1995
The College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia
Master of Business Administration
Product Leader · Technology Strategist
Héctor J. Zayas
Product Development & Management · Strategy · Technology · Consulting
Bilingual product leader with three decades of experience building and scaling network and managed services across the telecommunications industry — from SD-WAN and Ethernet to IP-VPN, Wavelength, and Dark Fiber.
About
Building products that move networks forward.
Bilingual product leader with deep experience in product development, strategic planning, and business analysis in high-technology environments. Strong network technology expertise complemented by working knowledge of AI and LLM principles and applications.
Proven track record of building and leading high-performing cross-functional teams, launching new initiatives, and consistently delivering results — from $515M Networking and Managed Services portfolios at Cox Communications to $700M+ wholesale wireless segments at BellSouth.
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Product Strategy
Business cases, market analysis, and roadmaps that align engineering, sales, and operations behind a single direction.
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Network & Managed Services
SD-WAN, SASE/SSE, Ethernet, IP-VPN, MPLS, Wavelength, Dark Fiber, and cellular WAN extension across retail and wholesale segments.
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Cross-functional Leadership
Integrating sales, engineering, operations, supply chain, finance, and legal to ship complex carrier-grade offers end to end.
Experience
Three decades across the telecommunications industry.
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Senior Lead Product Manager
Lead Product Development and Product Operations for Retail and Wholesale Networking and Managed Services — including SD-WAN, Ethernet, IP-VPN, Wavelength, and Dark Fiber — representing $515M in annual revenue.
- Delivered business services on the VMware SD-WAN platform (SD-Gateway, SASE, SSE) and operationalized Fortinet and Meraki platforms to broaden solution flexibility.
- Integrated the Cox SD-WAN service with the SD-WAN offer of RapidScale (a Cox subsidiary), consolidating sales, operations, and technology.
- Led development and launch of Cox SD-WAN, a flagship Cox Business strategic initiative. Partnered with Supply Chain to contract Tracfone and CradlePoint to enable LTE failover — capability subsequently adopted by Cox Business Internet and RapidScale. Recognized with the Cox Communications Synergy Award.
- Led development and rollout of Cox Managed Router Service.
- Simplified the Networking Services portfolio by standardizing pricing, SLAs, and QoS across Ethernet and IP-VPN.
- Redesigned Networking Services billing presentation, improving customer satisfaction and ease of use.
- Launched Performance Management Reporting, a hosted customer portal delivering Ethernet and IP-VPN performance metrics.
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Product Development Manager
Managed product development for large, complex Networking Services including Wavelength, Ethernet, and IP-VPN.
- Supported and enhanced existing Private Line, Wavelength, and Ethernet services.
- Led end-to-end development of Cox MPLS IP-VPN: business case, cross-functional team leadership, beta trial, and market rollout.
- Overhauled SLAs across all Networking Services.
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Senior Product Marketing Manager
Owned the Commercial Connectivity Service (CCS) offer, which extends customer WANs into the cellular network. Supported 2.9M+ subscribers and generated $160M in annual revenue.
- Built business case, secured funding, and led network integration of legacy Cingular and AT&T Wireless CCS offers into a single, operationally sustainable service.
- Integrated CCS with AT&T MPLS offers, expanding customer core-network connectivity options.
- Led cross-functional Quality team that delivered 90+ CCS improvement initiatives spanning process, features, sales support, customer service, and operations.
- Directed primary market research — including customer and technical-sales interviews — to inform product strategy and roadmap.
- Produced and maintained customer-facing sales collateral and internal training and reference materials for CCS.
- Partnered with Sales, Systems Engineering, Network, and Learning Services to develop CCS training for sales and systems engineering teams.
- Collaborated with Legal to standardize contracts across enterprise, government, and small-business segments.
- Established monthly reporting on revenue and subscriber contribution by sales channel.
- Delivered IPv6 support, HSPA+ and LTE network support, and QoS / Policy Management capabilities.
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Manager — Marketing Strategy & Implementation
Led a team of managers responsible for market analysis and strategy for the wholesale wireless segment ($700M+ in annual revenue). Served as liaison between Sales, Science & Technology, and Marketing to guide network evolution, and secured funding for wireless-segment product development.
- Developed and secured executive approval of the wireless market segment strategy.
- Led cross-functional task force that produced an action plan for wireless service provider cell-site requirements.
- Quantified the impact of bandwidth growth on wireless service provider financials.
- Led analysis of cell-site network architectures and technology alternatives.
- Secured executive approval for a new cell-site technology roadmap and associated trials, reducing cell-site network deployment cost by 55%.
- Briefed executive management on wireless market developments and their impact on current and future revenue.
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Product Manager
Grew ATM and Frame Relay revenue by introducing new capabilities into the BellSouth wholesale portfolio. Developed business cases, managed product development and financial performance, supported sales, and delivered enhancements that made both products carrier-grade.
- Conducted ongoing market analysis to assess product positioning and identify development priorities.
- Managed development of product-line enhancements.
- Delivered initial sales-force training on ATM and Frame Relay and directed the training organization's development of a fast-packet technology course.
- Partnered with Finance to set annual revenue objectives and track revenue and margin performance.
- Grew revenue tenfold in a mature market while consistently expanding market and flow share.
- Recognized with the 2002 Pinnacle Award, given to the top 5% of BellSouth marketing and sales professionals.
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Manager — Strategic Marketing Analysis
Provided analytical and consulting services to Network & Carrier Services, covering strategy, long-range planning, business case development, and competitive analysis.
- Performed technical and financial analysis supporting BellSouth's ATM infrastructure deployment, later leveraged extensively for DSL expansion.
- Built cannibalization analysis of DSL on existing services that informed the executive decision to fully pursue the DSL opportunity.
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Product Analyst
Analyzed and executed marketing programs for the voice services product line (March 1996 – January 1999). Previously (June 1995 – March 1996) supported management of the BellSouth® Guía Export niche directory: developed its internet edition and nominated the product for the U.S. President's “E” Award for Export Excellence, presented to BellSouth by the Secretary of Commerce in late 1996.
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Summer Intern
Researched economic and social dimensions of the Hispanic market relevant to telecommunications and evaluated competitor activity. Recommended an adopted course of action for advertising via the Hispanic Yellow Pages.
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Data Control Clerk
Transmitted essential operations data to EDS customers including General Motors and the Department of the Navy. Assisted with maintenance of reel and cartridge drives.
Education
Foundations.
1993
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Spanish
Beyond Work
- Married, father of six.
- Member of St. Monica's Catholic Church.
- Marist School parent and supporter.
Contact
Let's talk technology and telecommunications.
I'm always open to thoughtful conversations about technology and telecommunications — whether it's the evolution of SD-WAN and managed network services, the practical application of AI and LLMs in carrier environments, product strategy in regulated industries, or simply the shape of where the industry is heading next. If any of that resonates, I'd genuinely enjoy hearing from you.