Infinera announced new executive appointments to strengthen its leadership team as it further aligns its business to maximise market opportunities in the new era of open optical networking. The company appointed Ron Johnson as General Manager of Optical Systems & Network Solutions Group, Tom Burns as General Manager of Optical Modules & Coherent Solutions Group, Azmina Somani as SVP of Engineering, Optical Modules & Coherent Solutions Group and Russ Esmacher as SVP of Strategy.
Johnson will drive Infinera’s growth in open optical systems and software as networks move to 800G in the core, 400G in the metro, and 100G coherent to the edge.
Johnson will bring optical and IP networking experience and expertise to his role, which he will assume in September. Most recently, he served as head of Product Management at Cisco’s Optical Transport Business Unit.
Burns is responsible for Infinera’s optical modules and coherent products, including the company’s ICE optical engines and its recently announced suite of ICE-XR optical pluggables. Leveraging a history of achievements at Dell Technologies, where he managed a multi-billion-dollar networking and solutions business, he will bring to his new Infinera role a strong focus on execution and a wealth of experience, including new market development and ecosystem partnerships. Also joining the company in September, he will partner with co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dave Welch to capitalise on the growth opportunity of game-changing XR optics point-to-multipoint optical connectivity.
Somani is responsible for optical modules and coherent solutions engineering. She brings to her role over 30 years of experience and expertise in the optical components industry, with executive leadership positions at companies include Jabil, Lumentum, JDSU, and Nortel.
Esmacher is responsible for strategy, marketing, and corporate development in leading the company’s strategic planning processes and executing plans to achieve market share gains and the company’s target business model. He brings to his role over 20 years of experience in go-to-market programs, sales leadership, business development, and technical marketing, including prior executive positions at Nokia and Cisco.
