# Mavenir poaches Nokia networking CTO for neocloud push > Source: > Published: 2026-08-11 12:08:43+00:00 Jitin Bhandari was appointed EVP and head for Mavenir's neocloud AI platform and will also lead on the vendor's forward deployment engineering practice. Bhandari joins the telecom software firm from Nokia, where he most recently led as CTO for its cloud and network services. In his 11-year tenure at Nokia, Bhandari also served as chief product officer for core network applications and vVPfor digital networks. In his new role, Bhandari will lead Mavenir’s expansion into the expanding neocloud market while also building a forward deployment engineering practice catered for both neoclouds and Mavenir’s bread-and-butter communications service provider (CSP) customer base. Mavenir's momentum follows [a recent realignment](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/mavenir-launches-ai-driven-framework-to-automate-network-operations/), which saw the firm split into two integrated business segments, with one integrating Mavenir’s packet core, messaging, and security operations, and the other coalescing its voice and radio access technologies. Both, it claimed, would share a focus on AI automation, doubling down on a $300 million recapitalization from long-time investor Siris, which also helped rid it of $1.3 billion in existing debt. Mavenir said it would use the new capital to boost AI capabilities in its systems, the first fruits of which include [an AI agentic-centric framework](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/mavenir-launches-ai-driven-framework-to-automate-network-operations/) designed to detect and resolve network issues at speed, as well a CSP-centric integrated AI platform co-designed with Red Hat. “This is an exciting time to join Mavenir," Bhandari noted on the new gig. "The company has built a strong foundation in cloud-native, software-based networks and is uniquely positioned to lead the transition toward AI-by-design and agentic operations. I look forward to working with the Mavenir team and our customers to expand the company’s AI platform, tools, and forward deployment engineering capabilities, turning that vision into tangible outcomes for communications service providers, neocloud providers, and enterprises around the world.”