Kashif Islam

Kashif Islam is a 20+ year veteran in the IT industry and has architected several complex, large-scale networks for some of the largest wireline and mobile service providers across the world. He is currently a Principal Telecommunication Architect in Red Hat’s consulting organization and is tasked with helping service providers transform their existing mobile infrastructure into next-generation, cloud-native 5G networks. Prior to his work with Red Hat, Kashif was a senior solutions architect at Cisco Systems. During his tenure at Cisco, he devised strategies and provided technical leadership to service providers in modernizing and transforming their existing mobile backhaul networks into xHaul to support Cloud RAN architectures and new 5G services. Kashif is a Distinguished Speaker at industry events such as Cisco Live, Society of Cable and Telecommunication Engineers (SCTE), and others. He has also co-authored Open RAN (O-RAN) Alliance’s xHaul Packet Switched Network Architecture Specification. Kashif is a double CCIE (#14300) and holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering from Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan, as well as a Master of Engineering in Internetworking from Dalhousie University, Canada. Kashif lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his family and, when not working, enjoys hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains.