Nokia has appointed Intel data center executive Justin Hotard as its CEO to replace Pekka Lundmark, who is stepping down.

The telecoms vendor announced on Monday that Hotard will take up his new role on April 1, 2025. He currently leads the data center and AI unit at US chipmaker Intel.

Lundmark, who will also relinquish the post of Nokia chairman, departs following months of speculation that Nokia were looking to replace him as CEO. When the reports first emerged last year, Nokia denied Lundmark's position was under threat.

The 61-year-old has led Nokia since 2020, and will continue as an advisor to Hotard until the end of this year. Lundmark first joined Nokia in 1990 as an account manager, before leaving in 2000 and later returning to lead the business after a five-year spell as CEO of Finnish energy firm Fortum.

“Leading Nokia has been a privilege," said Lundmark. "When I returned to Nokia in 2020, I called it a homecoming, and it really has felt like one. I am proud of the work our brilliant team has done in re-establishing our technology leadership and competitiveness, and positioning the company for growth in data centers, private wireless and industrial Edge, and defense. This is the right time for me to move on."

However, Lundmark came under pressure last year as the vendor failed to improve its share price. Revenue at the vendor is now lower now than it was back in 2016 when it acquired French rival Alcatel-Lucent in an all-share deal worth €15.6 billion ($16.1bn).

Nokia, which has previously bemoaned weaker demand for its 5G equipment in North America and Europe, announced in 2023 it will cut 14,000 jobs, equivalent to 16 percent of its workforce, in an effort to reduce costs.

It does appear, however, that the vendor is bouncing back, after Nokia reported an increase in net sales of nine percent for the final quarter of 2024, although overall net sales for the full year dipped nine percent to €19.2bn ($20bn).

Lundmark's replacement, Hotard, has previously held leadership roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NCR Corporation, and Symbol Technologies (acquired by Motorola). He will be based at the company’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland.

"Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI. I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia’s transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation,” said Hotard.

Intel appointed Hotard to lead its data center unit last January.

Hotard joined the chipmaker after an eight-and-a-half-year stint at HPE, where he most recently served as executive vice president and general manager of High-Performance Computing, AI, and Labs.

Nokia's data center play?

Hotard's work around data centers and AI could suggest a change of focus for the vendor, which signed a number of data center partnerships last year.

In Nokia's announcement today, Sari Baldauf, chair of Nokia’s board of directors noted that AI and data center markets are "critical areas for Nokia’s future growth."

In October, Lundmark said Nokia sees a "significant opportunity" to expand its presence in the data center market.

Following his comments, Nokia extended its existing agreement to supply Microsoft Azure with data center routers and switches. Then in December, Nokia along with Kyndryl announced plans to offer advanced data center networking solutions and services to global enterprises.

In September, Nokia also announced the launch of a data center automation platform, which it describes as an "event-driven automation" (EDA) platform.