Rodrigues joined the WBA back in November 2019 and had been previously serving as the Alliance’s general manager. Under his leadership, the WBA plans to extend its relationships with enterprises across various vertical markets as well as consumers, building upon its membership of service providers and technology providers. It recently made headlines with the first Wi-Fi 6-based industrial IoT trial undertaken with aerospace manufacturer Mettis Aerospace and recently published its Wi-Fi 6 deployment guidelines to aid vertical markets such as hospitality and retail.
The former CEO, Shrikant Shenwai, had been with the WBA since 2003 and over the course of 16 years had steered the WBA through major growth and overseen huge developments in the evolution of the WBA from championing the Wi-Fi Roaming business to overseeing the Carrier Wi-Fi growth and the growth of the WBA's membership. After all this time, Shrikant is keen to carve a new niche, albeit continuing to stay close to the Wi-Fi industry.
“Wi-Fi is the most ubiquitous wireless technology in mankind’s history,” said Rodrigues. “It has become a fundamental part of daily life for people across the world. Yet there are still challenges ahead, which I would like the WBA to further address.
“For instance, we need to continue our good work on Wi-Fi roaming—accelerating the adoption of a clean, simple and easy to use experience for everyone in the ecosystem – consumers, enterprises, carriers – when Wi-Fi is used. When I’m connected, my experience should be seamless and secure. To achieve that, the WBA has to continue to enhance the quality of experience on Wi-Fi roaming.”
Rodrigues will continue the WBA’s focus on Wi-Fi/5G convergence and the WBA claims that many service providers have recently signalled their interest in Wi-Fi 6/5G convergence to deliver the best quality of service to their subscribers in the most cost-effective manner.
“Overall, the WBA needed a leader with deep insight into the Wi-Fi industry, someone who could recognise Wi-Fi’s biggest opportunities and challenges and guide our membership in addressing them together,” said JR Wilson, the WBA’s chairman. “We also needed someone with the right blend of strategic thinking and technical knowledge. Tiago fit the bill. He has been involved with WBA for more than 15 years, as a member, project lead, workgroup chair, member of the Board of Directors and member of staff, and his contributions over that time have been outstanding. We look forward to his continued contributions and leadership.”
