Nokia announced on Monday that it will replace CEO Pekka Lundmark with Justin Hotard, a senior executive at Intel overseeing artificial intelligence, effective April 1, 2024. Lundmark, who has led Nokia since 2020, will step down on March 31.
The leadership change comes on the heels of a strong financial report from Nokia, which showed an 89% rise in net profit for 2024, marking a significant turnaround after years of declining demand for its 5G equipment.
Lundmark, 61, who has led various publicly listed companies over the past two decades, said he plans to transition out of executive roles to focus on board-level positions. “I want to move on from executive roles to work in a different capacity,” he said.
Hotard, 49, is currently Executive Vice President at Intel and General Manager of its AI and Data Center group. With more than 25 years of leadership experience in major tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Hotard is seen as well-positioned to drive Nokia’s growth in AI and data infrastructure.
“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 of society and business, enabling technological shifts like the one we’re experiencing in AI.”
Sari Baldauf, Nokia’s chairwoman, praised Hotard’s extensive track record in accelerating growth within the technology sector, particularly in AI and data centers—critical areas for Nokia’s future strategy. She also emphasized Hotard’s knowledge of the US market, which remains an important focus for the company.
The announcement comes after a year of turbulence for Nokia, which had announced plans to cut up to 14,000 jobs in response to a decline in demand for its 5G technology in North America. However, in the last quarter of 2024, Nokia reported strong sales growth, particularly in India and North America, helping to boost its profitability.
Atte Riikola, an analyst at Finnish market research firm Inderes, suggested that Hotard’s appointment signals Nokia’s strategic shift towards enhancing its network infrastructure, with significant growth opportunities in AI and data centers. “Nokia’s future growth prospects in mobile networks appear more modest than in network infrastructure,” Riikola noted.
Baldauf expressed gratitude for Lundmark’s leadership during a challenging period for the company, noting that under his tenure, Nokia regained its position as a technology leader in 5G radio networks and strengthened its foothold in cloud-native core networks.
Nokia’s share price rose by 2% to €4.76 ($4.92) in midday trading following the announcement. When Lundmark took over in 2020, the company’s stock was valued at approximately €4.
