Speakers

Nokia, Head of Environmental & Responsible AI Leadership

Session: How Green is Your Bottom Line?

Date: Thursday, March 5

Time: 11:15 - 12:00 CET

Location: Marconi Stage, Hall 6

Details: As concerns about climate, cost pressures, and operational resilience converge, sustainability is emerging not just as a moral or regulatory imperative, but as a key driver of efficiency and long-term viability. Enterprises and network operators investing in greener infrastructure and processes are increasingly reporting measurable reductions in operating expenses (OPEX), lower energy consumption, and greater reliability. 

This session explores how sustainability strategies, from energy-efficient hardware and virtualisation, to smarter demand-response, renewable energy sourcing, and reduced hardware churn, can translate into bottom-line savings and resilient operations. Globally, efforts to modernise data centres, telecom networks and IT infrastructure toward lower power use and longer equipment lifecycles are rising, especially in regions facing high energy costs or regulatory pressure for carbon reduction. As energy price volatility and environmental risk grow, green-first operations become a form of risk-mitigation as well as cost control. 

Speaker bio: Francesca is a highly accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience in telecommunications, innovation, and leadership. Her career is marked by significant achievements in sustainability, technology development and standardization, customer engagement, and marketing strategies. With a deep technical background in telecommunication systems, including GSM, WCDMA, LTE, 5G, and emerging 6G use cases, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership, technical expertise, and business acumen, making her a recognized figure in the industry. Known for her mentoring skills, she has consistently transformed teams and driven impactful results.

She is currently the Head of Environment and Responsible AI Leadership at Technology Standards, where she leads sustainability research and standardization initiatives focused on sustainability by design, environmental impact of technology, and responsible AI.

Francesca’s contributions have earned her several prestigious awards, including the Business Excellence Award in 2022, and recognition as a finalist in The Institute of Telecommunications Professional Women in Telecoms Award. She has also been selected to join the High Level Expert Group on Big Data and Frontier Technologies for the Planet.

Francesca holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Padova University, Italy.