MUMBAI: Hitesh Chhabra, a veteran of the ICT world with over 23 years of experience, has jumped ship from Chinese tech giant Huawei to join Nokia as sales director this month. The move marks the end of a nearly 14-year run at Huawei, where he most recently served as director of enterprise solution sales and chief technology officer for the company's enterprise business group in India.

During his tenure at Huawei, Chhabra led solution sales operations across India, with responsibilities ranging from yearly business planning and pre-sales team management to strategic consulting and C-level engagement. His role involved extensive customer interaction and sales team leadership focused on technology strategy execution.

Prior to his Huawei chapter, Chhabra cut his teeth at several tech heavyweights, including a two-year stint at Alcatel-Lucent (now part of Nokia), where he worked as a solution manager at the IP Transformation Centre. His CV also includes nearly four years at UTstarcom, where he served as senior network specialist and assistant manager at the Global Escalation Centre, and shorter tenures at Tata Consultancy Services and Cisco's Technical Assistance Centre.

Known for his team-oriented approach and customer relationship development skills, Chhabra brings to Nokia his expertise in ICT solution sales, campus and enterprise networks, and strategic leadership—precisely the toolkit the Finnish firm will be keen to deploy as it battles for market share in the enterprise space.