Nokia CEO Lundmark to be replaced by Intel AI chief Hotard

Finnish telecommunications equipment giant Nokia announced on Monday that chief executive Pekka Lundmark would step down and be replaced by Justin Hotard, the head of AI and data centres at US chip-maker Intel.

Lundmark, who has served as Nokia's CEO since 2020, will leave his position on March 31, the company said in a statement.

"I want to move on from executive roles to work in a different capacity, such as a board professional", said Lundmark, who has a career of more than 20 years of leading listed companies.

Justin Hotard currently serves as the executive vice president of Intel and as the general manager of the company's artificial intelligence and data centre group, according to Intel's website.

He will take over as Nokia CEO on April 1.

Hotard has previously "held several leadership roles at large technology companies" for more than 25 years, such as Hewlett Packard and NCR Corporation, Nokia said.

"I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia's transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation," Hotard said.

"Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI," he said.

Nokia chairwoman Sari Baldauf said Hotard holds "a strong track record of accelerating growth in technology companies along with vast expertise in AI and data centre markets, which are critical areas for Nokia's future growth".

Profit after slump

The change at the top comes after Nokia posted bumper profits as telecom companies strive to recover from a slump.

In 2023, the company announced it would cut up to 14,000 job as profits fell on weakening demand for its 5G equipment in North America.

Last month, Nokia reported an 89 percent rise in net profit for 2024, with sales surging in India and North America in the final three months of the year.

Baldauf said Lundmark had joined the company "at a difficult time in Nokia's history" and would leave "with our highest respect".

"Under his tenure, Nokia has re-established its technology leadership in 5G radio networks and built a strong position in cloud-native core networks", she said.