In today’s episode of 5G Talent Talk, Carrie Charles is joined by Raghav Sahgal, President of Cloud and Network Services at Nokia. Raghav shares his journey from software developer in India to global business leader, highlighting his focus on translating technology into real-world impact.
Raghav dives into the current state of 5G, now deployed by over 260 operators in more than 100 countries. He notes that while 5G holds immense potential, market expectations are high, and monetizing this technology is a gradual process, emphasizing that 5G’s benefits beyond connectivity, driving digitalization for industries, enterprises, and consumers.
Raghav discusses challenges in 5G monetization, highlighting the role of network APIs and Nokia’s “Network as Code” platform in simplifying developers’ access to network capabilities. He also points out that while enterprises have advanced in digitalization, industries are catching up, especially post-COVID-19. Nokia is facilitating this through private networks and an ecosystem approach.
Raghav stresses the importance of fair spectrum allocation policies in shaping the competitive 5G landscape. The episode wraps up with insights into his leadership style, focusing on a learning mindset, clear strategy, and empowering teams, and a personal story that underscores his belief in everyone’s potential for growth.
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About Raghav Sahgal
Raghav is a global leader and entrepreneur in the cloud, software and communications space, paving the path to the future where networks meet cloud.
In his current role as President of the Cloud and Network Services business at Nokia, Raghav leads the transition for communication service providers (CSPs) and enterprises across the world to 5G, secure autonomous operations and industrial digitalization. He is passionate about helping them embrace new business models and value creation opportunities with digital ecosystems.
As former President of Nokia Enterprise, Raghav positioned the business group as one of the market leaders in private wireless networks and achieved significant growth, delivering mission-critical networks and digital automation solutions to enterprises, including webscale and industrial businesses, as well as government entities.
Raghav also served as Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Market Services for Nokia Software, where he built the Global Business Center for the Nokia Software business group from the ground up, helping CSPs and enterprises embark on their digital transformation journeys.
Prior to Nokia, Raghav served as President of the Asia Pacific & Middle East region at NICE Ltd., a worldwide, leading provider of cloud and on-premise software solutions, including advanced data analytics. He also held several global executive positions at Oracle, Comverse, CSG and Lucent Technologies, driving top-line growth.
Raghav holds a master’s degree in computer systems management from the University of Maryland in the US, and a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Tulane University in the US. He also received an Executive Business Certificate in General Management from Harvard University in the US.
Raghav resides in Silicon Valley. He enjoys golf, running and globe-trotting, having lived all over the world including his native India, Singapore, the US and the UK.
