Tejas Networks announced that Sanjay Nayak, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Managing Director (MD) has expressed his desire to take retirement and pursue other personal interests. The Board of Directors has considered his request and accepted the same. The Board has also approved the appointment of Anand Athreya as the CEO & MD designate of Tejas Networks and he will join the Company effective 3 rd April 2023. He would be appointed as MD post all regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Post handing over the baton to Athreya, Nayak would step down from his role as CEO and MD by the next Annual General Meeting of the company.
Athreya has more than 25 years of highly technical and managerial experience in telecom equipment, networking, and software industries. He was the Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer of Juniper Networks since 2017 and he served as Senior Vice-President of the Routing Business Unit for 3 years prior to his current role. Athreya was with Juniper Networks since 2004 until November 2022.
N Ganapathy Subramaniam, Chairman, Tejas Networks said, “Sanjay has been successfully leading the Company since its inception and has helped build a pioneering technology company from India. On behalf of Board of Directors and employees of the Company, I would like to thank Sanjay for his significant contributions in building Tejas Networks as a leading telecom products company. We wish Sanjay all the very best for the future”.
He further added, “I am delighted to welcome Anand to Tejas Networks. He is an industry veteran, having been a leader in world-class global Silicon, Systems & Software Engineering, and global innovation led R&D and product development for the networking world. He has led the delivery of several industry leading and award-winning products for the telecommunication industry. I am sure Tejas Networks would benefit from his leadership and rich experience. Sanjay and Anand will be working towards a smooth transition over the coming months.”
Sanjay Nayak the current CEO & MD said “As a co-founder, I had the privilege of leading the company from a startup to India’s first publicly-listed deep-technology telecom products company. I am proud of what we have built as a company- having a rich portfolio of worldclass products for the telecom industry and a solid launchpad for future growth. The association with the Tata Group has only accelerated this journey and I am confident that Tejas is well poised to tap the global market opportunities and become a leading telecom OEM. Having worked with tremendous passion and intensity for the last 23 years, and now with the backing of the Tata Group, I feel this is the right time for me to transition and pursue my other interests. Anand brings in strong domain knowledge and rich global experience. I look forward to working with him and in transitioning my responsibilities over the coming months. I wish him well, as he steers the next phase of growth for the company.”
Athreya earned his B.E. in Electrical Engineering from Bangalore University, India, and M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from Osmania University, India. He later moved to USA and obtained Master’s in Business Administration (Hons.) from National University, CA. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Speaking on the occasion, Anand Athreya said, “I am both honoured and humbled to lead Tejas and help transform the telecommunication industry. I am eagerly looking forward to working with Tejas’ leadership team and the Tata group. Tejas is in a unique position to build industry leading telecom and networking solutions right out of India, for India and the rest of the world.”
