Broadband and optical movers and shakers: Aryaka names new Chief Customer Officer, VP of Security Product Management; Aureon names GVTC veteran O’Neal as CEO

Aryaka names new Chief Customer Officer, VP of security product management
Aryaka has promoted Vidyaranya Maddi to Chief Customer Officer and hired Scott Fanning, formerly of Palo Alto Networks, as VP of Security Product Management. A 12-year company veteran, Vidyaranya Maddi, has been named Chief Customer Officer. Over the past decade, he has spearheaded Aryaka’s global delivery and support functions. In his expanded role, Maddi will oversee the entire customer success function, team and experience. A seasoned cybersecurity leader with over 25 years of experience, Scott Fanning will join the team to accelerate the advancement of Aryaka’s Unified SASE as a Service, leveraging Aryaka’s OnePASS architecture to offer unique and differentiated ways to address ever-expanding threats and new attack surfaces introduced with the AI adoption.

Aureon names AT&T and GVTC veteran O’Neal as CEO 
Aureon has named GVTC veteran George O'Neal its new CEO, effective January 13, 2025. O'Neal takes over the reins from Scott Behn, who is retiring from the company. During his 18 years at GVTC Communications, O’Neal led the telco’s transition from copper to fiber, successfully building fiber to over 80,000 rooftops. He also designed and managed GVTC's FTTH Brownfield Overbuild Program, overbuilding copper plant to over 40,000 rooftops, and initiated the "Our System First for WiFi" program to enhance customer experience and reduce repair issues. Earlier, O’Neal held positions at ALLTEL and AT&T (formerly SBC). Additionally, he served as a Board Director and Treasurer for the Fiber Broadband Association. He graduated from the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

CoreWeave taps Sandy Venugopal to be Chief Information Officer
CoreWeave has named Sandy Venugopal its Chief Information Officer (CIO). In this role, Venugopal will lead the company's IT and Digital Transformation strategy and build a foundation to support CoreWeave's hyper-growth and scaling needs while working closely with clients.

Venugopal brings over 20 years of experience in technology leadership and digital transformation, with a proven track record of driving innovation, operational excellence, and business growth across global enterprises. 

Fiber Broadband Association elects and grows its 2025 board of directors
The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) announced the growth of its 2025 Board of Directors as it looks to support organizational expansion and lead its members through the most extensive fiber broadband investment cycle ever. This year’s Board has an additional member, and FBA will add members each year for the next two years, for 12 members by 2027.

The entire 2024 Board of Directors includes several broadband industry executives across the service provider, vendor, supply chain and network construction segments:

• Chair: Ariane Schaffer, Head of U.S. Federal and State Policy at GFiber
• Vice Chair: Ashley Brown, senior director of field and partner marketing, Adtran
• Secretary: Evann Freeman, VP of government and community relations, EPB of Chattanooga
• Treasurer: Jimmy Todd, CEO and general manager, Nex-Tech
• Scott Jackson, national market manager of broadband, Graybar
• Sachin Gupta, VP of Business and technology strategies, Centranet
• Mark Boxer, technical manager of solutions and applications engineering, OFS
• Roger Timmerman, executive director, UTOPIA Fiber
• Bob Whitman, VP, of market development, Corning
Rob Shema, director of corporate development and government Affairs, altafiber

USTelecom realigns top management team with new roles
USTelecom | The Broadband Association recently announced several new staff roles and responsibilities:

·       Nirali Patel will assume the role of General Counsel as part of her work as Senior VP of regulatory and legal affairs.

·       Josh Bercu will take on the new position of Senior VP of policy while he continues to lead the Industry Traceback Group’s consumer protection efforts.

·       Paul Raak, VP of government affairs, will assume the additional title of Senior Counselor.

·       Jenna Alsayegh is now Assistant VP of strategic initiatives and partnerships.

·       Nicole Henry is now Assistant VP of government affairs.

If you have an executive at your company who has joined or been promoted to a new position, contact Sean Buckley, Editor in Chief of Lightwave+BTR, at [email protected]. 

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