Bringing critical perspectives to our membership’s strategic work.
The Mplify Advisory Board brings together senior executives from across the global digital infrastructure ecosystem to provide strategic guidance on the opportunities and challenges shaping the industry.
Working closely with the Board of Directors and Mplify leadership, the Advisory Board helps align industry priorities, strengthen collaboration across service, cloud, technology, and enterprise stakeholders, and advance the standards, automation, and certification initiatives that enable scalable, AI-ready digital services.
Members are selected based on their demonstrated industry leadership, strategic vision, and commitment to advancing the collective success of the ecosystem.
Kelly Ahuja
CEO,
Versa Networks
Kelly Ahuja is a seasoned industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in networking and telecommunications. He currently serves on the board of directors for two startups in Silicon Valley.
Kelly spent 18 years at Cisco rooted in the design and deployment of telecommunications networks. He was most recently SVP of Service Provider Business, Products and Solutions at Cisco where he was responsible for developing and managing the service provider segment strategy and portfolio. Kelly held several other senior executive roles at Cisco, including SVP and GM of the Mobility Business Group, Chief Architect for the Service Provider business, and SVP and GM of the Service Provider Routing Technology Group.
Earlier in his career, Kelly served as VP of Marketing at optical networking startup BlueLeaf Networks and product management leader at Stratacom. He also managed the design and deployment of data and voice networks for AT&T Canada, Bank of Canada and Telesat Canada.
Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Calgary.
Ari Banerjee
Senior Vice President Strategy,
Netcracker Technology
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.
Suraj Chandrasekaran
Regional Vice President of NetSec Solutions, WW MSP/MSSP,
Palo Alto Networks
Suraj Chandrasekaran currently serves as the Regional Vice President of SASE for Global MSP/MSSPs at Palo Alto Networks. His primary responsibility is to help accelerate the adoption of Palo Alto’s SASE solutions worldwide via top MSPs/MSSPs across the globe. He works with the Product team to drive the required technology to help MSPs adopt the solution with minimal effort, coming up with disruptive GTM strategies, and drives a team of subject matter experts to help evangelize SASE adoption.
With a rich background in Network and Network Security technologies working for companies such as Ericsson, Juniper Networks, FireEye, and Versa Networks, Suraj has more than 20 years of experience bringing new innovative solutions to the market via multiple Channels and Service Providers.
Suraj Chandrasekaran holds a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University, California, specializing in Network Security, and a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Bharathiar University in India.
Gabriele Di Piazza
Vice President, Product Management, Alliances and Architectures,
Blue Planet (Ciena)
Gabriele Di Piazza is Vice President of Product Management, Alliances and Architectures for Blue Planet, a division of Ciena. He is responsible for leading and driving the evolution of Blue Planet’s product roadmap, as well as amplifying Blue Planet’s vision with its customers and technology partners.
Prior to joining Blue Planet, Gabriele led the Telecom Industry group for Google Cloud, driving strategy and adoption for a portfolio of Telecommunications products and solutions, across network modernization, subscriber monetization and data & artificial intelligence transformation.
Gabriele has more than 25 years of enterprise and communication service provider (CSP) expertise in product management, marketing and business development, holding leadership roles at VMware, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Guavus (Thales).
Gabriele holds a master’s degree in Electronic Engineering with a major in Telecom Networks from Politecnico di Milano University.
Ben Edmond
Chief Executive Officer and Founder,
Connectbase
Ben Edmond is the CEO and Founder of Connectbase, the global marketplace for connectivity, and is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, culture, and overall operations.
Before establishing Connectbase, he held the position of Chief Revenue Officer at Global Capacity, overseeing the comprehensive customer go-to-market strategy and execution. With a rich background spanning 25 years in the fiber, telecom, and networking industries, Mr. Edmond brings extensive expertise in executive leadership, strategy development, product management, customer experience, sales, marketing, and operations to his role.
David Fan
Vice President and General Manager, Communications Cloud,
Salesforce
David Fan currently serves as the Vice President and General Manager of Communications Cloud at Salesforce. David joined Salesforce through the Vlocity acquisition in 2020. He has over 20 years of CRM and BSS experience in Communications, holding various leadership roles in product management, application development and global transformation implementations.
Prior to joining Salesforce and Vlocity, David served as VP of Industry Strategy and Product Management at Oracle where David led the product team in developing industry CRM solutions and fostered the ecosystem that made Oracle CRM/CX a market leader in Communications. He was also the Vice-President at Huawei Technologies for 3 years where he led the company’s BSS application strategy and product management.
VP & GM, Telecom, Media & Tech,
ServiceNow
Romit Ghose
VP & GM, Telecom, Media & Tech,
ServiceNow
Romit Ghose is the Head of Product, Telecom & Media, at ServiceNow. Romit leads the product and strategy organization for ServiceNow’s products for the Telecom & Media industries. ServiceNow serves as the central operational platform of choice for thousands of customers globally. Romit’s product organization delivers products that serve end-to-end functions of customer service, CRM, CPQ, order management & service delivery, field service, network operations, network inventory, network discovery and assurance—all on a single cloud-native AI platform.
Romit has a long career in product management, consulting and engineering at some of the largest enterprise SaaS companies and industry leaders in the world where he built and launched successful product portfolios that help achieve large scale business transformation.
Head of Partnerships and Telco Market Lead,
Google
Sridhar Gollapudi
Head of Partnerships and Telco Market Lead,
Google
At Google, Sridhar is tasked to drive strategy and adoption for a portfolio of Telecommunications products, focused at transforming and modernizing Telco networks through AI and Analytics. Sridhar brings more than 20 years of enterprise and communication service provider (CSP) technology expertise in product management, marketing and business development to Google Cloud. At Google, Sridhar had the opportunity to lead partnership and product teams for various product areas including Access, Pixel Devices and Android ecosystem before joining the Google Cloud team.
Most recently, Sridhar was Vice President for the Service Provider Business United at NETGEAR enabling Telecommunication operators to transition to next generation access technologies across both wireline and wireless operations.
Before NETGEAR, Sridhar had leadership roles in both start-up and Fortune500 companies based in the Silicon Valley, focused on developing new business initiatives and delivering cutting-edge products in the networking and telecommunications industry.
Sridhar holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Lalit Kashyap
Vice President and Sector Head for Communications, Media, and Information Services,
Wipro
Lalit Kashyap is a distinguished global technology executive with over 25 years of experience driving digital transformation, growth strategies, and technological innovation across global markets & industries—including communications, media, technology, education, insurance, services, retail, and CPG. His experiences spans Technology Advisory, Industry Platform launches, P&L management, Sales & Business development, Team building and management.
Throughout his career, Lalit has delivered over $1 billion in business impact, managed operations spanning more than 20 countries, and led teams of over 10,000 professionals worldwide. His leadership in executing large-scale programs has empowered organizations to unlock new revenue streams, modernize legacy systems, and adopt cutting-edge technologies, consistently driving accelerated market growth and long-term customer success.
In his current role, Lalit leads P&L for Communications, Media, and Networks business at Wipro Limited. This business includes all the leading Telecom Service Providers, Media, Broadcast, Entertainment, Information & Publishing, Music, Network Equipment Partners, Edge providers.
A recent milestone under Lalit’s innovative leadership is the development and launch of TelcoAI360, Wipro’s flagship AI-powered network automation platform, introduced at the Mobile World Congress 2025. This solution integrates AI, 5G, and edge computing to provide intelligent, predictive, and secure network operations, transforming how service providers manage and scale digital infrastructure.
Prior to his tenure at Wipro, Lalit held strategic leadership roles at HCL Technologies, where he directed global consulting and account strategies for the Media and Entertainment sector, and at Infosys, managing transformation programs for Fortune 100 companies. His extensive cross-sector experience enables him to design agile, high-value solutions tailored to complex enterprise needs.
An active thought leader, Lalit frequently contributes to industry forums and panels, advocating for techenabled innovation, data-driven decision-making, and responsible digital transformation. His insights have significantly influenced discussions on enterprise network evolution, platform-led growth, and customercentric design.
Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer,
Amartus
Michael Kearns
Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer,
Amartus
Entrepreneur, expert, and strategic advisor in Network & Cloud Automation software systems. Michael is Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Amartus where he currently leads the companies nBrace™ Open Standards B2B2X software products for NaaS and Wholesale automation.
He was CEO of the Company from 2003 to 2015, during this time he led the company from start-up to becoming a leading industry innovator. In 2015 he oversaw the successful exit of the company’s Chameleon OS™ orchestration product business to a Tier 1 vendor. Michael’s experience combines deep commercial & technical expertise with active involvement in industry groups & standards to deliver ground-breaking solutions.
Anil Kollipara
Vice President and General Manager, ATA Business,
Spirent Communications, now a part of Keysight
Anil Kollipara is Vice President and General Manager of Spirent’s Automated Test & Automation business, now a part of Keysight, where he leads the strategy, vision, and execution of the company’s mobile networks, assurance, cloud, security, and automation product lines. He drives innovation across next-generation testing, assurance, and AI-driven automation, ensuring Spirent’s solutions remain foundational to customers’ digital transformation initiatives.
With more than two decades of experience in the wireless and telecommunications industry, Anil has a strong record of building many industry-first and award-winning products in lab testing, automation, and service assurance. His expertise spans test automation, service assurance, AI and analytics, and predictive and prescriptive techniques across 5G, LTE, 3G, Open RAN, VoLTE, and Wi-Fi environments.
Before joining Spirent, Anil held product and engineering leadership roles at NETSCOUT, Danaher, Dell, and Cerion, consistently transforming complex industry challenges into scalable, customer-centric solutions that accelerate business outcomes. He holds a BEng from the University of Mumbai, an MSEE from the University of Texas, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Anil is also an inventor with four patents related to characterizing and measuring subscriber experience in telecommunications networks.
A recognized industry leader and evangelist, Anil frequently collaborates with customers, partners, and the broader ecosystem to shape the future of automated testing and autonomous networks.
Jinu Koshy
Vice President and Head of Domain Consulting Group for Telecom, Media and Technology,
Infosys
Jinu is VP and Global Head of Domain Consulting for Telecom, Media and Technology at Infosys. As part of his role, Jinu leads a global team of consultants in the TMT space, doing Product Advisory, Technology Selection, End-to-End Solution Design, Strategy and roadmap pertaining to domains such as OSS/BSS, IT, Networks and Business Operations working with clients across North America, Europe, India, Japan, Asean and ANZ.
With his wide experience of over 30 years in the TMT industry working with communication service providers, media companies, telco OEMs, ISVs and silicon vendors, Jinu brings a unique perspective and has helped drive Innovation Councils, engage C-level executives, set up major transformation programs, structure solutions, manage products, run the industry partner ecosystem, work with niche start-ups and build global teams. Jinu also serves on the Communications Industry Partner Advisory Boards of Salesforce and ServiceNow. His industry domain teams help clients harness the power of Cloud, AI and Data in their businesses to drive cost down and build new revenue streams.
Rick Lievano
Worldwide Chief Technology Officer, Telecommunications,
Microsoft Corporation
Chris MacFarland
Chief CX and Development Officer,
Comcast Business
Chris MacFarland joined Masergy in 2008 and was quickly promoted to CEO. Prior to joining Masergy, Chris served in executive positions at BroadSoft, McLeodUSA, Allegiance Telecom, Verio, OnRamp, CompuNet and Compu-Tek International. He currently serves on the board of directors for iTopia. Chris is passionate about community service and has championed numerous charitable and outreach programs. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington where he majored in Computer Science and Engineering.
Abilash Menon
CEO and Co-founder,
MaiaEdge
Abilash brings over 20 years in networking and more than 40 patents, blending deep technical expertise with visionary leadership. He led MPLS architecture teams at Cisco, drove SD-WAN breakthroughs at pioneering startup 128 Technology, and designed large-scale network solutions at Juniper Networks.
A graduate of the Kellogg School of Management’s Executive MBA program, he combines business acumen with engineering depth.
Chief Executive Officer,
Sage Management
John Nolan
Chief Executive Officer,
Sage Management
John joined Sage Management, a division of SIB Fixed Cost Reduction, as CEO in 2024. With nearly two decades of leadership at AT&T, Nolan has been instrumental in overseeing critical global and domestic telecommunications operations, driving significant advancements in cost reduction, service improvement, and international alliances. His strategic vision and deep industry expertise make him a standout leader, poised to lead Sage Management to new heights of innovation and success.
Previously, as Chief Development Officer of Bluebird Network, John led all aspects of corporate development including M&A, business development, corporate strategy and innovation, as well as Wholesale & Strategic Sales, Carrier Management, and Contract Management functions.
As the former Vice President, Global Connections & Alliance Management for AT&T, John led a team of 600+ professionals in more than 40 countries responsible for AT&T’s voice, data, and performance relationships with other telecommunications providers in support of AT&T’s wireless and wireline business objectives around the world. Up until 2014, he led AT&T’s Wholesale Operations Center of Excellence that included Technical Sales, Regulatory Operations and Sales Operations.
Earlier in his career, he led the Business Development & Alliance team responsible for SBC Communications relationships with strategic partners including, Cingular, TelMex, Bell Canada, EchoStar, WilTel, HP, Covad and others.
He helped launch Southwestern Bell Internet Services, where he was promoted to lead the alliance and integration with Prodigy, a national ISP they acquired in 2001.
He began his career in St. Louis, Missouri where he held various positions of increasing responsibility in Sales, Finance and Operations with Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, which is now AT&T Mobility.
John earned his MBA from Saint Louis University and an undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Missouri – Columbia. He served as Vice-Chairman of the Board for Capacity Media’s Global Leaders Forum and on the MEF Board of Directors. He has also served on the Advisory Board for the Robert J. Trulaske Sr. School of Business at the University of Missouri and in various capacities supporting United Way of Dallas and the Boy Scouts of America Circle 10 Council.
Rajiv Papneja
Chief Technology Officer,
Prodapt
As CTO, Rajiv provides overall end-to-end solutions leadership across Prodapt’s industry partnerships and technology practices – Cloud, AI, Data, Network Services, Billing and support systems, and Operational Excellence.
Rajiv is a business leader, change agent, and transformation advisor who synergizes technology strategy and business alignments, bringing completive differentiation to our clients through cross-functional team management and cross-pollinating expertise.
Prior to Prodapt, Rajiv was CTO at a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, and smart devices. He also co-founded a startup focusing on network of the future, third-party interoperability and testing for the telecommunications industry.
Rajiv is a patent holder in wireless networks and an industry leader across forums including the Open Networking Foundation. He has co-authored several publications including 8 Request for Comments (RFC) in notable areas like SDN, Network Disaggregation, Edge Services, IP-Optical routing and switching, and more.
He holds a Master’s degree from George Mason University, Virginia, and is an alumnus of The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, New Hampshire.
Product Management Leader, VeloCloud SD-WAN,
Arista
Kishan Ramaswamy
Product Management Leader, VeloCloud SD-WAN,
Arista
Kishan Ramaswamy is a highly experienced and exceptionally knowledgeable product management leader with expertise spanning networking, security, AIOps, virtualization, and compute, among other domains. His professional tenure in technology exceeds 20 years, underpinned by a degree in electrical engineering and positions at prominent technology firms, including Arista, Broadcom, VMware, and Cisco. Kishan is recognized as an effective communicator, demonstrating a blend of technological proficiency and business acumen. He has delivered presentations globally, which are consistently engaging, highly informative, and occasionally feature a sprinkle of humor.
Kishan currently serves as the Product Management Leader, overseeing Arista VeloCloud SD-WAN.
Khalid Raza
Founder and CEO,
Graphiant
Khalid Raza is the founder and CEO of Graphiant, widely recognized as the father of SD-WAN. Before establishing Graphiant, Khalid served as the Co-founder and CTO of Viptela, the pioneering SD-WAN company acquired by Cisco for 610 million dollars. At Viptela, Khalid spearheaded the architecture and technology vision.
With a tenure of 17 years at Cisco prior to Viptela, Khalid has been deeply immersed in the Internet since 1994, just three years after its commercialization. He is revered as a visionary in Internet routing architecture and large-scale network design. Over his illustrious 25-year career, Khalid has been instrumental in architecting networks for Global Tier-1 carriers, Fortune 100 companies, and the healthcare industry.
Khalid’s expertise is underscored by prestigious certifications such as Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) and Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE). During his tenure at Hewlett-Packard, Khalid was honored as a Distinguished Technologist, shaping the company’s Next-Generation Datacenter and Wide Area Network architectures.
With numerous patents in routing and security protocols, Khalid is also the author of the acclaimed book “Large-Scale IP Network Solutions”. His innovative contributions include 13 patents in the field of networking, security, and SD-WAN.
Russ Schafer
Executive Vice President, Marketing,
Fortinet
Russ Schafer has over 25 years of experience driving growth as a marketing executive in billion-dollar companies and fast-growing startups within the security, SaaS, enterprise software, semiconductor, media, and advertising industries. At Fortinet, Russ is responsible for corporate marketing, which includes product marketing, brand initiatives, demand generation, campaign management, marketing operations, analyst relations, U.S. field marketing, and creative services.
Before joining Fortinet, Russ served as the Head of Product Marketing and Analyst Relations at a cybersecurity firm. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Technology at THX. Earlier in his career, Russ held various senior leadership positions at AOL, Yahoo!, Intel, and IBM. He has consistently delivered significant results in corporate marketing, product marketing, product management, and business development.
Russ earned his MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Texas A&M University.
Roary Stasko
Chief Executive Officer,
Telstra
Roary Stasko is Telstra International’s CEO, responsible for working across the international business portfolio which includes Wholesale and Enterprise sales and services internationally as well as Digicel Pacific. He leads an international team that serves customers with world leading customer service, products and solutions, with revenues in excess of AUD$2.5 billion per annum.
Based in San Francisco, Roary has more than 15 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector and over 20 years of consulting and management experience across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.
Roary has been with Telstra since 2018, first joining as Head of Corporate Strategy where he was responsible for company-wide strategy development, strategic planning, and capital prioritization. In 2020 he moved into the position of Finance Business Partner (CFO) for the Consumer & Small Business division. Roary has also been a Digicel Pacific Board member since Telstra acquired the business in 2022 and he a member of the ITW Global Leaders’ Forum (GLF), a Board representing a global network of leaders from the world’s largest International Telecommuncations Carriers.
Before joining Telstra, Roary was Head of Strategy at Ooredoo Group, where he led critical strategy, transformation and digitalization programs.
Roary holds an MBA from Georgetown University in Washington DC, USA and a BA in economics from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, USA. He lives in San Francisco USA with his wife and three kids.
Parag Thakore
Chief Product Officer, SASE,
Netskope
Parag Thakore is Chief Product Officer, SASE at Netskope. Prior to Netskope, Parag was the CEO and co-founder of Infiot, a Gartner “Cool Vendor™ in Cloud Networking” and a pioneer in delivering secure, reliable, and intelligent access to every remote user, site, IoT device, and cloud, later acquired by Netskope in May 2022. Parag was previously VP of Products and founding member of Velocloud Networks (acquired by VMWare) where he grew Velocloud to be a leader in the fast-growing SD-WAN space. Parag also spent time at Cisco, where he led product management for multi-billion dollar branch routing business and Cisco IWAN. Parag holds an MS in Telecommunications from University of Maryland, College Park.
Marisa Trisolino
Chief Executive Officer,
euNetworks
Marisa Trisolino is the Chief Executive Officer of euNetworks, with responsibility for all operating aspects of the business. She joined euNetworks in May 2025 after serving as CEO at CMC Networks since 2018.
After delivering significant growth, in 2024 Marisa led CMC Networks through its successful acquisition by center3, a wholly owned subsidiary of the STC Group, from Carlyle SubSaharan Africa Fund. In addition to her new role at euNetworks, Marisa will continue to support CMC Networks in an advisory capacity.
Before joining CMC Networks, Marisa built a distinguished 21-year career at AT&T, in roles including Sales, Supply Chain, Strategic Planning and General Manager across business units, with geographical responsibilities spanning EMEA, Middle East, Africa and Southern Asia. Her achievements as a seasoned CEO, her perspective in the sector across so many regions and her unwavering customer and service focus bring a critical skillset to the team. Throughout her career in the telecommunications industry, Marisa has been an active advocate for Inclusion and Diversity. She continues with that support in euNetworks and for the wider industry.
Hugo Vliegen
VP Product Management & Technical Marketing, Enterprise Routing & SD-WAN,
Cisco
Hugo Vliegen has global responsibility for product management and technical marketing for Enterprise Routing & SDWAN. Hugo has 25+ years of experience in marketing and technology leadership roles.
Over the years, he has worked with numerous enterprise customers, service providers, and channel partners to define business strategies and product/solution requirements for networking and security infrastructure. Hugo also brings experience from working at cloud and IoT startups, including Aryaka, Nebbiolo and Infogear (acquired by Cisco). He is the cofounder of several new product lines in the networking and security space generating $100M+ in yearly revenues. Hugo started his career in Manufacturing IT and Automation.
Hugo earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Twente and graduated with Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands.
