Verizon Business boosts product and marketing groups with 2 new leadership appointments

Verizon Business on Monday announced the appointment of Debika Bhattacharya to the role of chief product officer, Verizon Business, and Iris Meijer to the role of senior vice president of business marketing and revenue operations, Verizon Business.

Both leaders cite customer centricity as a top priority for their new posts.

“It’s thrilling to take on responsibility for the Verizon Business product portfolio at a time when 5G is making even the most data-intensive applications possible across mobile networks,” Bhattacharya said in a statement. “I have two guiding objectives for this exciting new challenge: optimizing our portfolio for the most in-demand customer needs in the market right now and innovating around new technologies that will help run the fully connected economy of the future. Ultimately, it’s about offering our customers a product suite that will help them innovate, get to revenue faster and serve their own customers better. It’s about delivering B2B solutions that help businesses grow and succeed.”

“I am so excited to be a part of this incredible team,” Meijer stated. “Many have already heard me refer to ‘sisu.’ It’s a Finnish word that’s hard to translate, but represents determination, courage, bravery, willpower, tenacity and resilience. It is about having an action-oriented mindset, embracing change and ensuring the task at hand is done well, and with integrity. It also manifests in educated optimism. There’s no better way to describe our team, how we show up for our customers and how we will continue to deliver for our business against our vectors of growth.”

Bhattacharya reports to Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business, and Meijer reports to Sampath Sowmyanarayan, chief revenue officer of Verizon Business.

As chief product officer for Verizon Business, Bhattacharya is responsible for Verizon Business’ holistic product portfolio and its strategy and alignment with Verizon’s Network-as-a-Service framework — including edge compute, software defined network, Internet of Things and 5G services, global networking solutions, security, advanced communications services and managed services — and leads product management across all customer segments. Previously, she held the role of SVP, 5G & Enterprise Solutions, Verizon Business, responsible for delivering 5G solutions and strategic business outcomes to Verizon’s Global Enterprise and Government customers and leading a team of 1,100-plus sales and technology professionals across 20 countries.

As a seasoned global executive, Bhattacharya has extensive experience leading complex technology projects for Fortune 1000 clients, guiding successful information technology transformations in health care, retail, manufacturing and financial services. She has held a variety of executive roles within Verizon, including an overseas assignment in Europe. She was instrumental in the global expansion of Verizon’s communications network, as well as the deployment of breakthrough optical wave technologies.

As SVP of business marketing and revenue operations for Verizon Business, Meijer will lead all facets of digital, integrated and product marketing for Verizon Business, including commercial operations, pricing, field marketing and events, customer lifecycle, digital media, analyst relations and more. Previously she served as global chief marketing officer for Vodafone Business, where she focused on transforming its global marketing function into a strategic and revenue-driving team.

Before joining Vodafone Business, Meijer was vice president of customer marketing and communications at Nokia, responsible for a globally dispersed team and their diverse digital, product and customer marketing strategies. There, she worked globally and led teams that generated over a billion dollars in revenue.

Verizon Business boosts product and marketing groups with 2 new leadership appointments