Yan Hui is co-founder AirHop Communications and served as its CEO from the inception until December 2023. He now serves as Executive Chairman and CTO. His vision and insight into technological trends led him to recognize early that the future of the wireless industry would be shaped by software and network automation. AirHop has achieved several significant industry firsts under Yan’s leadership, including commercialization of real-time Self-Organized Network (SON) and deployment of AI/Machine Learning RAN optimization use cases in a real network. He led AirHop’s transformation from a three-person founding team to a dynamic and thriving operational software solution company. Yan has 20 years of wireless communications industry experience in technology and product development, corporate strategy and operations, product marketing and business development. Prior to AirHop, he established and managed 3G advanced R&D organization at Texas Instruments, developing innovative core system IPs for 3G wireless products. Yan also chaired the TI wireless patent committee and led the company’s wireless standardization activities. Yan held various management and engineering positions at Nortel Networks, Dot Wireless and served on the advisory board for ECE Department at University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has more than 30 patents granted or pending and a number of IEEE publications. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Tianjin University, China and a MSEE degree from UW – Madison.
Perry founded the CDMA Development Group (CDG) in 1993 and is its Executive Director. The CDG is a trade association comprised of over 100 of the world’s leading wireless operators and manufacturers. Perry has led the development and worldwide commercialization of CDMA since the first proof of concept trials in 1988. He was instrumental in the introduction of CDMA, helping to secure initial funding, developing new markets and manufacturers’ support, securing standardization and ultimately leading the evolution of CDMA as a next generation digital technology. CDG is currently a Market Representation Partner (MRP) of 3GPP2 and 3GPP.
Perry is also the Executive Chairman of the Device Renewal Forum, formed in 2012 to establish standards for testing and certifying refurbished devices.
John is founder and CEO of Shorthand Mobile, a privately held mobile application company providing the first “SMS browser”. He is also a venture partner with iSherpa Capital, a Venture Capital Fund which invests in seed-stage and early-stage companies, with a focus on the Wireless sector and supporting technologies. John has over 20 years of experience in the wireless industry where he has held both operational and strategic roles. Prior joining iSherpa, John was GM of the CDMA Chipset Business Unit of Texas Instrument and was also Distinguished Member of the Technical staff and directed the development of TI’s first WCDMA baseband modem. John joined TI as a result of their $475M acquisition of Dot Wireless in 2000, which John co-founded and was Vice President of Engineering and a member of the board of directors. Prior to Dot Wireless, John was Director of Engineering at NextWave Telecom where he was responsible for CDMA subscriber chipset development and Engineering Manager at QUALCOMM, Inc. where he led the development of QUALCOMM’s proprietary DSP solutions.
In addition to being an investor and advisor for AirHop Communications, John has served on the advisory board for a number of companies including Orca Radio Systems (RFIC design) and TensorComm, Inc. (wireless technology). John holds a Master of Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, has completed the Executive Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and currently named inventor on 24 issued and 21 pending patents in the area of wireless communications and systems.
Adrian is a luminary of the wireless industry with a stellar career that has spanned 36 years. Most recently, Adrian was President of the Motorola Networks business from January 2005 until his retirement in March 2006. Adrian expanded the scope of the Motorola Networks business to provide cellular radio access, IP networks, telco wireline access, WiMAX wireless access platforms, embedded communications and computer platforms, as well as providing customers with a services and applications management business focused in these areas. Prior to heading the Networks business, from August 2002 to December 2004, he served as Executive Vice President and led global sales and strategy functions for the Motorola Cellular Networks business following five years in Europe leading the GSM Systems business. Adrian’s experience spans both the cellular and Private Mobile Radio (PMR) markets. He has successfully led product development for several generations of handheld and infrastructure communications products. Adrian ’s leadership spanned new technology development, supply chain, marketing and worldwide business line management. He currently serves on the HP Communications, Multi-Media and Entertainment Board of Advisors, the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Board of Trustees, and the Auburn University Wireless Board of Advisors. He served as a Director of Ip Unity Corp. and Movius Interactive Corporation. Adrian R. Nemcek holds a Bachelor Of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Loyola University of Chicago.
Stephen is a Co-founder and Managing Partner of CloudScale Capital Partners where he invests in growth-stage Companies at the forefront of Digital Transformation and the Cloud. He has over 25 years of global Venture Capital, Private Equity, Marketing, Strategy and Corporate Development experience in the Mobile, Enterprise, Internet, AI, Cloud, 5G Telecom, Edge Software and Networking sectors. Prior to CloudScale, Stephen was a General Partner and Head of the Technology investment practice at Sprout Group, a $3 Billion Venture Capital and Private Equity affiliate of DLJ and Credit Suisse. At Sprout, he led deals at all stages with successful exits including two IPOs and seven M&A events, earning a DLJ Super Achiever award. Before joining Sprout, he was Group VP and Worldwide Research Director at Dataquest/Gartner Group where he built and managed the largest industry analyst team covering the global Communications industry. Stephen was CEO of Reef Point Systems, a provider of carrier-class security solutions acquired by GenBand. He also held Senior Executive positions at Retix, Ungermann-Bass, and Chipcom.
In additions, Stephen has served on the Boards of numerous public and private companies including roles as Chairman and as a member of the audit committee. He earned a BA in Political Science and Environmental Science from Boston College, an MS in Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and an MPA in Public Administration from Northeastern University. Stephen also completed the Stanford Executive Institute Program for the Management of High Technology Companies at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.