Katinakis joins the fibreco from Telstra, where he spent five years, and has a keen focus on harnessing the potential of AI and automation.
The group said his leadership will bring enhancements in both service delivery and network operations.
“We are at an inflection point in technology, with accessible AI, 5G, and satellite connectivity reshaping how we work,” Katinakis, said.
“My mid-term vision for Zayo is for us to deliver network infrastructure that’s easy to turn up and manage across edge, core and cloud, enhancing both connectivity and service.”
Since 2022, the demand for bandwidth across Zayo’s connectivity technologies has continued to increase exponentially, driven by the rapid and widespread adoption of AI, next gen cloud, satellites and quantum.
Katinakis was attracted to Zayo by its investment in key geographies and automated technologies as it seeks to address the demand for bandwidth by creating robust network infrastructure to meet escalating requirements.
“Ultimately, we aim to enable our customers to concentrate on their core business and not worry about transport connectivity, because they’ll have Zayo facilitating the creation of resilient and secure networks,” he said.
Katinakis's will help Zayo advance its network capabilities through extensive automation of its network infrastructure and operational processes to ensure it meets tomorrow’s capacity demands.
"When people think of AI, they think of ChatGPT," he expands. "But ChatGPT will never run the network. There is lots of other AI we will use in the future, for everything from how to plan the network to how to manage capacity and customer interactions,"
“Our strategic appointment of Nikos underscores Zayos’ dedication to advancing network excellence,” said Steve Smith, CEO of Zayo.
“His network experience and expertise combined with Zayo’s capabilities and automated technology will ensure our customers can meet and exceed connectivity expectations, now and in the future.”
Prior to his role as group executive, global networks & technology, Katinakis served as EVP networks at Reliance Jio in India for four years from 2014-2018.
He also spent time at Canada’s Rogers, most recently as senior VP, architecture and technology, network and IT and CISO.
Katinakis also has experience on the vendor side of the industry, with a five-year stint at Ericsson that saw him take the CTO and VP Sales position for the Swedish kit vendors Canadian business.
