One of the founders of Console Connect, Paul Gampe led the company from a venture-backed start up with $65m in funding, through to its successful acquisition by PCCW Global, a multi-national telecommunications provider. Combining Console Connect’s large-scale software automation capability with one of the largest networks in the world has seen Gampe lead the charge in connectivity innovation. Gampe has held a number of leadership roles across several domains with a remit to develop software applications focused on self-service application. He’s been responsible for infusing this element of software DNA as well as an agile mindset across the organization, embracing new ways of working and implementing cultural change.

René joined the OMS Group in 2023 as Telco group COO and oversees all Telco related operations. René previously headed the global business development of services provided by Fugro to the subsea cable industry such as desktop studies and route surveys. Over René’s 25 years’ career in Fugro, he was also actively engaged in offshore positioning services; he participated in the creation of a global cable expertise service line within Fugro group; and he was in charge of Fugro Hydrographic Services in Asia-Pacific. René has been an active member of both SubOptic and ICPC communities for many years.

Darren currently holds the position of Head of Marine Maintenance within Optic Marine Group leading the Marine Maintenance portfolio across the fleet, spanning the Atlantic, SE Asian, and Pacific regions. Having experience in both commercial and operational positions across his initial time working for Alcatel Submarine Networks, and now with Optic Marine Group, Darren brings invaluable knowledge and experience of working and cultural relationships within the various regions and understands the difficulties the industry faces in each of these areas. Darren is driven to improve cable resilience, protection, and improved techniques to
support efficient repair durations and resolutions for customers. Darren enjoys mentoring and guiding new members in the industry to reach their potential and gain exposure, whilst supporting new members to bring in fresh new ideas and directions which can be beneficial for all.

Eric Handa has built APTelecom into a globally recognized leader in telecom and fiber consulting. Since launching in 2010, Handa has grown APTelecom from a startup business to an award-winning global organization which has generated over $650 million USD in sales for clients. APTelecom has been named the “Sales Team of the Year” by the Global Customer Sales and Service Awards and has won multiple other accolades including: the Silver Award in the Network Products Guide’s 10th Annual 2015 Hot Companies and Best Products Awards, Bronze Winner for the Best in Biz Awards 2015 International, and the Silver Award Winner for the “2022 Fastest-Growing Company EMEA” by the Best in Biz Awards.

Handa has been instrumental in helping APTelecom achieve scale on a global level. APTelecom’s client reach now covers every continent across the globe, and Handa has visited more than 50 countries to support clients across the world. Under Handa’s leadership, APTelecom has also developed a culture of giving back, and established its signature “State of Subsea” series, which is a 501c charity organization whose proceeds are donated to select global non-profit organizations.

Tony Rossabi is Founder and Managing Member of OCOLO, a unique and innovative marketplace for data centers. Tony is the former CEO and a Board Member of Recovery Point Systems (RPS), a provider of data center and recovery services. Tony is an Independent Director for Connectbase, PCTEL (PTCI, on the NYSE), Vantage Data Centers and 1623 Farnam, and an Advisory Board member for Qarbon Technology.

With more than 25 years of experience driving growth and innovation for technology and telecommunications enterprises, Tony has guided several companies to successful turnarounds and exits.

Prior to RPS, Tony worked for TierPoint as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, where he was responsible for overseeing revenue growth, managing the daily operations of TierPoint’s national sales organization, and devising the company’s strategic plan. He was part of the 3-person executive team that raised $325 million to drive the company’s growth.

Prior to TierPoint, Tony served as Managing Director for Digital Realty Trust’s colocation and connectivity business unit, and earlier was Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Strategy for Telx Group, Inc. (acquired by DRT). In 2015, Tony was part of the executive team that sold the business to Digital Realty Trust for $1.98 billion, realizing a 43% IRR.

Tony supports several organizations as a member of non-profit Boards, including the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) and the Board of Surgeons Overseas.

Tony holds BA, MBA, and Juris Doctor ( JD) degrees.

Paul is based in Asia and leads a sales, strategy, and business development team accountable for GCX’s wholesale business globally.

Prior to GCX, Paul led Telstra’s global wholesale business for a decade, more than tripling its EBITDA through several new subsea builds, the acquisition and the integration of Pacnet, the restructure of the Reach joint venture, and re-entering India and Southeast Asia. In mobiles, he was also one of the key leaders on the transformation and sale of HK mobile carrier CSL and the Digicel Pacific acquisition.

Darren has 30 years’ experience in IT and telecom, including 10 years in management consulting and 20 years industry experience. He has led strategy work to help define new operating models, as well as large-scale technology, data, and system deployments. Darren’s client-centric approach focuses on specific trends and challenges in the client environment and seeks to address and solve these with specific cases or broader systematic change programs. His background includes future trends such as telco to techco, AI, blockchain, and the use of data monetization strategies to enable clients to pivot into new ways of working. Recently, he has been working with Green Data Centres journey and how sustainability impacts their path to green.

Sean Bergin has been instrumental in building APTelecom into a globally recognized leader in telecom and fiber consulting, elevating from a start-up business to an award-winning global organization which has generated over $250 million in sales for clients.

Sean has significant management experience at both national and international levels at Telstra, BT, and Hutchison. Sean has covered, lived, and resided in a multitude of primary and emerging markets across Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe. Along with APTelecom Co-Founder and CEO Eric Handa, Sean has generated over half a billion dollars in sales for clients throughout his career.

Sean is also a member of the Board of Governors for the Pacific Telecommunications Council.

Tony Mosley specializes in telecommunications operations specifically wireless, wireline, broadband, and wholesale markets.

He has been in the telecommunications industry for 25 years having worked for MCI International, GTE International, and Verizon Business as General Manager of Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. and Metaswitch Networks.

Under his leadership, Verizon Business sold international telecommunications properties which he led from start to completion. Following the sale of the business unit, he became its Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, providing corporate direction and oversight to a full-service operating company.

He is currently the Director of Business Development for Ocean Specialists, Inc. supporting several Pacific subsea cable builds. He has been a member of PTC and PITA since 1998 and 2001 respectively.

Tony was in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant Commander in the Supply Corps and is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

Ahmed Alrawi is a Ph.D. candidate at the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of Communications at Al-Mansour University in Baghdad, Iraq, with a major in computer communication engineering. Additionally, he earned another bachelor’s degree in telecommunications before attaining his master’s degree in media studies, both from Bellisario College.

Alrawi’s research interests span two main areas: (1) Surveillance, Privacy, & the Implications of ICTs, and (2) Broadband Platform Policy and Deployment. His research goal is to comprehensively understand the theoretical, methodological, and empirical aspects that shape the adoption, use, and impact of digital platforms and ICTs. Moreover, his research seeks to draw attention to contemporary issues within the communication and media sectors, advocating for appropriate regulations and policies to benefit the public.

Fluent in Arabic, Turkish, and English, Alrawi is also conversant in French. He has received numerous awards, including the Sidney and Helen Friedman Scholarship Endowed Award and the Graduate School Endowment Award, among others.

PATRICIA MORALES (patricia.morales@usm.cl) received the Bachelor degree in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from Universidad Central Marta Abreu de Las Villas, Cuba, in 2016. She completed her Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering at Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Chile, in July 2023. Patricia currently serves as a professor at Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, where she contributes her expertise to the academic community. Her current research interest is in dynamic resource allocation in optical networks, with an emphasis on the appl ication of artificial intelligence techniques.

Meicen Sun is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Information Sciences and an affiliated faculty with the MIT FutureTech. Her research examines the political economy of information, the geopolitics of data, and information policy. Her writings have appeared in academic and policy outlets including Foreign Policy Analysis, Harvard Business Review, World Economic Forum, the Asian Development Bank Institute, and The Diplomat among others. She had previously conducted research at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and at the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa and served as a Fellow on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on China. Sun holds an AB with honors from Princeton University, an AM with a Certificate in Law from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University

Ali Nikkhah is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in Networked Systems at the University of California, Irvine. The issues addressed in his Ph.D. project on internet interconnection policy, which is supported by NSF, have a direct bearing on public policy issues being considered by Congress and FCC. His work has been published both in journals and conferences for networking researchers, including IEEE TNSM and GLOBECOM, and in journals and conferences for network economics and telecommunications law researchers, including Telecommunications Policy and TPRC.

His primary interests lie within the realms of telecommunications policy and data science. He has contributed to AI projects as a data scientist at companies such as Autodesk and Paylocity. In recognition of his research contributions, he was honored with an Honorable Mention for the Meheroo Jussawalla Research Award at the 2023 PTC conference.

Bulelani Jili is a Meta Research Ph.D. Fellow at Harvard University. His research interests include Africa-China relations; Cybersecurity; ICT development; African Political Economy; Internet Policy; Chinese Business Law; Law and Development; and Privacy Law. He is also a Visiting Fellow at Yale Law School; Fellow at the Atlantic Council; Cybersecurity Fellow at the Belfer Center; and is conducting research with the China, Law, Development project at Oxford University. The project, funded by the European Research Council, is a 5-year, interdisciplinary and multi-sited research project that aims to understand the nature of the order that underlies China’s new globalism. He has also briefed, advised, and worked with leading think tanks, governments, and watchdogs like the American Bar Association, the Atlantic Council, Freedom House, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the US State Department, United Nations, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Lars Gjesvik is a senior researcher in the Research Group for Security and Defence at NUPI, where he also serves as the co-leader of the research center for digitization and cyber security. His research focuses on the intersection of private enterprise and state interests, security challenges, and power politics related to digitalization and emerging technologies.

He recently obtained his doctorate from the University of Oslo (in 2023), where he studied the interaction between private companies and state interests in the digital space, and the role of technology companies in shaping international politics. Gjesvik’s expertise also includes issues related to the global surveillance industry, digital infrastructure such as submarine internet cables and cloud services and cyber security.

In his previous work, Gjesvik has addressed national approaches to cyber security and public-private cooperation, as well as disinformation

Henrique Buglia is an electrical engineer and currently a member of the Optical Networks Group (ONG) as a PhD researcher at University College London (UCL) under the supervision of Prof. Polina Bayvel.

His work involves modelling the network physical layer, developing techniques to mitigate and model the nonlinear signal distortion in optical fiber transmission systems, and designing backbone networks, including optimisation and evolutionary algorithms.

His research is jointly funded by Microsoft under the Optics for the Cloud research Alliance and by the UK government.

Prior to joining ONG, Henrique completed his MSc at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, working on digital communication, coding theory, lattices and groups. During his BSc at UNICAMP, he also studied communication systems at Telecom Paristech in France, where he spent 1 year fully funded by the Brazilian government.

Stacie is based in Denver, Colorado and works at Aqua Comms as the VP of Product. Prior to joining the team, Stacie held the position of Director of Product at Zayo group where she was responsible for LATAM, EMEA, APAC, and the subsea portfolio as well as the Ultra Low Latency business line.

She specializes in building world-class international networks, scaling business lines in high-growth environments, and developing innovative, customer-centric market solutions.

Stacie is a champion for diversity and inclusion and a bridge between generations, founding and supporting multiple action-oriented DE&I initiatives throughout the industry. She has a BSBA nad MBA from University of Colorado Boulder and remains engaged in academia through projects aimed at creating the first multidisciplinary Digital Infrastructure university course in the USA.

As CEO and president of netnumber Global Data Services, Steve Legge is at the helm of the company’s strategic operations and ongoing evolution. He accomplishes this with keen leadership insights garnered across a career that spans more than two decades. Throughout these 20+ years, Steve has held senior executive management and technical positions in the telecommunications, broadcast, and satellite industries in both the U.S. and Australia.

Steve initially joined NetNumber, Inc. as vice president of corporate development in November 2013, where he led the company’s global partner and business strategies. He then served as the company’s chief operating officer, remaining instrumental in the company’s highly successful agile transformation and strategic transition to cloud-native and 5G solutions, setting the stage for the next phase of growth within both NetNumber and netnumber Global Data Services.

Prior to joining NetNumber, Steve was vice president of telecom and space systems for VT iDirect, Inc., a Virginia-based satellite communications technology provider. He has also served as the manager of global business development for the satellite solutions group at Cisco.

Before relocating to the U.S. in 2008, Steve was the co-founder and chief operating officer at SP Telecommunications, a national voice and broadband carrier in Australia, now TPG Telecom.

Peder Naerboe is the founder of Bulk Infrastructure, a leading provider of sustainable digital infrastructure in the Nordics. His company is an industrial investor, developer, and operator of industrial real estate, data centres, and dark fibre networks. Peder’s career began as a shipbroker in 1991, later working as an investment portfolio advisor from 1998-2005. In 2006, he founded Bulk Infrastructure and quickly became one of the premiere real estate developers in Norway and holds the leading role in the logistics and industrial sectors. In 2011, he identified the close relationship between his logistic and industrial real estate and the data center sector and the major impact Norwegian surplus renewable energy could make if made available for the growing European data center industry. This led to major investments in building data centres and new fibre infrastructure both intercontinental and within the Nordics to unlock the Nordics as a highly scalable and sustainable digital infrastructure platform. Peder’s strong leadership is exemplified by the incredible success of Bulk Infrastructure.

Gary Kim is a communications industry analyst of 35 years, ranked power influencers in mobile and among the top 10 telecom thought leaders.

He has consulted for a number of industry suppliers, service providers, and channel partner organizations globally. Nearly all his consulting work has been for companies in competitive parts of the digital infrastructure market (cable TV, competitive local exchange carriers, bandwidth suppliers, channel partners, independent Internet service providers, and mobile service providers).

He provided analysis of markets for France Telecom, Sprint, Cablevision Systems, TDS Telecom, Korean Broadcasting System, Nortel, Adva, several access technology firms and service providers, CableLabs, Pennsylvania Cable TV Association, and several channel organizations, among others.

Appointed to the role in May 2020, Keri is responsible for executing Colt’s strategy which centers around transforming the way the world works through the power of connectivity. Before becoming CEO, Keri was Colt’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), leading global teams across sales, presales, and marketing, as well as working closely with the wider organization to ensure Colt delivered for its customers.

Prior to joining Colt, Keri held several leadership roles at Ciena but was most recently its Vice President and General Manager EMEA, responsible for guiding Ciena’s EMEA service provider and enterprise customers, as well as partners.

Keri is passionate about promoting inclusion and diversity, also leading Colt’s Diversity Council, to ensure Colt is a business where everyone feels they can bring their true selves to work.

Keri lives in London with her husband and two children.

Shahar started his debut in the ICT sector as a customer support engineer for a small ISP in the era of dial-up modems and quickly climbed the ladder to become their “network manager”, a capacity recognized in today’s terminology as a “CNO”. Shahar then moved on to the international ICT space where he was heading technical and commercial aspects of wholesale trade of voice, data, and later mobile and cloud services.

Since October 2001, Shahar held various roles within PCCW Global including technical sales, pre-sales engineering, product management, participation in standards development, and recently leading the company’s vision of becoming a truly automated ICT service provider. Shahar held leadership roles in various industry bodies: Member of the Board of MEF, Chair of the MEF LSO Committee, Co-Chair and Chair of the OSS-ICDS Forum, Chair of the Technical Committee of CBAN, Chair of the BWR Group within GSMA as well as active contribution roles at ETSI (T-Nova project, ISG-PDL), TM-Forum Catalyst program, ONF, and ITU DLT-SG.

In recent years, Shahar leads PCCW Global’s blockchain journey and in that capacity also participates in the development of blockchain standardization in various bodies.

Shahar had successfully completed the MIT Sloan School of Management executive program of Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application (2019).

Jim Poole is Vice President of Global Business Development at Equinix, leading evolving edge strategies focused on 5G, private wireless, MEC, subsea cable, and SATCOM. He has a 25+ year background spanning the IT, telecommunications, and content technologies industries. Jim joined Equinix from Roundbox, Inc., a provider of mobile broadcast software, where he led business development and sales. Prior to Roundbox, he was Vice President and General Manager of Network Services at SAVVIS (now Lumen), responsible for business line P&L, product management, marketing, and strategy. He also held senior leadership positions at C&W Americas, dynamicsoft, and UUNET.

As MEF COO since 2006, Kevin leads a team that builds, supports and scales the MEF’s ever-increasing mix of global programs activities. He is actively engaged with MEF’s global member and partner community and has a broad perspective on the important role that MEF plays in the industry and how to deliver results.

MEF is a global industry association of network, cloud, and technology providers who together drive network transformation to power the digital economy. MEF develops service standards, LSO frameworks and APIs, and certification programs for services, technologies, APIs, and professionals. As a major milestone in this journey, Kevin led MEF’s efforts to conceive and bring to market, MEF 3.0, the global services framework. He was instrumental in engaging global service providers for the development of MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata APIs for inter-carrier automation.

Prior to joining MEF, Kevin held the position of CEO of DIATEM Networks Inc., a Carrier Ethernet software company from 2003 to 2005 and was President and CEO of NUVO Network Management, a network management outsourcing firm, from 1996 to 2002. Previously, he held other senior management positions with NUVO and spent 10 years in a wide variety of capacities with Gandalf Technologies, a network equipment manufacturer.

Fascinated by solving complex challenges, Murad completed his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. Murad’s groundbreaking research on software defined networking became the patent and technology that underpins Stateless. Before founding Stateless, he helped design and build one of the first virtual routers while at AT&T. He also developed a scalable switching solution while working at IBM as part of a cloud infrastructure group. Murad received his Master’s Degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) where he focused on computer network performance. Rounding out his highly technical background, he honed his business skills by studying Management at the London School of Economics. Murad has published 12 papers in publications, conferences, and symposia such as USENIX Networked Systems Design and Implementation (“NSDI”), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”), and the Association for Computing Machinery (“ACM”).

In addition to running Stateless, Murad serves as a guest lecturer at the University of Colorado sharing his expertise in entrepreneurship. He also enjoys advising early stage founders on how to successfully balance the demands of graduate school and starting a company.

Ameet Naik is an industry expert with more than twenty years of experience in cybersecurity and network transformation. Prior to Cloudflare, Ameet worked at technology providers such as Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks and Netskope advising several large global organizations on best practices in cybersecurity and network transformation. Ameet holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering.

The architect of the ActivePortal Software and founder of ActivePort Group, Mark has a 34-year career as a technologist across software development, data centre infrastructure development, network engineering and wide area networks and software engineering. Mark established Rescue Technology Group which dealt with remote system management and Acure Technology Group which built and operated a number of Data Centre facilities in Australia. Both Companies where sold at different times to Amcom Telecommunications (now Vocus). In his current field of expertise Mark has a Graduate Diploma in Digital Communications from Monash University.

Ricardo Orcero is responsible for network investments in terrestrial fiber and submarine cables in the EMEA region at Facebook. He has broad experience within the telecom industry, and is focused on infrastructure architecture, negotiation, acquisition, and implementation on a global basis. His specialties include international experience in managing and developing telecommunications business, strategy, business planning, business development, marketing and sales, product development, carrier relations, project management, and customer service implementation.

Marc has been with the PCCW-HKT Group for the past 21 years, the past 14 years of which have been as the CEO of PCCW Global, during which time he has led the company through a period of significant growth and transformation. Marc was the chairman of the Global Leaders Forum (GLF) and the ITW Founders Council. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Pacific Telecommunications Council and he is on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Bridge Alliance, a grouping of 34 major mobile telecommunications companies spread across Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

Paul Gabla is the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer and has been in charge of Sales & Marketing for Alcatel Submarine Networks since September 2016.

Paul is a highly respected executive with over 30 years’ experience in the Telecommunications, Aerospace and Defense industries. Prior to returning to ASN, where he worked until the early 2000s, Paul has been Vice President, Asia Pacific for Alcatel’s former Optical Networking division, and has also held senior management roles in Sales & Marketing at Alcatel Alenia Space, Thales and Rockwell Collins.

Paul is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Paris).

Nigel Bayliff, CEO of Aqua Comms, is a global telecom industry veteran of 30-plus years’ experience. He has been an advisor and consultant to cable development, private equity and government clients, and Vice-Chairman of the United Nations Joint Task Force that examined the gathering of disaster mitigation and climate information from the global web of undersea cable systems.

Mr. Bayliff also served as CEO and board member of Huawei Marine Networks, where he introduced several major, technological advances into the marketplace. Previously, he was a member of the executive team of FLAG Telecom where he was an officer and deputy chairman for several group companies, and was responsible for the construction and operation of the FLAG Global Network, which encompasses 65,000 km of submarine cable systems and provides carrier-grade connectivity services to 40 countries. In 2006, he was elected as a Fellow of the UK Institute of Engineering Technology.

Virginie Frouin is the Chief Sales Officer of Hawaiki and has over 20 years’ experience in the telecom industry.

Prior to joining Hawaiki, Virginie was the Sales Director of Intelia, a leading supplier of telecommunication infrastructure networks for the Pacific Islands region.

Her previous experience includes senior positions in Europe and US for Accenture and Altran.

Virginie graduated from Telecom Sud Paris engineering school (France) and holds a Bachelor of Telecom Engineering.

Ms. Stafford advises to clients across the globe who invest in and build submarine cable networks, providing them technical, commercial, project management support, plus market insight/analysis. Before DRG, Elaine was an engineer, manager and executive at AT&T, where she held various roles in R&D, engineering, implementation and sales of submarine networks- leading the design, planning and construction of projects dating back to the world’s first undersea fiber optic networks. Elaine holds engineering degrees from Union College and Stanford University. She is active in many submarine cable community activities which focus on supporting the industry as a whole, including serving on the SubOptic Executive Committee and SubOptic Foundation Board.

Jasvinder Khaira is a senior managing director in the Tactical Opportunities Group. Prior to joining Tactical Opportunities, Mr. Khaira was a member of Blackstone’s Private Equity Group and GSO Capital Partners. He has been involved in the execution of Blackstone’s investments across the digital infrastructure sector, including Global Tower Partners, Phoenix Tower International, Phoenix Tower do Brasil, Wireless Capital Partners, Ascenty, 21Vianet Group, Sipartech, and various spectrum investments. Mr. Khaira has been involved in a variety of strategic Blackstone business investments and special projects, including, the firm’s initial public offering and acquisition of GSO Capital in 2008.

Mr. Khaira received a B.S. in business and a B.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Mr. Jan Vesely joined EQT Partners in 2010. At EQT Mr. Vesely has been one of the leading investors in digital infrastructure globally and is responsible for many businesses in the space including: Zayo, the largest private fiber communication infrastructure company in the U.S., Canada, and Europe; Segra, the leading independent fiber provider in the Carolinas and the Mid-Atlantic region; and EdgeConneX, a high growth wholesale data center business focused on serving cloud customers globally. Prior to joining EQT Partners, Mr. Vesely worked in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Mannheim.

Waldemar Szlezak (New York) joined KKR in 2019 and is a managing director on the infrastructure team. Mr. Szlezak leads KKR’s communications infrastructure investments in the Americas, among other sectors. At KKR, Mr. Szlezak is actively involved in a number of investments including Hyperoptic and GTR. Prior to joining KKR, he was a senior managing director with Soros Fund Management LLC (SFM) where he was responsible for originating, structuring, and monitoring the firm’s communications infrastructure and real estate investments. Prior to SFM, Mr. Szlezak served as an associate at Soros Private Equity Investors / TowerBrook Capital Partners and prior to that, in the mergers & acquisition investment banking group at Credit Suisse First Boston where he was involved with a number of mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, and general corporate advisory transactions. Mr. Szlezak holds a B.S. in operations research from Columbia University in New York and a B.A. in mathematics from Knox College in Galesburg.

Beth Hoffman joined Berkshire Partners in 2003. Beth’s directorships and primary Berkshire portfolio company involvement includes: Masergy, a global provider of managed networking solutions; Protelindo, the largest independent owner and operator of wireless infrastructure in Indonesia; and Vapor IO, an early stage mobile edge computing platform. Beth has also worked extensively with the following portfolio companies: Asurion, Advanced Drainage Systems, Bartlett Nuclear, Crown Castle, Telx, Teraco, Torres Unidas, and Tower Development Corporation.

Before joining Berkshire, Beth worked for six years in venture capital and began her career as a financial analyst in the M&A Group at Morgan Stanley. Beth is a member of the Boston Children’s Hospital Trust and Chairman of the Boston Children’s Hospital Philanthropic Board of Advisors. She and her husband, Kevin, are also active supporters of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

Jonathan Atkin is a managing director at RBC Capital Markets. His focus areas include telecom services, communications infrastructure, and cloud computing. During the last three years, Jonathan has received the #1 ranking from Institutional Investor in the Communications Infrastructure sector. He has also received #1 rankings from Thomson Reuters in Telecom Services and Real Estate Equities, a #1 ranking from the Wall Street Journal in Internet Services, and a #1 ranking from the Financial Times in Telecom Services. Before joining RBC, Jonathan was a senior consultant at BIA Companies focused on wireless strategy and valuation, worked in corporate strategy at Daimler-Benz AG, and was a policy analyst with the United States Congress. He has an MBA from Columbia University and BS and MS degrees in engineering from Stanford University. He is a two-time finisher of the Ironman triathlon.‎

As VP of Network Engineering at Facebook, Najam Ahmad oversees all aspects of the development and operation of the global network infrastructure that serves more than a billion people around the world.

Prior to joining Facebook, Najam was the general manager of global networking services at Microsoft. In that role, he was responsible for the overall architecture, implementation, and operations of Microsoft’s global online network. Najam’s other experience includes management and engineering roles at MCI/UUNET and Netrix Corporation.

Najam holds an MS in telecommunication protocols and computer science from The George Washington University and a BE in Electrical Engineering from the NED University of Engineering and Technology.

Campbell Massie is the Advocacy Manager for GSMA’s North America region. Located in Atlanta, she focuses on telecommunications policy and in the United States and Canada.

Prior to joining the GSMA in 2019, Campbell held roles at AT&T managing corporate communications for the Internet of Things and prepaid business groups. Prior to AT&T, she worked in public affairs for CTIA in Washington D.C.

Campbell holds Bachelors’ degrees in Journalism and Sociology from the University of Missouri. She is pursuing her MBA at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business in Atlanta with a concentration on Strategy and Innovation.

Joe Weinman is the author of Digital Disciplines: Attaining Market Leadership via the Cloud, Big Data, Social, Mobile, and the Internet of Things, which was the Amazon number one new release in the computer and technology industry. He is also the author of Cloudonomics: The Business Value of Cloud Computing, and a co-editor of Fog and Fogonomics: Challenges and Practices of Fog Computing, Communication, Networking, Strategy, and Economics. He has held a number of executive positions at Bell Labs, AT&T, HP, and Telx (now Digital Realty), and has been awarded 26 U.S. and international patents. He received his BS and MS in Computer Science from Cornell University and UW-Madison, respectively, and has completed executive education at the International Institute for Management Development and MIT Sloan.

Dave Temkin is the Vice President of Global Networks for Netflix, where he and his team built the Open Connect Network infrastructure to serve streaming video to nearly 150 million customers. Prior to Netflix, he worked on building the Yahoo! and Right Media delivery networks. Located in New York City, he is active in several non-profit and charity groups including NANOG, Community IX, and Children of Bellevue.

Chris Sharp has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, with an extensive background in developing technology strategies in global markets. He has a deep knowledge of the data center sector and is well positioned to expand technical innovation at Digital Realty. Most recently, he was responsible for cloud innovation at Equinix, where he led the development of innovative cloud services solutions and developed new capabilities enabling next-generation, high-performance exchange and interconnection solutions, facilitating broad commercial adoption of cloud computing on a global basis. Previously, Mr. Sharp held leadership positions at top network and colocation providers, including Qwest Communications, MCI/Verizon Business and Reliance Globalcom.

Merete heads up Bulk Infrastructure’s Fiber Networks division, where she joined in 2019. Prior to this, she served as Sales & Marketing Director for Nexans’ Submarine Telecom and Special Cables business unit.

A strong advocate for people-centric leadership, Merete brings a wealth of experience in sales and business development from 25 years within large international corporations, whereof the last 10 years in the telecom sector.

Known for her strategic thinking and ability to navigate complex challenges, Merete is currently spearheading Bulk’s expansion of sustainable infrastructure development into new markets.

Merete supports the Sustainable Subsea Networks as member of the Advisory Board.

Merete holds an MSc and a specialized Master’s degree in Competitive Intelligence from the University of Toulouse.