Working Together to Deploy RAN is Vital to Deliver the Promise of 5G

Cristina Rodriguez

Vice President, Data Platforms Group, General Manager, Wireless Access Network Division, Intel Corporation

Cristina Rodriguez is vice president in the Data Platforms Group and general manager of the group's Wireless Access Network Division (WAND) at Intel Corporation. She is also general manager of the Austin Design Center. She leads Intel’s efforts in the wireless access network including innovative solutions for highly scalable, fully virtualized networks, as well as highly optimized custom deployment models with a focus on 5G, the next generation of wireless networks. Rodriguez is responsible for strategy, roadmaps, product definition, forecasting, investment decisions and profit and loss for the business. 

Rodriguez joined Intel in 2014 with the acquisition of LSI Corporation's Axxia Networking Business from Avago Technologies Ltd., where she led and carried out software strategy and was part of the small divestiture team. In her first Intel role as director of software for WAND, Rodriguez managed the division's worldwide software engineering and product development efforts. She also led the successful integration of the Axxia team into Intel and aligned the team's focus with Intel's networking business. Since joining Intel in 2014, her team has been recognized twice with Intel’s highest honor, the Intel Achievement Award, for their contribution to the company’s 5G leadership efforts.

Rodriguez earned her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría in Havana, Cuba; her master's degree in computer science from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Madrid, Spain; and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University. Rodriguez is also a member of the Intel Hispanic Leadership Council.

Mike Kondratiuk

Director of RAN Planning, Verizon

Mike has spent over 20 years at Verizon in roles spanning Operations, Engineering, System Performance and Planning. Mike presently leads the Emerging RAN Technology Group within the Verizon Planning organization. Mike and his team are leading the architecture and successful introduction of Virtualized RAN at Verizon.

Claus Pedersen

Vice President, Telco Sales, Hybrid IT Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise 

In his current role as Vice President of the HPE Telecommunications segment, Claus is responsible for growing the Hybrid IT groups business with HPEs telecommunication customers and partners. Claus and his team work to enable segment specific product features, solutions, services, and go to market relationships, which provides HPE Telecommunication customers with unique capabilities that empower their business.

Claus has been at forefront of enabling Communication Service Providers to take advantage of advanced IT technologies in their network infrastructure. Prior to his current role, Claus was responsible for HPE’s business in the Communications Media & Entertainment (CME) segment through and with Network Equipment Providers. Claus established several Go to Market Alliances for equipment providers in the Communication Service Provider segment. Over a decade ago, Claus spearheaded HPE’s work to enable Industry Standard Servers to meet the demands of telecommunication workloads.

Claus has held management positions at HPE in Laboratories, Storage and Software, as well as various sales and business development functions.

Claus holds a Master of Computer Science degree from Aarhus University, Denmark. He lives with his family in Grenoble, France.

Guy Daniels

Director of Content, TelecomTV