The biggest disruptor of tech in the past five years according to the CCO of Coriant.
#TwelveDaysofISDI: Career advice, interviewing tips, and Silicon Valley secrets to make your 2018 the best it can be.
For Day 10 of #TwelveDaysofISDI, we feature Homayoun Razavi — an ISDI Academic Board Member who not only leads the Digital Technology module, but also impressively holds three titles at global tech company Coriant: Chief Customer Officer, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, and Chief Digital Marketing Officer. Together, that means he oversees the development and execution of the global sales, go-to-market, channel, and marketing strategies for the networking solutions company.
Homayoun’s career path has wound through many sectors of the tech industry, including hardware, software, services and the cloud. He has grown organizations from five to more than 700 people while increasing revenue from $1 million to $750 million.
There’s a lot that we want to ask him, and a lot more to learn from him. We start at a corner by asking what he has to say on disruptors in the tech industry all the way to what qualities he believes make for the strongest team.
Could you tell us a little bit about Coriant? What do you find the most exciting about your industry, and the most challenging?
Coriant is a private company that was formed in 2014 based on the acquisition of three public companies: Siemens Optical based in Germany, Tellabs based in Chicago and Sycamore based in Boston. The company has products and solutions for what we refer to as “layers 0 to 3” of building networks. These layers consist of optical switching and core routers.
We have 3,000 employees, and we generate $1 billion in annual revenue. We all know that the backbone of of all technology innovation and digital transformation is infrastructure. That’s exactly what we provide customers — the infrastructure needed to advance. It is exciting to work with 500 global service providers and enterprises in building their next generation of infrastructure.
One of the most challenging aspects of our industry is the demand. We travel around the world and fight off our competition to stay ahead.
What was the biggest disruptor in the past five years for your industry? What will be the biggest disruptor five years from now?
The biggest disruptor in the past five years has been the explosion of mobile usage. Mobile usage has grown exponentially.
I’ll also point out major disruptions from three tech giants: Apple, Google and Facebook. Apple, in general, can make demands that can have great impacts on network. As for Google, its search engine requirements have a ripple effect. And Facebook continues to shape what it means to provide infrastructural support to social media.
Here are my prediction for the biggest disruptors for the next five years:
- Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR)
- The usage of both live and saved video
- The Internet of Things (IoT)
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- 5G network technology
When building a team, what are the top qualities you always look?
There are a handful of qualities that come to mind when I think of a well rounded team. Some of the obvious things like dedication, loyalty and a positive, team player attitude. It’s also crucial to build a team of folks who are passionate about the work they’re doing — that will shine through in what we deliver. Another thing that is more valuable and possibly harder to come by is finding kind, good people to work with each day. Morals and ethics go a long way.
Share a piece of career advice that has stayed with you and continues to serve you now.
A piece of advice I find myself turning back to is, always help others as much as possible regardless of what’s in it for you. Give credits to your team and take the blame when deserved. Help others succeed and grow to be promoted and find new opportunities. Treat everyone with the highest respect and always be kind.
Day 1: Former VP of Talent at LinkedIn and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Day 2: Director of Digital and Social of the 49ers and Two Turtle Doves
Day 3: Three-time Author @britopian and Three French Hens
Day 4: Research Director of Google Cloud and Four Calling Birds
Day 5: CEO of Charlotte Russe and Five Golden Rings
Day 6: Founder of Adobe Analytics Consulting Group and Six Geese A-Laying
Day 7: VP of Marketing at Box and Seven Swans A-Swimming
Day 8: SVP of Digital & Marketing at Zeno Group and Eight Maids A-Milking
Day 9: Agile SCRUM Master and Nine Ladies Dancing
To learn more about ISDI Digital University and the 9-month master’s degree in digital business program, visit us at www.isdidigital.university.
