Stefan Petzov
Cupertino,CA
Summary
Dynamic technology leader with a proven track record at Swisscom Outpost, specializing in AI-driven automation and innovative solutions. Expert in Python and cloud services, I excel in stakeholder engagement and strategic partnerships, driving impactful projects that enhance operational efficiency and foster collaboration across teams.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Innovation Lab and Partnerships
Swisscom Outpost
Palo Alto, USA
01.2021 - Current
- Innovation Acceleration & Productization: Leading the Swisscom Innovation Lab team, focusing on AI-powered automation and agentic solutions to optimize core business processes and insights generation.
- Autonomous & Agentic Systems: Developed specialized tools, including Agentic Data Analyst and a Strategic Trend Analysis Engine, using AutoGen, LangChain, OpenSearch, and AWS Bedrock to automate complex reasoning and technology scanning. Integrated evaluation, observability, and security guardrails.
- Developed rank-based contextual memory, enhancing decision-making processes for AI agents (MCP, ChromaDB).
- Infrastructure & Diagnostic Graphs: Developed a Network Diagnostics tool utilizing topology graphs and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Integrated with Nvidia Air, Ansible, and NetworkX to map and troubleshoot complex network environments.
- Privacy-First AI Platforms: Engineered a Data Tokenization framework for finance compliance using spaCy.
- Owned technical relationships for multiple internal enterprise customers, serving as architectural and technical advisor for AI-powered platforms and automation initiatives. Collaborated with stakeholders, product teams, and engineering to understand workflows, constraints, and success criteria, translating them into technical designs and delivery plans.
- Serving as the primary technical point of contact for enterprise customers adopting AI and data platforms, guiding architecture decisions, integration approaches, and risk mitigation.
- Using systematic evaluation frameworks and Value Chain Analysis to map complex enterprise workflows, identifying high-leverage intervention points for AI-powered automation and agentic solutions.
- Cross-functional Team Leadership: Leading technical PoCs and vendor selection processes for critical infrastructure platforms, including cloud and container management, ensuring alignment with internal business needs and priorities.
- Incubated and advised on projects from concept to spin-off.
- Strategic Impact & Leadership: Stakeholder Influence: Translating complex technologies, including GenAI, Confidential Computing, and Cloud-Native architectures, into scalable business solutions and spin-off ventures (TrustRelay).
- Ecosystem Partnerships: Fostered high-impact collaborations with global leaders, including Nvidia and VMware, to strengthen Swisscom's technology position.
- Identified strategic opportunities for Swisscom in the robotics space.
Head of Technology & Innovation
Swisscom Outpost
Palo Alto, USA
01.2015 - 01.2021
- Transformational Leadership: Led strategic change initiatives, implementing service virtualization, hybrid cloud strategies, and AI/ML services to enhance organizational capabilities.
- Trend Analysis: Identified emerging technologies and developed prototypes, providing insights that informed strategic decisions in Machine Learning, Confidential Computing, Data Mesh, and Web3.
- Startup Advisor: Advised US and European startups on technology implementation and business strategy, facilitating alignment with market trends and enhancing competitive positioning.
- Participated as board member for Telecom Council of Silicon Valley, evaluating startup proposals and providing strategic insights.: Telecom Council of Silicon Valley board member, evaluating 70 startups a year.
- Academic Collaboration: Advisory Board Member for the Rutgers Big Data Certification Program.
Senior Solution Architect
Nokia Siemens Networks
Mountain View, USA
01.2012 - 01.2015
- Architected and developed cloud performance evaluation tool, accelerating Telco Cloud design phase by 80% and leading to acquisition by testing and certification company in Silicon Valley.
- Application Performance Evaluation: Developed a tool for the impact evaluation of mobile applications in the T-Mobile network, resulting in a 50% offload of mobile network resources and faster mobile apps.
- Introduced NSN to Docker containers, built prototype of network edge computing, and engineered modules for generating synthetic IoT and mobility data, enhancing analytical solutions development process.
Senior Solution Architect
Nokia Siemens Networks
Berlin, Germany
01.2010 - 01.2012
- Developed NSN's first cloud-based voice solution, "Yuave," contributing to recognition as "Best Mobile Platform on Cloud" by the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Council.
- Designed and implemented API services to ensure seamless integration across platforms.
- Integrated mobile operators across Latin America and Europe, enhancing connectivity and service delivery.
Solution Architect
Nokia Siemens Networks
Sofia, Bulgaria
01.2008 - 01.2010
- Cloud Deployment: Executed first cloud deployment of NSN's product for Vodafone, enhancing service delivery.
- Technical Sales & Integration: Led technical pre-sales activities, securing million euro upsell in services and integration solutions for major European telecom operators.
Education
Master of Science -
Technical University of Varna
Varna, BulgariaSkills
- Python programming
- PyTorch framework
- LangChain integration
- Autogen tools
- CrewAI platform
- Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
- AI and ML models
- Agent evaluation techniques
- AI security measures
- AWS SageMaker services
- AWS Glue data integration
- AWS Cognito authentication
- AWS QuickSight analytics
- Jupyter notebooks
- Gradio interface development
- JavaScript programming
- CI/CD pipeline management
- SQL and NoSQL databases
- Vector and graph databases
- AWS cloud services
- Kubernetes orchestration
Websites
Professional Development
- AWS Generative AI Learning Plan for Decision Makers, 2023
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, 2021
- Product Management in the AI Era - Stanford, 2021
- Machine Learning in Business - MIT SSM, 2020
- Machine Learning Class (by Andrew Ng), 2016
- Certified Scrum Master, 2015
Timeline
Head of Innovation Lab and Partnerships
Swisscom Outpost
01.2021 - Current
Head of Technology & Innovation
Swisscom Outpost
01.2015 - 01.2021
Senior Solution Architect
Nokia Siemens Networks
01.2012 - 01.2015
Senior Solution Architect
Nokia Siemens Networks
01.2010 - 01.2012
Solution Architect
Nokia Siemens Networks
01.2008 - 01.2010
Master of Science -
Technical University of Varna