India — Nokia has appointed Priya Narayanan as Client Chief Technology Officer (CTO), strengthening its technology leadership as the company expands its engagement with communications service providers and accelerates the deployment of next-generation telecom networks across India.
In her new role, Priya will lead strategic technology engagements with customer CXOs, develop cross-business group solution strategies for large communications service providers (CSPs), and drive innovation across 5G, 6G, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), cloud-native telecom infrastructure, and AI-enabled network transformation. Her appointment reflects Nokia’s continued focus on helping telecom operators modernize network infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation.
Priya brings extensive experience spanning telecommunications, network planning and optimization, packet core technologies, mobile network architecture, digital transformation, and advanced connectivity. Over the course of her career, she has built deep expertise in developing next-generation network strategies and delivering complex telecom solutions for global operators.
Prior to this appointment, she served as Principal Consultant at Nokia Bell Labs, contributing to advanced technology initiatives and strategic consulting. During her earlier tenure at Nokia, she held several leadership and technical roles, including Technology Expert – Global Delivery Centre, Technology Lead – Global Delivery Centre, and Core NPO Expert, where she worked on network performance optimization, technology delivery, and core network engineering.
Before joining Nokia, Narayanan held multiple leadership positions at Bharti Airtel, including Operations Head – Core Networks, Lead – Data Projects, Core Operations, and IP and PaCo Planner, supporting large-scale telecom network operations and infrastructure planning.
Earlier in her career, she was associated with Nokia Siemens Networks in Network Planning and Optimisation and with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, where she served in roles including TEC Subject Matter Expert – Packet Core, Assistant Manager – Packet Core Expert for Reliance 2G & 3G Network, and Graduate Engineer, building expertise across packet core technologies, mobile networks, and telecom engineering.
The appointment comes as telecom operators worldwide accelerate investments in 5G Advanced, AI-native networks, cloud-native architectures, network automation, and future 6G technologies to meet growing demand for intelligent, secure, and high-performance connectivity.
Nokia is a global leader in network infrastructure and connectivity solutions. Powered by the innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, the company provides fixed, mobile, transport, cloud, and software technologies that enable communications service providers and enterprises to build secure, intelligent, and AI-ready networks worldwide.
, strengthening its technology leadership as the company expands its engagement with communications service providers and accelerates the deployment of next-generation telecom networks across India.){kind=link}