Introducing Ritesh Mukherjee, a dynamic leader, and trailblazer. With nearly two decades of expertise in 5G and new business development, Ritesh has established himself as a leader in technological innovation while nurturing the next generation of specialists in this dynamic field. As the Head of Product Strategy and Innovation at DriveNets, he has played an instrumental role in transforming product vision and implementations for Core Networks and Networking for AI.
The Inspiration behind Ritesh’s Career in Technology and Communications
Ritesh is captivated by the magic of communication. The thrill of sending a text message, the wonder of video calls, sharing experiences from afar, and the limitless possibilities of the Internet ignited a passion within him. Like many others, he had to communicate with family in a distant country. The cost of a single call made it nearly impossible to have a proper call when he was a student. Today, we can converse with family and friends anywhere without worrying about costs. Ritesh has witnessed how technology and communications can empower everyday individuals and change their lives. This fascination with connectivity fueled his desire to delve deeper into the world of technology.
Ritesh’s Take on Balancing His Professional Roles with Teaching Responsibilities
Balancing professional roles with teaching responsibilities requires careful planning and effective time management. Ritesh employs various techniques such as prioritizing tasks, creating a detailed schedule, allocating time for work and downtime, using productivity tools, and other popular methods. However, he finds that clear communication is the most beneficial aspect of his approach. He has informed his employer about his teaching commitment and has also communicated with the university regarding his full-time job, ensuring that both parties understand his situation. Both his employer and university have been supportive in allowing him to pursue his interests. Ritesh is also transparent with his students about his availability and response times.
Nurturing a Culture of Innovation and Experimentation
Fostering innovation within a company requires a multifaceted approach that promotes creativity, experimentation, and learning. DriveNets’ routers currently power the networks of some of the largest operators around the world. This achievement is a result of the innovation and dedication the team brings to their products. The company’s key executives champion innovation by allocating resources thoughtfully and creating a vision that inspires everyone.
The leadership team always empowers employees to take ownership of projects and make decisions, fostering a sense of autonomy and responsibility. Additionally, encouraging cross-functional collaboration helps translate innovative ideas into tangible products.
Aligning Product Strategy with the Company’s Long term Vision
To sustain growth and success, it is essential to align the product’s long-term strategy with the company’s overall vision. Ritesh follows three strategies to ensure that the long-term product strategy is effective. First, he believes that the long-term strategy must be bold. It should not merely involve making slight improvements or adding more familiar features to the product. The team needs to fully embrace this vision and feel a sense of purpose in achieving it. Second, Ritesh emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making. He advocates using metrics to track product performance and identify opportunities for improvement along with implementing a feedback mechanism to facilitate enhancements.
Third, Ritesh suggests being agile and adaptable by conducting regular reviews of the product strategy. This practice helps assess its alignment with the company vision and allows for necessary adjustments.
Prioritizing Notable Investments in R&D
Balancing investments in research and development (R&D) with market demands is a critical challenge. The demand for new features often exceeds the capacity of development teams, making it difficult to allocate resources effectively for the innovations they aim to bring to the market. To address this, Ritesh ensures that R&D efforts are closely aligned with the company’s overall business strategy and long-term goals. He consistently prioritizes R&D projects that tackle specific market needs and pain points.
The Impact of AI and Machine Learning: Shaping the Networking Industry
AI and machine learning are set to revolutionize the networking industry over the next 5–10 years, resulting in significant advancements in automation, optimization, and security. AI-powered systems can automatically detect and resolve network issues, which reduces downtime and human intervention. Additionally, AI will facilitate the creation of virtual networks tailored for specific applications, thereby enhancing performance and security. Furthermore, AI-driven security systems will possess the capability to identify and respond to sophisticated cyberattacks in real-time.
Significant Challenges for the Communications and Technology Industry
The communications and technology industry faces significant challenges, primarily in cybersecurity and ethics. The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks poses serious risks to both businesses and individuals. In 2024, there was a notable breach in the US telecoms, highlighting these vulnerabilities. There is a gap in understanding between building and maintaining secure networks, and obtaining solutions for the entire supply chain—from hardware to software—is crucial for mitigating risks. Protecting sensitive data while complying with evolving regulations such as GDPR and CCPA presents a complex challenge. Additionally, the development and deployment of AI raise ethical concerns, such as bias, discrimination, and job displacement. Responsible practices in data collection, usage, and sharing are essential for building trust and preventing misuse.
Addressing Scalability Issues for Telecom Operators
To meet the growing demands of their customers, telecom operators must rethink how they build and expand their next. Relying on the traditional model of purchasing larger equipment and increasing link capacity every few years is no longer sustainable. Instead, operators need to develop their networks similarly to how large cloud providers do. A disaggregated architecture utilizes commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to run various software instances that perform different functions. This approach allows operators to add hardware and software capabilities incrementally, eliminating the need for complete replacement every few years.
Identifying and Nurturing Disruptive Ideas
Disruptive ideas have the potential to revolutionize industries and drive significant growth. Ritesh and his team identify and nurture these ideas through regular brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas and launch innovation challenges to attract fresh perspectives. They actively seek feedback from customers, partners, and analysts feedback to understand their unmet needs and pain points.
They encourage the use of AI, machine learning, analytics, and digital tools that facilitate collaboration, idea sharing, and learning and help understand trends. They conduct pilot projects to test ideas on a small scale quickly. They emphasize failure is a natural part of the innovation process and encourage learning from mistakes. Further, they create a culture that values experimentation and learning from failures.
The Future Roadmap of DriveNets
DriveNets has set various goals for different aspects of the business. Ritesh aims for the company to achieve several milestones over the next five years. His primary objective is to secure deployments with 50% of Tier-1 operators. This goal is not focused on sales; rather, it is a means to assess the acceptance of DriveNetss solutions. “If we are deployed by half of the Tier-1 operators in the next five years, then we know our solutions are making a difference,” emphasizes Ritesh.
Customers are already utilizing DriveNets’ software on white boxes to deploy their networks. The company aims to expand this usage to incorporate other virtual functions. Over the next five years, Ritesh envisions customers providing edge services such as edge AI, XR/VR, and network functions including CDN, Security, SD-WAN, SASE, and others from both edge and core infrastructures. The goal is for at least two to five large tier-1 operators to offer a subset of these services.
Wise Words for Aspiring Technologists
Ritesh advises aspiring technologists to understand how their company generates revenue, its cost structure, and its profit margins. It is essential to build a strong foundation in programming, algorithms, cloud platforms, DevOps, AI/ML, and computer networks. Always prioritize customer needs and satisfaction. Lastly, stay informed about industry trends, competitive landscapes, and emerging technologies.