Liberty Global said it has named former TiVo CEO Enrique Rodriguez executive vice president and chief technology officer, taking the spot left vacant after former CTO Balan Nair was promoted to head up Liberty Global’s Latin American operation in January.
Rodriguez will start his new position in late July. Since January, Baptiest Coopmans has filled in as interim CTO. He will remain with the company as senior vice president, operations.
“Enrique is a seasoned executive who will hit the ground running on day one,” Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said in a statement. “In today's technology environment the best CTOs have worked across sectors, platforms and geographies. Enrique has C-level experience as an engineer, software developer and operator. …I'm particularly excited to tap into Enrique's knowledge of video products and platforms as we ramp up innovation in our TV business. He’s the right leader at the right time for Liberty Global.”
Rodriguez will lead Liberty Global’s Technology & Innovation (T&I) team of more than 7,500 employees, with an annual operating and capital budget of more than $5 billion.
[Read: TiVo Exiting The Box-Making Business]
Rodriguez was named CEO of TiVo in 2017. Prior to that, he has managed multi-billion dollar businesses for companies like AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco and Thomson, and has a long history in digital television as well as the European broadband sector.
As head of Microsoft's Connected TV business, he launched IPTV solutions for telecommunication companies around the world. At AT&T Rodriguez was responsible for the teams that developed and launched its OTT service, DirecTV Now.
Rodriguez will lead Liberty Global’s Technology & Innovation (T&I) team of more than 7,500 employees, with an annual operating and capital budget of more than $5 billion. The centralized technology function powers the IT, supply chain, product development and delivery and network platforms across Liberty's operating companies, working across countries and brands to help them succeed. Liberty Global’s standardized approach to its portfolio of software and hardware, which includes the Horizon TV platform and state-of-the-art Connect WiFi routers, plays a critical role in optimizing operational efficiency and delivering a consistently superior experience to Liberty's 22 million customers in Europe.
“This is an exciting time to join Liberty Global,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “It is one of the few companies in our sector with international scale, a long-term commitment to technology leadership, and a track record of consistent growth and value creation. Mike and his team are first class operators and I look forward to accelerating product innovation and building the network capacity that European consumers want and demand.”
