Dr Abdurazak Mudesir currently chief technology officer (CTO) on Nemat’s executive board and chief technology officer in Germany will succeed her
Technology and innovation leader Claudia Nemat has told the Deutsche Telekom board that she is not be renewing her contract after 14 years. From the end of September she will instead be using her experience as executive and non executive director “for a portfolio of entrepreneurial activities, investing in AI and technology in addition to international board roles.”
She will be succeeded by Dr Abdurazak (Abdu) Mudesir on 1 October 2025. In addition to being Telekom’s CTO in Germany, he is also on Nemat’s executive board so the technology transfer is shaping up to be a smooth one. “During the last years, I have prepared my appointed successor for this role. I hired him for Deutsche Telekom in 2018. Now, I am very happy that Abdu Mudesir has accepted the task,” Nemat posted on LinkedIn. “Our technology and product board area is strong, the next generation of leaders well prepared.”
“I have worked closely with Claudia over the past 14 years. I would like to thank her very much for this,” said Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges. “With her strategic perspective and leadership, she has played a key role in shaping Deutsche Telekom’s transformation into one of the most successful telecommunications companies in the world. She brought her successor Abdu Mudesir into the company at an early stage and assigned him responsible tasks so that he can take over his new post well prepared.”
Höttges said that in the future, Mudesir will be responsible for a technology and product area that is “ideally positioned for the future”. The CEO added that he played a key role in the continuous expansion of a “high-performance and future-proof network architecture” – with over 10.5 million fiber-optic connections and over 98 percent 5G coverage in Germany.
“Innovation is part of his DNA. Abdu has been instrumental in advancing key future technologies such as Open RAN, cloud infrastructure and AI-based network control,” he said. “The use of AI has significantly increased power quality, energy efficiency and service automation – a milestone towards an autonomous grid.”
The telco recently lost its long-serving group chief information officer Peter Leukert – who will start at BT on 1 September as that telco’s chief digital officer – and the timing of that move is probably more than coincidental. Nemat will stay in-role until the end of September to “ensure a perfect transition”. Her contract would have expired next year which demonstrates the telco is not messing about with its succession planning.
“Now is the right time for me to consistently combine my experience, my passion for people and technology, my creative drive and my network and to pursue my own entrepreneurial activities,” said Nemat. “I will invest in Germany as a technology and AI location and further develop future models, in combination with international board mandates.”
The new CTO
Mudesir has a career spanning more than 15 years in technology. Since 2018, he has held various management roles within Deutsche Telekom, most recently in a dual role as managing director technology of Telekom Deutschland and Group CTO of Deutsche Telekom. He helped shape the company’s technological course. These include the further development of the mobile network and the expansion of its fibre network, as well as international innovations in the areas of Open RAN, cloud infrastructure and AI in network operations. His professional career began in 2010 at the management consultancy Altran Technologies. In 2012, he moved to Huawei.
“I would like to thank everyone involved for the trust they have placed in me – especially Claudia, with whom I have been working closely for years. I have great respect for everything Claudia has done and moved for Deutsche Telekom,” said Mudesir. “I am very much looking forward to the new task and to shaping the next technology phase together with the technology and innovation team. Like no other company, Deutsche Telekom stands for innovation, social responsibility and international competitiveness. I am proud to be able to participate in this.”
Dr Frank Appel, chairman of Deutsche Telekom’s supervisory board, said the board had approved Claudia Nemat’s request for early termination of her contract, a decision it respected despite regretting her departure. He credited Nemat with playing a key role in shaping the company’s culture and performance over the past 14 years, highlighting her contributions to network digitalisation, the rollout of 5G, resilient supply chains, global product innovation, and the AI strategy. He also welcomed Abdu Mudesir as her successor, praising him as a strong internal candidate who would ensure continuity and advance Deutsche Telekom’s digital transformation.
Pictured above: Claudia Nemat, (right) member of the board of management responsible for technology and innovation, and Dr Abdurazak Mudesir (left) currently CTO on Nemat’s executive board and CTO in Germany.
