Justin Hotard

Overview

Justin Hotard
Born	1974 (age 51–52) United States
Citizenship	American
Education	Electrical engineering; business administration
Alma mater	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (B.S., Electrical Engineering); MIT Sloan School of Management (M.B.A.)
Occupation	Business executive
Employer	Nokia Corporation
Known for	President and CEO of Nokia; leadership in high-performance computing and AI
Title	President and Chief Executive Officer
Term	2025–present
Predecessor	Pekka Lundmark
Spouse	Married

📘Justin Hotard (born 1974) is an American business executive who serves as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications and technology company. He previously led Intel Corporation’s Data Center and AI Group as executive vice president and held senior roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), including responsibility for high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and Hewlett Packard Labs, after earlier leadership positions at NCR Corporation and Symbol Technologies. At Nokia he has been associated with an AI-focused strategic pivot, including a reorganization of the company’s businesses and partnerships aimed at positioning the group at the intersection of networks, cloud computing and AI services.

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Early life and education

🎓Origins and studies. Hotard was born in the United States in 1974, and accounts of his childhood describe an early fascination with technology, including a habit of disassembling household gadgets to see how they worked. This hands-on curiosity shaped his academic choices. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and later obtained a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management, combining technical training with formal business education.

📚Shift from engineering to strategy. In the late 1990s Hotard initially worked as a network or systems engineer before deciding to pursue graduate business studies, a move that broadened his focus from pure technology to corporate strategy and markets. During his M.B.A. he spent time in consulting, including an internship at Monitor Group in 2001, before returning to the technology industry with what commentators later described as a more strategic lens on how to apply innovation in commercial settings. He has subsequently characterized himself as a “passionate believer in the power of technology to solve global challenges,” linking his engineering background to a wider sense of business and societal purpose.

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Career

💼Early technical and product roles. After completing his studies, Hotard joined Motorola in 1996 as a systems engineer, helping to deploy mobile networks for U.S. telecommunications carriers and gaining firsthand experience of network infrastructure and operator requirements. He later moved to Symbol Technologies, a mobile computing and data-capture company, where he worked in corporate development and product management. At Symbol he was involved in acquisitions and in expanding a product line that was reported to have grown by roughly 30% annually under his stewardship, foreshadowing his subsequent reputation for driving growth in mature businesses.

📈Growth and acquisitions at NCR. In 2007 Hotard joined NCR Corporation, the Atlanta-based information technology and banking systems group, initially focusing on mergers and acquisitions before taking on broader general-management responsibilities. At NCR he helped execute a series of acquisitions—one year reportedly saw five transactions totaling about US$72 million—designed to extend NCR into markets adjacent to its self-service solutions portfolio. He later became vice president and general manager of a division focused on entertainment and small-business solutions and worked on a cloud-based point-of-sale platform whose customer base nearly tripled, while one segment under his control increased revenue by around 50% and achieved operating cash-flow breakeven in four quarters. By 2013 he was president of NCR’s Small Business segment, leading a team of about 70 people and consolidating his reputation as a turnaround and growth specialist.

🖥️Leadership at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In 2015 Hotard moved to Hewlett Packard Enterprise shortly after the split of Hewlett-Packard into separate companies, joining at a time when HPE was reshaping its data center and enterprise infrastructure strategy. He initially served as vice president for strategy and operations in the data center group before assuming general-manager roles overseeing global server businesses. In 2019 HPE appointed him president of its businesses in Japan and China, reflecting confidence in his ability to lead in major international markets, and in 2021 he became executive vice president and general manager of HPE’s High Performance Computing, AI & Labs division. In that role he oversaw Hewlett Packard Labs and directed projects that included delivering what HPE described as the world’s first exascale supercomputer to the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as securing large contracts such as a multi-billion-dollar high-performance computing agreement with the National Security Agency, while pushing research initiatives in quantum computing and sustainable technologies.

🤖Intel Data Center and AI Group. In early 2024 Intel Corporation recruited Hotard as an executive vice president to lead its Data Center and AI Group, a core business responsible for the Xeon server processor franchise and emerging AI accelerators. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger described him at the time as a “proven leader with a customer-first mindset” and highlighted his record of driving growth and innovation in data center and AI-related markets. Hotard joined Intel’s executive leadership team and was tasked with helping the company regain momentum in cloud and enterprise computing amid intensified competition from rival chipmakers and alternative architectures.

📡Appointment as Nokia CEO. Hotard’s tenure at Intel was relatively brief. In February 2025 Nokia announced that he would succeed Pekka Lundmark as president and CEO with effect from 1 April 2025, following a search process that had largely taken place out of public view. Commentators noted that the choice surprised some analysts because Lundmark was widely seen as having stabilized Nokia after a difficult phase in the early 5G cycle, yet Nokia’s board indicated that Hotard’s appointment was designed to accelerate the company’s push into AI and cloud-related opportunities. Board chair Sari Baldauf emphasized his “strong track record of accelerating growth in technology companies” and his “vast expertise in AI and data center markets,” describing these as critical to Nokia’s future growth profile.

🌐Strategic overhaul and AI focus at Nokia. After taking office in April 2025, Hotard moved quickly to articulate a new strategic direction for Nokia centered on what he characterized as an “AI supercycle.” At his first Capital Markets Day in November 2025 he presented five priorities: accelerating growth in AI and cloud services; leading the next era of wireless connectivity through AI-native networks on the path to 6G; co-innovating with customers and partners; concentrating resources on areas where Nokia can differentiate; and improving shareholder returns. To support these aims he reorganized Nokia’s structure into two principal businesses—Network Infrastructure, covering networking hardware and cloud data center equipment, and Mobile Networks, focused on radio access technologies for 5G and future 6G systems—seeking to simplify the operating model and align it with growth opportunities in cloud and AI-driven markets.

💹Deals, partnerships and early market reaction. Under Hotard’s leadership Nokia pursued both acquisitions and strategic partnerships to reinforce its repositioning. The company announced plans to acquire U.S. optical-networking firm Infinera and accepted a strategic investment of about US$1 billion from Nvidia, which acquired a 2.9% stake in Nokia as the two companies agreed to collaborate on AI infrastructure solutions. Nokia set a new long-term target of increasing annual operating profit to between €2.7 billion and €3.2 billion by 2028, up from roughly €2 billion in 2024, and highlighted the growing importance of hyperscale cloud providers, noting that 9 of the world’s 10 largest cloud companies already used Nokia technologies. By late 2025 Nokia’s shares had risen by around 25% year-to-date and at one point reached their highest levels in nearly a decade, suggesting that investors were beginning to price in the potential of the AI-oriented strategy and new alliances, even though market responses to individual announcements were sometimes volatile.

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Financial profile and compensation

💰Executive remuneration at Nokia. As CEO of Nokia, Hotard receives a compensation package typical of a large, publicly listed technology company. According to Nokia’s remuneration disclosures for 2025, his annual base salary is €1,410,500, and he is eligible for a short-term incentive with a target of 125% of base salary, pro-rated for his nine months in the role in 2025. The short-term incentive can reach up to approximately 2.8 times base salary in cases of outstanding performance and is linked to metrics such as operating profit, cash flow, workplace safety and diversity objectives, reflecting the company’s emphasis on both financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes.

📊Long-term incentives and buy-out awards. Hotard’s long-term incentives take the form of performance share units with a grant value targeted at 200% of base salary, rising to a maximum of 400% if Nokia significantly outperforms on indicators such as total shareholder return and earnings per share. To entice him to leave Intel, Nokia also provided a one-time “buy-out” package intended to compensate for unvested equity he forfeited, consisting of €2 million in cash and €6 million in restricted Nokia shares vesting between 2026 and 2028, subject to continued service and performance conditions. Public filings indicate that in his prior role at Intel his total compensation for 2024 exceeded US$12 million, underscoring the level of remuneration attached to senior leadership in the data-center and semiconductor sectors.

🏦Wealth, shareholding and external roles. Estimates of Hotard’s net worth place him comfortably in the multimillion-dollar range; one profile suggests a figure of around US$5 million, not including the prospective value of his Nokia equity awards. As of mid-2025 he held approximately 609,000 Nokia shares, a position that included a personal investment of about €2.821 million under a co-investment plan that will grant him matching shares if he remains in post for three years and performance conditions are met, aligning his interests closely with those of other shareholders. Beyond his executive responsibilities, Hotard is a member of The Business Council, an invitation-only forum of senior corporate leaders, and appears regularly at industry conferences and in media interviews to discuss topics such as AI, digital transformation and leadership, though reporting suggests that any philanthropic activities he undertakes are kept largely private.

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Personal life and management style

🏠Family and relocation. Hotard is married with children, but he has generally kept his family out of the public spotlight, with biographical profiles noting that he seldom discloses personal details such as their names. Following his appointment as Nokia’s CEO he relocated from California to Finland and is based at the company’s headquarters in Espoo, near Helsinki, reflecting the group’s continued commitment to its Finnish roots even as its leadership has become more international.

🎿Hobbies and interests. Accounts of Hotard’s personal interests describe him as an enthusiastic skier and ice hockey fan, pastimes that align closely with Finnish sporting culture, and note that he also follows English football, giving him common conversational ground with colleagues across Europe. He is reported to enjoy reading history and continues to “tinker” with devices and gadgets, consistent with his engineering background, while describing himself as a techno-optimist who is motivated by the potential for technology to generate positive outcomes for society when applied responsibly.

🤝Collaborative leadership style. Descriptions of Hotard’s leadership emphasize collaboration and a focus on complementary team strengths rather than individual heroics. In interviews he has argued that “great teams are built” when diverse capabilities are combined, and former colleagues characterize him as someone who seeks to empower expert teams rather than micromanage, while still being willing to delve into technical detail when necessary. Reports portray him as approachable and low-key in demeanor, often using questions to draw out others’ ideas in meetings but prepared to make firm decisions, a trait associated with his experience in turnaround and high-stakes environments at NCR, HPE and Intel.

🌍Cultural adaptation and work–life balance. Hotard is the first American-born CEO of Nokia and only the second non-Finn to lead the company, a fact that has been highlighted as emblematic of Nokia’s evolution into a more globalized technology group. He has reportedly taken Finnish language lessons, traveled extensively to Nokia offices around the world and engaged informally with staff at the Espoo campus, including using the company cafeteria rather than remaining isolated in executive spaces. Biographical accounts emphasize that he seeks to preserve quality time on weekends for his wife and children, such as spending time outdoors in Finland or at home, and he has argued that maintaining a degree of work–life balance enhances his effectiveness as a leader rather than detracting from it.

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Controversies and challenges

⚠️Industry headwinds and restructuring. As of early 2026 there have been no major personal controversies or scandals associated with Hotard, and he has not been linked to legal or ethical violations in his corporate roles. Nevertheless, he assumed the leadership of Nokia at a challenging time for the telecommunications equipment industry. The global roll-out of 5G networks had progressed more slowly and less profitably than many operators and vendors anticipated, and Nokia had lost significant contracts, including a major 5G deal with AT&T that went to a rival supplier, contributing to cost-reduction plans announced in 2023 that envisaged cutting up to 14,000 jobs. Hotard therefore inherited a business in the midst of a “reset” of its cost base, where employee morale and investor confidence had been affected by restructuring and market setbacks.

📉Investor reactions and strategic debate. The AI-focused strategy that Hotard unveiled in 2025 was generally welcomed as directionally aligned with broader technology trends, but it also prompted questions about execution and differentiation. When Nokia presented its updated plan under the banner of “connecting intelligence,” its shares initially fell by as much as 6% on the day, as some investors and analysts suggested that expectations had been higher and that the plan might not represent a radical departure from prior strategy. Commentators such as Paolo Pescatore noted that while emphasizing AI and cloud made strategic sense, it would require sustained investment and carried uncertain returns, underscoring the balance Hotard needed to strike between long-term innovation bets and near-term financial performance.

🌱ESG priorities, geopolitics and responsible AI. Hotard has also had to navigate debates around ESG priorities and geopolitical tension in the telecom and AI domains. Under his leadership Nokia has tied a portion of executive pay to diversity metrics and carbon-emission reductions, signaling that issues such as inclusion and climate impact are embedded in management incentives as well as public commitments. At the same time, the company continues to operate in a sensitive geopolitical environment, where network equipment and AI infrastructure are subject to security scrutiny; Nokia has maintained a stance of avoiding business with sanctioned Chinese telecommunications players while positioning itself as a neutral, trusted provider to compliant markets. Hotard has articulated an optimistic but measured view of AI’s potential, arguing that industry leaders must help ensure that “generational technology shifts” such as AI deliver broad benefits rather than simply short-term financial gains, and has framed responsible AI development as integral to long-term competitiveness.

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Legacy and perspectives

📚Views on technology and the workforce. In addition to corporate strategy, Hotard has engaged in broader discussions about how AI is reshaping work and organizational culture. He has spoken and written about the emergence of an “AI-native” workforce, particularly among younger generations such as Generation Z, and argued that companies need to embed AI tools into everyday workflows to attract, retain and empower such talent. This perspective links his interest in high-performance computing and cloud infrastructure with a focus on human capital, emphasizing that technology strategy and people strategy are increasingly intertwined.

🚀Assessment and outlook. Commentaries on Hotard’s trajectory often highlight the continuity between his early experience as an engineer at Motorola and Symbol Technologies, his turnaround and growth mandates at NCR, his stewardship of exascale and AI initiatives at HPE and Intel, and his current effort to reposition Nokia for an era of AI-centric networks and cloud-driven demand. His appointment as Nokia’s first American-born CEO has been seen as part of a broader effort to recast the company from its historic identity as a handset manufacturer into a provider of networking and computing platforms, a shift symbolized by Nokia’s rebranding and strategic messaging in the mid-2020s. As Nokia approaches its 160th anniversary, analysts and observers continue to assess whether Hotard can translate his experience in data centers and high-performance computing into sustained growth and renewed prominence for the Finnish group in the global technology landscape.

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