Justin Hotard, Intel’s head of data-center and AI operations, is leaving to head up Nokia. Shares of the telecom-gear maker rallied over 2% in Europe; U.S.-listed Intel shares edged higher premarket.

Finnish telecoms company Nokia on Monday said Pekka Lundmark would step down as CEO, and that it has appointed Justin Hotard to take over his role. Hotard, who will take up the position on April 1, is currently the executive vice president and general manager of Data Center & AI Group at Intel,

Nokia Oyj will replace Chief Executive Officer Pekka Lundmark with Intel Corp.’s recently appointed head of artificial intelligence Justin Hotard in a surprise announcement as the network equipment maker works to exit a prolonged slump in orders from phone operators.

Nokia has hired its first CEO from America in a renewed pivot to AI designed to arrest years of low valuations and stagnant revenue growth. The Finnish telecoms group announced the appointment of Justin Hotard,

The company appointed Hotard as it moves to diversify and search for new growth areas outside of its traditional telecom operator market.

Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor and China's leading telecoms providers are integrating the AI model released by DeepSeek into their offerings, the latest Chinese companies look