Saim Ahmad Khan

Nokia's Network Planning & Optimisation business operates across every major market globally. This role exists at the intersection of operational insight and transformational change — with a mandate to challenge how markets deliver, not simply monitor whether they do. Working across all global markets without direct authority, I drive execution improvement through influence, analysis, and the discipline to challenge entrenched ways of working. Where teams have historically delivered projects the way they

Led transformation programmes — Drive17, Drive18, and NewT — designed to fundamentally reshape how Nokia's Network Planning & Optimisation services were delivered globally. The core thesis was centralisation: shifting delivery from high-cost local markets to two purpose-built Global Delivery Centers in India and Portugal, structured around language capability, customer requirements, and technical competence. This was not a straightforward transition. It required dismantling established delivery models, re

Minimisation of Drive Tests — MDT — existed as a concept before I arrived. The ambition at the time was modest: approximately €2M in annual savings. I began by asking a different question. Not how much could MDT save, but how much was Nokia actually spending on drive testing globally — and what would it take to eliminate the need for it entirely. The investigation that followed mapped €140M in annual global CoGS attributable to drive testing activity. I then conducted a systematic analysis of every projec

Led €120M full-turnkey delivery programme across 1,900+ remote locations across Saudi Arabia — one of the most operationally complex rollout environments in the region. Managed end-to-end services execution including supplier ecosystem, civil works, cost packages, and site integration across desert, mountainous, and coastal terrain.

Commercial and operational analysis supporting large-scale programme delivery across MEA markets. Provided financial insight, cost modelling, and business intelligence to drive decision-making across complex multi-market environments.

Led Quote-to-Cash transformation programme across multiple MEA markets — driving process standardisation, delivery efficiency, and operational consistency at regional scale across Nokia Siemens Networks.

Product and programme management across Middle East and Africa — building the regional delivery foundations that informed my later global transformation roles. Managed costing and planning for 350+ telecom deployment projects across the MEA region.

Delivered 400+ network deployment projects across Pakistan — the foundation of a global career in transformation and execution excellence. Managed turnkey rollout programmes across multiple technology generations and customer environments