Shailesh Gupta | Director of Network Operations
Rakuten Mobile

Shailesh Gupta is a senior telecom infrastructure executive with more than 25 years of experience in building and operating large-scale networks. As Director of Network Operations at Rakuten Mobile, he is responsible for running one of the world’s most advanced, software-driven networks—built on open, disaggregated, and cloud-native architecture.

Previously, as Vice President of IP & Enterprise, he led core initiatives across network slicing, E2E IP network automation, disaggregated routers, and 5G mobile backhaul, with a strong focus on operational efficiency and engineering scale.

Prior to Rakuten, he spent nearly two decades at Bharti Airtel, where he helped expand and modernize its national network, following earlier engineering roles at Siemens.
Shailesh is known for leading high-impact teams and delivering technically sound, commercially viable infrastructure solutions. He is currently based in Tokyo.