Nokia (NOK.US) welcomes new CEO, Hottard brings AI data center expertise to turn around 5G.

Finnish telecom giant Nokia (NOK.US) on Monday announced that its CEO Pekka Lundmark will step down, to be replaced by Justin Hotard, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's (INTC.US) Data Center and AI Group. Hotard will officially take over on April 1, 2025.

As Nokia faces a decline in 5G device sales, the company has been exploring market diversification and actively expanding into emerging fields such as artificial intelligence. Nokia's chairman Sari Baldauf said: "Hotard has an outstanding record of accelerating the growth of technology companies, with rich expertise in the AI and data center markets, which are key areas for Nokia's future growth."

During Lundmark's tenure as CEO, from 2020 to 2024, Nokia has been trying to cope with the challenges of the 5G market through a series of strategic adjustments and business transformations. Lundmark will continue to serve as Hotard's advisor until the end of this year.

Nokia previously denied media reports in September 2024 that it was looking for a new CEO. Baldauf said that Lundmark expressed his intention to leave the board after the business repositioning entered a more advanced stage and a suitable successor was identified, so the company started planning for leadership transition.