5G AMERICAS PRESENTS
ANALYST FORUM 2023
OCTOBER 11 – 12, 2023 | Richardson, TX
5G Americas 2022 Analyst Forum Speakers
Ali Khayrallah
Senior Scientist Radio Networks
US Advanced Technology Group
Ericsson North America
Ali Khayrallah is a senior scientist with the Advanced Technology Group at Ericsson in Santa Clara, CA. He has been with Ericsson in various research positions, including leading a team in Santa Clara shaping future wireless technology, and earlier in Research Triangle Park, NC. His current focus is on 6G, and he has contributed to the development of 5G, 4G, 3G, Bluetooth, mobile satellite, land mobile radio, etc. Previously, he was on the faculty of the University of Delaware.
Ayodele Damola
Director, AI & ML Strategy
Ericsson North America
Ayodele Damola has 17+ years of experience in the telecommunications industry. He works in the CTO Office driving the AI/ML strategy for Ericsson North America looking into key market and technology trends in AI/ML and identifying business opportunities and threats.
Previously Ayo worked in Ericsson Research in Kista, Sweden. He is an inventor with 18 granted US patents.
Barbara Baffer
Vice President, Government and Industry Relations
Ericsson, North America
Barbara Baffer has been with Ericsson for 32 years working in a number of different roles and is currently the Vice President, Government & Industry Relations. Baffer leads Ericsson’s regulatory and legislative advocacy efforts in the U.S. and Canada.
Baffer serves on the Executive Committee of Tech Titans and was the 2017-2019 Chairwoman of Tech Titans, serves on the Board of Directors to CTIA’s Wireless Association Foundation, represents Ericsson on the 5G Americas Board of Governors and is the 5G Americas Treasurer, serves on the Board of the Telecommunications Industry Association, represents Ericsson on the Executive Committee of the Information Technology Industry Council, and is a Board Member and Treasurer of the Collin County Business Alliance.
Dr. Brenda Ann Connor, CISSP
Principal Solutions Consultation
Chief Engineer, Mission Critical Solutions
Ericsson Market Area, North America
Principal Solutions Consultant with a strong strategic and business acumen. Proven track record of building successful 5G/4G enabled mission critical use cases with compelling customer experience and data driven outcomes. Thought Leader with expertise in cybersecurity, defense in depth, and zero trust architecture SCADA solutions. Experience leading multi-location teams including on and offshore.
Dr. Brenda Connor has been with Ericsson since 1994 and is providing thought leadership in 4G/5G ecosystems for secure mission critical, smart city, & Industrial IoT use cases.
Bob Gessel
Head of Strategy & Market Development
Enterprise & Emerging Business
Ericsson North America
Bob Gessel has 35+ years of experience in the Telecom, Communications and Software industries. He has been with Ericsson for 27 years and is currently Head of Strategy & Market Development responsible for driving strategic planning and market development initiatives for Ericsson’s Enterprise and Emerging Business unit in North America. Current responsibilities include expanding Ericsson’s portfolio and go-to-market capabilities towards enterprise and industrial customers in areas such as private cellular networks, mission critical networks, industrial IoT and SMB solutions. He is also responsible for developing the ecosystem partners across devices, platforms, applications together with System Integrators and VARs to create compelling solutions for enterprise and industrial customers.
Erin Liao
Vice President and Head of End-End 5G Systems
Ericsson North America
Erin Liao is the VP and Head of End-to-End 5G Systems of Ericsson North America with over 20 years of telecom product development and solution experience. She is responsible for bringing together the complete network solutions integrated with the ecosystem and pushing for the advancement of mobile communication technologies. Erin is most passionate about the transformational potential of 5G and looking forward to its powerful impacts to the society.
Erin was named a 2022 Women in Technology honoree by Dallas Business Journal for her contribution in telecom industry
Hendry Tong
Head of Network Evolution
Ericsson North America
Mr. Tong has over 25 years of experience in wireless industry. He joined Ericsson in November 2020 as Head of Network Evolution. In his current role, Mr. Tong manages the long-term network evolution and product portfolio strategies for RAN product & service offering, and influences network product portfolio decision making to maximize profit margin and return on investment. Focus areas include Cloud RAN, Open RAN, 5G Evolution, 6G, Private network, and RAN economic. Prior to joining Ericsson, Mr. Tong has worked at Nokia and AT&T for over 22 years in different leader roles in Wireless Operation and Technology organizations, ranging from network architecture & design, performance optimization, service architecture and product management.
Jose Luis Ayala
Head of Government and Industry Relations for Latin America
Ericsson Latin America
Jose Luis Ayala is currently Head of Government and Industry Relations at Ericsson Latin America and the Caribbean, and is responsible for leading Ericsson strategy regarding Telecom policies which favor the mass adoption of broadband services in the region. In his position, Jose has supported several governments across the region in areas of Telecom policies, spectrum management, national ICT plans and, mobile broadband strategies. Jose has worked in the areas of Sales Support, Engineering and Business Development, in Latin America and the USA.
Mike Murphy
Chief Technology Officer
Ericsson North America
Michael Murphy is the Chief Technology Officer for Ericsson North America. In this role, he is responsible for aligning the Ericsson product roadmap with the needs of customers in the United States and Canada. He is based in Plano, Texas.
Mohammad Khaled
Director of Security Solutions
Ericsson North America
Mohammad Khaled is the Director of Security Solutions for Ericsson Market Area North America. He is a telecom security expert focusing on building Ericsson’s security vision and solutions in different technologies like 5G, spectrum sharing and cloud, and helping Ericsson’s customers in addressing their cybersecurity challenges and securing their networks.
Khaled has 17 years of experience in the telecom industry where he held different roles in telecom security including customer operations, research and development, standards development and building security solutions.
Noman Alam
Director 5G Solutions & Network Product Solutions
Ericsson North America
Noman M. Alam is Director of 5G solutions at Ericsson North America. He is an expert in telecommunications with over 19 years of industry experience. He brings in a wealth of experience in mobile network planning & strategy, consulting, spectrum, capacity planning, investment planning and performance management. In his current role Noman is responsible for advising the technical team of engineers at Ericsson and providing radio access network solutions for the customers across the North American region.
Paul Challoner
Vice President, Network Solutions
Ericsson North America
Paul Challoner, VP Network Product Solutions for Ericsson North America, based in Plano, Texas is responsible for radio solutions including 4G, 5G & IOT. Prior to his current role, Challoner worked as Head of Product Line Wi-Fi and Head of Ericsson’s CDMA Product Line.
He has 20 years in the telecom industry he possesses extensive industry experience and has innovated bringing numerous radio products to market specializing in the field of wireless communication. He is a member of the CBRS Alliance and Wireless Innovation Forum board of directors.
Peter Linder
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Ericsson North America
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Sandeep Chandel
Custuomer Solutions Sale Director, Network Product Solutions
Ericsson North America
Sandeep Chandel has worked with Ericsson since 2010 and is presently heading Ericsson’s Ecosystem Business Development efforts in North America. Prior to his current role, Sandeep was in the Ericsson Radio Product Management organization where he led the Global Alliances program for 4G and 5G.
Sandeep has been in the wireless industry for more than 20 years, with experience in Product Management, Corporate Business Development/M&A and developing Strategic Alliances. He has global experience of working with the wireless industry in North America, Western Europe and Asia. He also co-founded an inter-enterprise startup venture in the field of Wireless data analytics, and has been on the advisory board of multiple wireless start-ups.
Shahzada Rasool
Director of Software Technology Strategy
Ericsson North America
Shahzada Rasool is Director of Software Technology Strategy at Ericsson in Market Area North America CTO Office. Shahzada is experienced with Open RAN architecture, fronthaul design, cloud computing, 5G and security and has held various positions in wireless industry since 201. Prior to Ericsson, Shahzada was with Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Standards as Sr. Research Specialist in Radio Interface Group where he was part of Nokia O-RAN WG4 delegation and acted as O-RAN Fronthaul spec editor. Prior to Nokia, Shahzada was with Sprint where he was leading the Sprint technology roadmap and was part of the team responsible for planning B41 mMIMO deployment and radio specifications. He has more than 20 issued patents and has published 16 journal and conference papers with over 250 citations.