Nokia is revamping its leadership structure, creating a pair of new executive organizations and adding a pair of former Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) executives to bolster the vendor’s growing focus on AI, technology, and development.

The first new team is a “Technology and AI Organization” (TAO) that will integrate Nokia’s Bell Labs, Technology and AI Leadership, and Group Security divisions. The second is its new “Corporate Development Organization,” which will integrate Nokia’s Corporate Development, Strategic Partnerships, Mergers and Acquisitions, Incubation Activities, and NGP Capital.

Nokia CEO Justin Hotard tagged the new groups to accelerate the vendor’s new vision.

“To succeed in the AI supercycle, we need to focus on where we can drive differentiation through our core technologies, strengthen our capabilities in security and AI, and maximize the value of partnerships in our ecosystem,” Hotard explained in a statement. “Having a dedicated technology and AI organization will be an important asset for us and our customers. The new corporate development organization will accelerate our strategy evolution and execution, and support our businesses.”

The TAO group task will be led by Pallavi Mahajan, who will take on the overall titles of chief technology and AI officer at Nokia. Pallavi most recently served as corporate VP and GM of data center and AI software at Intel, had previously led supercomputing and hybrid-cloud work at HPE, and was an engineering VP at Juniper Networks.

Pallavi’s most recent stead at Intel is likely the most relevant as that also aligned with current Nokia CEO Justin Hotard’s previous gig. Hotard took over as Nokia CEO earlier this year, having previously served head of Intel’s data center and AI group.

Hotard has since increased Nokia’ focus on AI, data center, and networking in an attempt to pull the long-tenured telecom equipment vendor out of its operational malaise.

Nokia’s new Corporate Development Organization will be led by Konstanty Owczarek, who is taking on the mantle of chief corporate development officer. Owczarek most recently served as managing partner at LJO Advisors, having previously served as chief strategy officer and COO for HPE’s high-performance computing (HPC), AI and labs.

Both new divisions and hires are set to become effective October 1.

To make way, Nishant Batra is stepping down as Nokia’s chief strategy and technology officer and from the vendor’s group leadership team effective September 30.

Nokia’s ongoing evolution

Nokia’s latest changes continue Hotard’s whirlwind overhaul of the beleaguered vendor.

During a recent SDxCentral visit to Nokia’s Finnish headquarters, Hotard explained how Nokia's R&D-focused approach differs from his former employer, Hotard emphasized the importance of strategic investment choices over pure spending levels.

“If you go back and look at the amount of investments that have happened, sometimes it's not about whether you neglected, but did you make the right investments?" Hotard said.

The new CEO stressed that Nokia's approach centers on combining "fundamental research" with an "ecosystem mindset" to ultimately determine where to invest directly in technology differentiation versus where to partner and leverage external capabilities.

He pointed to Nokia's recent acquisition of Infinera as an example of this strategic approach, suggesting it brought complementary technology that expanded both the size and scope of Nokia's network infrastructure business.

In addition to getting spending right, Hotard outlined the need to work with the right partners on the right technologies.

"That's probably the big lesson for me in coming in," Hotard said. "Who are the partners we need to partner with to make sure we're leveraging the best of the market's capabilities?"

Hotard said that the fruits of R&D spending won’t show up for a handful of years, adding that Tommi Uitto, Nokia’s mobile networks president, told him that the decisions he made five to seven years ago in terms of R&D are “just showing up in products today.”

“It's about focus, and it's not just focus on where we are investing, but it's focused on what we are investing in, in the stack, and be really smart about that,” Hotard said. “Where we see opportunities to drive long-term growth and value, we'll invest R&D. But it's always about that balance and discipline. And I think it's a little bit, honestly ... it's not about what you know, what the absolute metrics are. It's about where you are investing in, and really digging into that.”

However, Hotard’s predecessor unsuccessfully also attempted to re-organize Nokia out of its operational stupor. This included a well-publicized three-year turnaround plan that had Nokia re-organize under four business groups: Mobile Networks, IP and Fixed Networks, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies; and a less impactful overhaul of the Nokia brand.