Year in review: Industry's biggest hires of 2024

E&’s group CEO, Hatem Dowidar, joined Vodafone’s board as a non-executive director, bringing 30 years of experience in multinational companies.

It is not Dowidar’s first time at Vodafone, however. He has held leadership positions at the telecoms giant, including regional director of emerging markets, CEO of Vodafone Egypt, and CEO of Vodafone Malta.

At the time, Vodafone Chair, Jean-François van Boxmeer, said: “I am delighted that Hatem will be joining Vodafone’s Board. He brings extensive experience within the telecommunications industry and has held senior positions across a range of companies in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Earlier this year, Nokia announced the promotion of Sandy Motley, president of the fixed networks division, as the new country manager for Nokia in the US.

Motley stepped into the role with decades of telecom expertise, having held several senior positions at the telecoms giant, including leading the fixed networks division since 2019.

Commenting on her appointment, Motley, said: “I am very excited to start this next chapter of my journey here at Nokia.

“Having led the fixed networks business for several years, taking on an additional role as the country manager for the US will allow me to help even more customers benefit from Nokia’s leading technology across our portfolio at a time when technology is playing a still more vital role than ever before in the lives of organisations, companies, individuals and societies.”

2024 also saw the appointment of Vodafone UK’s new CEO, Max Taylor.

Taylor stepped up from his position as chief commercial officer, where he led the commercial performance of Vodafone UK's consumer business, overseeing areas such as marketing, brand, digital transformation, customer experience, sales, service and commercial operations.

With over 25 years of international industry experience, Taylor joined Vodafone UK in March 2019 after leading commercial and marketing efforts at EE.

In April, Vodafone Business announced the appointment of Marika Auramo, the division's new CEO.

She succeeded Giorgio Migliarina, who has been serving as interim CEO since September 2023.

She joined Vodafone from SAP, where she led the go-to-market strategy for its product portfolio across 89 countries. Most recently, Auramo served as chief business officer for EMEA at SAP, having held various roles during her 25 years with the German enterprise technology company.

At the time CEO of Vodafone Margherita Della Valle, said: “I am delighted that Marika will be joining Vodafone to lead our business division, a key growth driver.

“She brings extensive B2B experience from the IT industry, and I look forward to welcoming her as a member of our Executive Committee.”

Lyca Mobile announced the appointment of Frank Wiemann as its chief marketing officer, in June this year.

In this role, Wiemann will lead strategic marketing efforts aimed at driving growth and enhancing brand visibility across Lyca Mobile’s global presence.

Wiemann joined Lyca Mobile from Vodafone, where he served as SVP of customer marketing. At Vodafone, he played a key role in driving organic growth and transforming the marketing ecosystem.

Cisco appointed Sarah Walker as the CEO of its UK and Ireland division, succeeding David Meads, who moved on to lead the company’s operations in the Middle East and Africa.

Walker joined Cisco in 2022 as managing director of Enterprise, where she managed the company’s relationships with over 100 private sector clients across industries such as transportation, pharmaceuticals, and finance.

Before joining Cisco, she spent 25 years at telecom giant BT, holding a range of senior roles across both the public and private sectors.

Cisco president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Oliver Tuszik, stated at the time: “Sarah brings not only a proven track record in leveraging technology to solve problems and create value for organisations across the public and private sectors, but also a wealth of energy and innovative thinking.

“I could not be more confident in her ability to lead the Cisco team in the UK and Ireland to create an even greater impact through our solutions, benefiting our customers, partners and the community.”

Oracle appointed Matt Souders as its new VP of data centre infrastructure, a strategic move as the company expands its cloud capabilities.

As part of this initiative, the company planned to build 100 new cloud data centres and expand 66 existing ones globally, further strengthening its extensive data centre network.

Prior to Oracle, he served at Vantage Data Centers for over six years, most recently as vice president of construction for North America.

Announcing his appointment on LinkedIn, Soulders said: "I look forward to collaborating with an incredibly talented team and contributing to the remarkable growth at Oracle.

"Thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey so far. Here’s to new challenges and opportunities ahead.”

Meta appointed Derya Matras as its new vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Matras succeeded Angie Gifford, who stepped down from her role as VP of EMEA at the end of the year. Matras joined Meta in 2015, where she led operations across Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey, establishing a strong track record of helping businesses grow and succeed using Meta’s platforms.

Commenting on her appointment, Matras, said: “I’m delighted to take up the role of Vice President of GBG for EMEA. Having had the privilege of working within this diverse and dynamic region for the past nine years, I’ve witnessed first-hand the impact our tools and platforms have on businesses of all sizes.

“I look forward to now working with our partners across the whole region to unlock their full growth potential.”

One of the biggest appointments of the year took place in November, when billionaire Elon Musk, was appointed to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk was rewarded for his financial support of Trump in the November election with a role advising the next White House on efficiency and cost-cutting.

He will share this position with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk stated that DOGE’s mission is to “drain the swamps. There are so many swamps".

Described by Trump as “potentially the Manhattan Project of our time,” the transition team said in a statement that DOGE will assist the White House in “dismantling government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring federal agencies vital to the ‘Save America’ movement".