Girish Bhatia,
Head, Solutions Engineering, Ciena India
Girish Bhatia leads Ciena India’s solutions engineering function, working with customers to build agile, scalable networks as bandwidth demand surges from cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) training and inference. He points to the core challenge and opportunity ahead, that is, networks must adapt for future bandwidth needs, while fibre quality, stability and uptime grow ever more critical as the scale rises.
“My target is to help deliver the fastest data links in the world for our customers,” he says. He sees AI and cloud remaining as the central focus for Indian telcos, especially where fibre cuts are a concern.
With more than two decades in telecommunications, Bhatia has built, scaled and modernised networks across India and beyond. He began his career at Tata Teleservices Limited and has held leadership roles that bridged technology, strategy and execution.
At his current role at Ciena, he is shaping the evolution of digital infrastructure by ensuring customer satisfaction and success.
What excites him most is delivering connectivity milestones with the customers. He notes that Ciena pioneered one of the first managed optical fibre network deals in the country, where service providers design, build and manage networks to hyperscalers’ technical requirements.
Bhatia’s remit includes leading Ciena’s solutions engineering team and working closely with sales, product management and engineering to ensure successful solution deployments.
He describes his strengths as leading from the front, collaborating closely with customers and cross-functional teams, learning fast and blending technology with business consulting to support impactful projects.
His management style is rooted in empowerment and trust. He sets a clear vision, allows space for innovation and emphasises transparency, open dialogue and continuous learning. “I see myself as a coach and enabler, rather than a top-down manager,” he says, adding that a leader is only as good as anyone from the team.
Apart from work, he is passionate about food and fast cars. He cooks at home on weekends and follows Formula One racing. Family is central to his activities. Becoming a father is his happiest memory and lives with his wife, mother and seven-year-old daughter. He cherishes conversations with family members together at home and over breakfast.
Bhatia holds a bachelor of engineering degree from the Thadomal Shahani Engineering College.
