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 been the CEO of Nokia since 2020, will step down from his role on March 31, according to a statement from the company.

“I want to move on from executive roles to work in a different capacity, such as a board professional”, said Lundmark.

“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.

“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”.

Hotard is currently the executive vice president at Intel and the general manager of its artificial intelligence and data center group, as stated on Intel’s website. He will assume the role of CEO at Nokia on April 1.

According to Nokia, Hotard has over 25 years of experience in various leadership positions at major technology firms, including Hewlett Packard and NCR Corporation.

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