speaking engagements

Matthew Lear, Senior Director of Product Management at iconectiv, is responsible for overseeing the Trusted Communications portfolio, focused on bringing increased trust in B2C communications in voice, messaging and data. 

With more than 25 years of technology and business leadership in the telecommunications industry, Lear has created product strategies and delivered enterprise and consumer products and solutions to market. Prior to iconectiv, Lear served as Director of Product Management at ZOS Communications, where he developed product strategies and delivered cloud and mobile device solutions focused on location-based services and contextual geo-fencing.

Lear graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in computer science and received his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Rutgers University.

Chris Drake, Senior Vice President - Corporate and Business Development, at iconectiv, is responsible for internal and external technology initiatives including emerging opportunities in trusted communications, cybersecurity, mobile content, mobile identity, virtualization and M2M/IoT. 
Drake began his career at Bell Northern Research and has over 25 years in the telecommunications industry. Prior to iconectiv, Chris held executive positions at Neustar, Sonus Networks, Telcordia Technologies as well as other companies.  Drake is also an executive advisor to technology startups and had worked with the Canadian Consulate Tech Accelerator @ NYC for many years. Drake contributes to various GSMA efforts including the Fraud and Security Group, The Networks Group, and the Industry Specification Approving Group. Drake is on the board and executive committee of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), chair of the ATIS Technology and Operations Council.  Drake is a longstanding member of the CTIA cybersecurity working group, the Cybersecurity Advisory Board for the Pace University Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, and has served on the Industrial Advisory Board for the Security and Software Engineering Research Center (S2ERC) for Georgetown and Ball State Universities through the National Science Foundation. Drake also serves on the FCC federal advisory committee, the North American Numbering Council.

Alberto Apablaza, Account Director, LATAM at iconectiv, is responsible for the operations and implementation of the Number Portability in Chile and Argentina including managing new initiatives in the region. As a trusted business leader, Apablaza has demonstrated history of working in the Telecommunications Industry from the beginning of his career in Chile and then in South America. He has been involved in the Chile Number Portability from its conception where he led the project program in one of the most prominent carriers in Chile. Apablaza is a Computer Science Engineer with a Master Degree in Management in Technological Entrepreneurships.

John Hayes, Head of Solutions Engineering at iconectiv, is responsible for leading the company’s activities that enable carriers to economically meet their rollout objectives and cost effectively support their service portfolio.

With more than 30 years of experience in telecommunications, Hayes has led engagements to improve network operations for global carriers centered around optimizing new investments, utilization embedded capabilities and leveraging carrier interworking.

He has also advocated the need for carriers to focus on establishing a robust data infrastructure that is consistently used across the business to obtain reliable insights that permit effective operational and capital efficiencies to be realized.

Bob Grant, Principal Product Manager at iconectiv, is responsible for setting the strategy, roadmap and feature definition for TruOps TRA and TruReach Certify. His role entails working collaboratively across all functions within the organization to ensure strategic and tactical alignment of goals and resources.

Grant has more than 20 years of experience managing products in the telecommunications industry. Before joining iconectiv, Grant served as Channel Operations Director for Avaya.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Montclair State University and a Master of Business Administration in international business from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Bob Grant, Principal Product Manager at iconectiv, is responsible for setting the strategy, roadmap and feature definition for TruOps TRA and TruReach Certify. His role entails working collaboratively across all functions within the organization to ensure strategic and tactical alignment of goals and resources.

Grant has more than 20 years of experience managing products in the telecommunications industry. Before joining iconectiv, Grant served as Channel Operations Director for Avaya.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Montclair State University and a Master of Business Administration in international business from Fairleigh Dickinson University.