GET TO KNOW
big believer in player/
coaches. I don’t expect anyone to work
harder than I do and believe that my
most important responsibility is to help
my employees accomplish their goals.
Achieving those, plus mine, spells success
for everyone.
What do you think will emerge as the
technology trend of 2018 and why?
Let’s face it – everyone, not just millennials, is
addicted to connectivity. That’s one use case
that drives Cradlepoint solutions onto cars,
trucks, buses, trains and even in the ocean.
And if you haven’t heard about the Internet
of Things (IoT), you’ve been living under a
rock. These trends aren’t necessarily new,
but I see them accelerating and I believe
that 2018 represents a real inflection point
that will send that growth skyward.
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in
your industry?
5G and the pathway to 5G. Dubbed by
Qualcomm, 5G is ‘as transformative as
electricity’. Certainly, there’s a lot of hype
around it, but we’ll see initial launches in
various places around the world this year
and that will only act as an accelerant for the
connectivity trend I mentioned.
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside of the office?
My wife and I love to drive in the country
with the top down. There’s nothing quite
like feeling the wind in your hair on a warm
summers day with the sun shining down.
102
INTELLIGENTCIO
“
If you could go back and
change one career decision, what
would it be?
I’d have to say that my one career regret is
that I travel so much and I missed a lot of
my kids’ activities when they were growing
up. I don’t think I’d have accomplished as
much, but you can’t turn the clock back. At
the end of your life, what are they going
to put on your headstone? That you were
a great employee? Fortunately, I have a
great relationship with both my sons and
even though they live thousands of miles
away, we talk regularly and they come to
me for advice.
What are the region-specific
challenges when implementing new
technologies in Europe?
The big challenge for wireless in Europe and
around the globe is what we call spectrum
harmonisation, or the lack thereof. Since
every country has its own set of regulators
“
CRADLEPOINT
FULLY INTENDS
TO BECOME THE
MARKET LEADER
IN 5G.
MY WIFE AND I
LOVE TO DRIVE
IN THE COUNTRY
WITH THE TOP
DOWN. THERE’S
NOTHING QUITE
LIKE FEELING THE
WIND IN YOUR
HAIR ON A WARM
SUMMERS DAY.
who decide how the airwaves get allocated,
it is very difficult to get agreement on a
consistent ‘band plan’ on which wireless
equipment operates.
This adds time and cost as equipment
manufacturers need to build more complex
radios that work on different frequencies in
various places. It’s certainly a problem that
can be solved by technology with software-
defined, multi-band radios, but as with all
things political, it’s tough to get everyone
to agree.
What changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year and how do
you see these developing in the next
12 months?
At Cradlepoint, we’ve been working with
network operators around the world as they
develop the pathway to 5G. This has put
us in more of a development mode since
the technology is still new, but that’s what
market leadership is all about.
Cradlepoint fully intends to become the
market leader in 5G.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain C-level
position in your industry?
Hire the right people. Check references
yourself. Schedule time to think. Get your
hands dirty. And have fun! n
www.intelligentcio.com