Hossein Eslambolchi

Hossein Eslambolchi (born 1959) is a prolific inventor and engineer, best known for his prominent role in AT&T. He joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1986, and rose to become, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer, President of AT&T Labs and President of AT&T Global Network Services of the company and was an officer of the company since 2003, and served as a critical member of AT&T's governing Executive Committee. For nearly two decades, Dr. Eslambolchi led the transformation of AT&T’s network, systems and services. He left AT&T soon after its merger with SBC in late 2005. Upon his departure, BusinessWeek called him “a critical player in maintaining AT&T’s status as a technology leader” (Dec. 30, 2005) and noted that he is “a bold, but pragmatic, visionary.”

Dr. Eslambolchi served as Chief Technology Officer and advised its top leaders on the formulation and implementation of a strategic technology vision from 2001 to 2005. Early on, he predicted that IP would “eat everything” and advocated an architecture that would allow all services to run on IP and work together with connectivity to any device. His recent published book “2020 Vision” has set the foundation of communications industry over the next two decades.

Light Reading said that “ [Dr. Eslambolchi’s] evangelizing has underscored the notion of where the entire communications infrastructure is heading” when it named him to the # 1 spot on its list of Top 10 Movers and Shakers in Telecom (Nov. 2003). And The New York Times credited Dr. Eslambolchi as “the technological strategist behind AT&T's ambitious turnaround plan to become a data transmission company selling an array of software products like network security systems” (Jan. 22, 2005).

Life and work

Eslambolchi graduated with highest honors from the University of California, San Diego with a BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering. As of 2006, he is on the Board of Directors for Litescape Technologiesand advisory board of school of engineering at UC San Diego.

AT&T career

Eslambolchi had many roles and titles within AT&T. According to his public profile, he was "responsible for the corporation's strategic technology direction, network operations, research and development, information technology systems and processes." In addition to having been the general CTO and CIO, he presided over AT&T's Global Networking Technology Services (GNTS) division and over AT&T Labs. As GNTS president, he led engineering and operations, and the development of the AT&T network.

In addition to serving as CTO, Dr. Eslambolchi was also President of AT&T’s Global Networking Technology Services, President and CEO of AT&T Labs and Chief Information Officer, giving him end-to-end responsibility for implementing the company’s technology and operational vision of 21st century. As President and CEO of AT&T Labs, he led a team of some of the world’s best scientists and engineers in developing an architecture that transformed AT&T’s legacy voice and data networks into a converged IP/MPLS network that now reaches all major business centers around the globe.

As President of Global Network Services, Dr. Eslambolchi had responsibility for the design, development, engineering, operations and reliability of AT&T's global network, as well as for its Global Network Operations Center – AT&T’s networking nerve center. As CIO, he provided the leadership that reengineered AT&T’s underlying information technology (IT) infrastructures with his unique Concept of One and Concept of Zero business processes. While moving AT&T’s legacy networks onto an IP/MPLS platform, he also directed the convergence of the operating support and customer service systems underlying the network, making AT&T the lowest-cost major carrier. This also improved cycle times and allowed customers unprecedented access to the network that permits them to monitor and control their services.

Dr. Eslambolchi has won numerous Awards including notable AT&T Science and Technology Medal and became AT&T Fellow and received the most prestigious technical award in 1999. He has also received AT&T significant patent award in 1997.

He is well-known in the scientific community for his expertise in IP network reliability, IP Services and setting an industry vision for * the "Concept of One" (do it once, do it right, use it everywhere), and * the "Concept of Zero" (zero defects, zero cycle time and automate where possible), which have been used to streamline production across the company. and his [http://pons.web.att.com/hossein/principles.asp principles] :
* "Flattery doesn't cost anything and it yields huge dividends. "
* "We need to create a place with the force of a gigantic magnet that would draw employees to work in the morning and release them in the evening. A place where the atmosphere is electromagnetic."

As of 2005, his yearly total compensation from AT&T was around $6M a year.

As an AT&T lead Transformation officer, CTO, CIO and President of AT&T Labs and Global Network Officer, he has spoken at many conferences over the past years, highlighting in 2005 the needs for intelligent networks and for good security. A recent catchphrase of his is "IP will eat everything," meaning that all devices will communicate with one another over IP networks. His vision is included in a recently published book called "2020 Vision" will bring true technology vision for CXOs across the world.

Awards and patents

* Appointed an AT&T Fellow, AT&T’s highest technical honor, in 1999.
* Named "Inventor of the Year" by the [http://www.njinvent.njit.edu/2001/inventors_of_the_year_2001/inventors_of_the_year_2001.html New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 2001] .
* Holds (as of September 2005) over [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&RS=%28IN%2FMuthukrishnan+AND+AN%2FLucent%29&Refine=Refine+Search&Refine=Refine+Search&Query=IN%2FEslambolchi+and+AN%2F%28Lucent+or+ATT%29 900 worldwide patents] (issued, pending, and in preparation). Virtually all of these patents are the work products of employees who reported to Mr. Eslambolchi

References

* [http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=271820 Eslambolchi's Forbes profile] , with data from Hemscott

External links

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=5&q=http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail589.html&e=912 A half-hour presentation from Supernova 2005] , recorded June 21 2005, care of IT Conversations
* rtsp://media.cmpnet.com/twtoday_media/nc/CEO_CTO/Hossein.rm RealMedia : video interview, care of [http://www.networkcomputing.com/showitem.jhtml?docid=1617colhossein Networkcomputing.com]