Nokia Reshapes Leadership to Drive AI and Partnerships
Nokia is restructuring its leadership team and organisational structure to strengthen its focus on artificial intelligence (AI), technology innovation, and strategic partnerships. The company has announced the creation of two new organisations, the Technology and AI Organisation and the Corporate Development Organisation, effective October 1 2025.
The changes are designed to accelerate Nokia’s transformation, sharpen its innovation capabilities, and provide stronger support for business development.
Technology and AI Organisation
The new Technology and AI Organisation will bring together Nokia Bell Labs, Technology and AI Leadership, and Group Security. This unit will be led by Pallavi Mahajan, who joins Nokia from Intel, where she was Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Data Centre and AI Software.
Mahajan’s career highlights include:
- Leading Intel’s innovation at the intersection of networking, mobility, cloud, edge, and AI.
- Spearheading supercomputing programs and hybrid cloud strategy at HPE.
- Driving the development of self-driving networks at Juniper Networks.
Her extensive experience positions her to lead Nokia’s AI and technology agenda while scaling next-generation innovations.
Corporate Development Organisation
The Corporate Development Organisation will integrate:
- Corporate Development
- Strategic Partnerships
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Incubation activities
- NGP Capital
This unit will be headed by Konstanty Owczarek, who has deep expertise in corporate development, investment banking, and business strategy.
Owczarek previously held executive positions at HPE’s High Performance Compute, AI & Labs business, where he:
- Led strategy and business development, including a strategic pivot to Generative AI.
- Managed product life cycles and operational initiatives.
- Served as Head of Strategy and Innovation for AIG’s Life and Retirement business.
CEO’s Perspective
Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia, welcomed the two new leaders:
“I am delighted to welcome Pallavi to Nokia. She is recognized for her rare combination of deep technical expertise, commercial acumen, and proven ability to scale multi-billion-dollar product portfolios at the intersection of AI, mobile, and edge computing.
I am also excited to welcome Konstanty to Nokia. He brings with him a unique combination of expertise spanning strategy, corporate development, and finance across a variety of industries.”
Leadership Transition
As part of the transition, Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, will step down from Nokia and the Group Leadership Team on 30 September 2025.
CEO Justin Hotard thanked him for his contributions:
“I would like to thank Nishant for his contribution to Nokia over the past five years. He led a transformation of Nokia Bell Labs, helped to position Nokia at the forefront of 6G, accelerated our digital and security transformation, and led the execution of our innovation strategy.”
Conclusion
Nokia’s leadership reshuffle reflects its sharpened focus on AI, partnerships, and corporate development. With Pallavi Mahajan and Konstanty Owczarek bringing proven expertise, Nokia aims to drive innovation, global growth, and competitive leadership in the next era of digital and AI-driven transformation.
