networks.

Since joining Intel in 2009, Chan has worked closely with telecommunications vendors, operators and application developers to advance strategy and marketing in virtual RAN, mini Cloud-RAN and mobile edge computing technologies. Before leading the 5G infrastructure division, she spent six years as director of wireless technology and strategy. In that position, Chan oversaw server CPU extension into Intel’s wireless infrastructure business, a role that encompassed investment strategy, CPU adoption and modification, marketing, and business development.

Before joining Intel, Chan had a 15-year career at Nortel Networks Corp., culminating in her role as director of 4G wireless product management.

She serves as an independent director on EnerSys Inc. (NYSE: ENS) board. In addition, Chan serves on the board of the Telecom Infrastructure Project (TIP) and CBRS Alliance. She is also an advisory board member for Advisory Council for Rural Edge Solutions (ACRES) and 5G Open Innovation (5GOI) Lab. Her contributions in the area of virtualized wireless radio access networks earned Chan an Intel Achievement Award in 2016. Chan was elected to be among the top 25 movers and shakers in the telecom industry 2018 by Fierce Telecom and among the top 5G 100 most influential individuals charting the course for the next generation of global communications in 2020 by Light Reading.

Chan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, respectively.

Chetan Sharma is CEO and founder of Chetan Sharma Consulting and is one of the leading strategists in the mobile industry. Executives from wireless companies around the world seek his accurate predictions, independent insights, and actionable recommendations. He has served as an advisor to senior executives of several Fortune 100 companies in the wireless space and is probably the only industry strategist who has advised each of the top 9 global mobile data operators. Chetan is the author or co-author or editor of 15 best-selling books on mobile and over 200 articles related to mobile. He has been served on the advisory boards of Telefonica, Ericsson, Kymeta and other stealth startups.

Chris Sambar leads AT&T’s Network organization and teams responsible for designing, engineering, building, and operating AT&T’s next generation mobile and fiber networks, including America’s most reliable 5G Network. His responsibilities include overseeing one of the largest network infrastructure capital deployments in the world as well as the 24/7 global operations team ensuring service continuity for more than 100 million AT&T mobile and broadband customers, and millions of business customers.

Previously, Chris was Executive Vice President – Technology Operations, responsible for long-term technical initiatives and global planning, construction, and engineering of our mobile, fiber and core network infrastructure build programs.

He began his AT&T career as part of the Leadership Development Program in 2002. Since then, Chris has held positions in Network Operations, AT&T FirstNet, Business Solutions, Consumer Television, Retail & Wireless, Human Resources, and Corporate Strategy.

Chris also serves on the Board for the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation which is dedicated to honoring Medal of Honor recipients through the design, build, and maintaining of the museum, monument, and institute.
Chris holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science degree from The United States Naval Academy. Following graduation from the Naval Academy, he served 7 years on active duty and 16 years in the reserves with multiple deployments throughout Europe, the Middle East and one tour of duty during the Iraq war in 2005 and 2006. Chris and Audra have been married over 20 years, have 4 biological children and are licensed foster parents having hosted 6 foster children over the years. Chris’ hobbies are personal fitness and spending as much of his free time as possible with family.

Neville R. Ray is the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of T-Mobile USA. Mr. Ray joined T-Mobile USA (then VoiceStream) in April 2000 and since December 2010 has served as its Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the national management and development of the T-Mobile USA wireless network and the company’s information technology services and operations. Prior to joining T-Mobile USA, Mr. Ray served as Network Vice President for Pacific Bell Mobile Services. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance. Mr. Ray is an honors graduate of City, University of London and a member of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Niall Norton is general manager and Division President for Amdocs Networks, reporting to Anthony Goonetilleke, Group President for Technology and Strategy. Niall has responsibility for the commercial strategy related to Amdocs portfolio of software and services for the network market domain. This includes business development and support for customers and partners.

Niall joined Amdocs in August 2020 following its acquisition of Openet, where he served as chief executive officer and board member. In this role, he played a key part in the company’s recognition by Deloitte in its Best Managed Companies Awards 2017. Niall held this role for 14 years.

Previously, Niall was chief financial officer and corporate secretary at Telefónica and earlier, CFO of O2 Ireland, a position he held for 4 years.

Niall was recognized in 2017 as one of the 100 influential people in telecoms by Global Telecoms Business. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College, Dublin, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and has a Certificate in Management Excellence from Harvard Business School.

Pardeep is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mavenir, where he is leading the transformation of network economics for 4G/5G with the evolution to 100% software networks for CSPs. He is a serial entrepreneur bringing innovation and industry-leading solutions to the Wireless and Telecom market. Prior to Mavenir, Pardeep was CEO of Xura, which he joined after Xura acquired Ranzure Networks, an early stage 5G and Cloud RAN solutions company that Pardeep founded in 2016.

Before leading Ranzure, Pardeep was President and CEO of Mavenir Systems, guiding the company growth through multiple rounds of venture funding and a successful IPO (NYSE: MVNR) in November 2013, as well as the acquisition by Mitel in 2015. Mavenir was the first to bring virtualization and software-defined networking to mobile core networks, and the company brought significant innovation to 4G LTE networks.

Prior to Mavenir Systems, Pardeep was Co-Founder, President and CEO of Spatial Wireless, which was acquired by Alcatel in 2004. Spatial Wireless was the leading vendor of wireless Softswitch, and brought significant innovation to the circuit switched mobile core. Pardeep has been quoted in major national publications including CNBC, the Economist, Forbes and Fast Company as well as wireless publications including Mobile World Live, RCR Wireless, SDX Central and Wireless Week.

Dr. Ram Charan is a world-renowned management consultant and author. Fortune Magazine called him “the most influential consultant alive.” His life’s mission is to solve business problem and he has been doing it for the past 40 years working with companies like Toyota, Bank of America, Birla Group, Novartis, and more. He has coached future CEOs of Fortune 100 companies. Dr. Ram Charan has been an indispensable advisor and confidant of some of the world’s most prominent CEOs. Author of over 33 best-selling seminal management books, Dr. Charan has key insights that CEOs and policy makers should pay attention to. He has been serving as an advisor to several major companies around the world including China. Lately, he has spent a considerable amount of time thinking and writing about US-China policy and how should business leaders think about the inevitable US-China economic tussles.

Sampath is the executive vice president and CEO of Verizon Business, a global leader in 5G technology serving 99% of Fortune 500 companies. Sampath and his team help businesses, governments and communities reimagine their employee, supply chain and end-customer experiences. With $31B+ in annual revenue (2021), Verizon Business is leading the way into a new 5G-based era of technology-led innovation for its customers.

Sampath brings to his position more than two decades of experience in digital transformation and critical network infrastructure on behalf of business customers, plus extensive knowledge of products and their role in powering enterprise growth and global security. His experience ensures that Verizon Business is the overwhelmingly preferred partner of choice for customers’ digital transformation journeys.

Sampath previously served as Chief Revenue Officer for Verizon Business where he was responsible for accelerating growth and reimagining the future of the enterprise for Verizon and its global customers. Prior to that he was President of Global Enterprise at Verizon, where he led a global team focused on delivering solutions to enable enterprise customers to securely connect to the global economy and intelligently manage business operations. Earlier in his Verizon tenure, he served as Chief Product Officer, responsible for the complete product portfolio and implementing major strategic initiatives. These included two of the company’s largest programs, Network Transformation and One Fiber, which served as the foundation for Verizon’s progress in wireless network densification and 5G.

Before Verizon, Sampath spent almost a decade at the Boston Consulting Group, where he was a Partner and Global Sector Leader for the Telecom practice area focused on driving large scale, enterprise-wide transformations.

Sudhanshu Gaur is a vice president at Hitachi America Ltd and Chief Architect – Smart Manufacturing at Hitachi Astemo, an automotive supplier with about 140 manufacturing sites around the world.

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Gaur is responsible for the digital transformation of Hitachi Astemo’s global manufacturing operations to improve overall productivity and ensure the company’s continued leadership in the pursuit of the Industry 4.0 vision. He views emerging technologies such as 5G, robotics and ML/AI as critical to achieving that vision.

He joined Hitachi as a research engineer in 2005 and progressed through a series of research engineering and lab management positions prior to being named director of research and development for Hitachi America in 2017. In these various roles, he successfully incubated smart manufacturing solutions from ideation to real-world deployment.

Gaur became an Hitachi vice president in 2020 and joined the newly formed Hitachi Astemo group in 2021. He recently was named one of the top 25 leaders transforming manufacturing by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).

Prior to joining Hitachi, he obtained a Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. In addition, he holds a master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India. He has authored more than 100 patents and peer-reviewed a number of publications, including a book on heterogeneous networks in LTE-advanced.

Hitachi Astemo is a global automotive technology company formed by the recent merger of Hitachi Automotive Systems with Honda’s Keihin, Showa and Nissin groups. The company has 90,000 employees and leadership positions in a wide range of product areas, including xEV, ICE, suspensions, brakes, steering and safety systems.

Yossi Cohen is the Executive Vice President of Strategy, Technology, Marketing & Business Development for Ericsson North America. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing critical functions essential to leading the company’s strategic evolution in the market, while firming up the ability to capture key new growth opportunities in the United States and Canada.

Cohen most recently served as Head of Customer Unit Verizon for Ericsson, where he was responsible for all sales and delivery related to Verizon. He held this role for almost four years, overseeing Ericsson’s work to roll out large portions of the Verizon 4G LTE network and the launch of its 5G network.

Previously, Cohen was the Global Head of Sales for Business Unit Radio at Ericsson in Stockholm, Sweden. He also has served as the President & Representative Director of Ericsson Japan and the Head of SoftBank Business Division from 2009. In addition, Cohen was Head of the SoftBank Global Business Division, established in 2013.

He also was the Head of Ericsson Israel, serving as Head of Technology and later Head of the Business Division of Pelephone.

While working at Ericsson, Cohen has gained a wide range of international experience and has been involved in various activities for Ericsson offices in Japan, Sweden, Australia, Turkey and the United States.

During his more than 20 years in the telecommunication industry, he has worked at Israel’s first mobile operator, as well as being part of the Israeli telecommunication technology-centric startup Geotek, while residing in Seoul, South Korea.

Cohen was born in Israel. He holds degrees in electronic engineering and business administration.