GSMA Appoints New Head of Latin America Amid Region’s Mobile Boom

“Javier brings an interesting new outlook on the digital ecosystem to the GSMA and has a solid understanding of the key topics impacting the region.” – Laxmi Akkaraju, Chief Strategy Officer, GSMA

The GSMA has a new Head of Latin America.

Javier Piñeiro comes to the mobile alliance from a previous position as Google’s Commercial Director, which he held from January of 2012 to July of 2018. Piñeiro has also held positions with addTARGET, Grupo Clarin’s Prima Brasil media unit, and MetroRED Telecom Group.

In a statement announcing Piñeiro’s appointment, the GSMA’s Chief Strategy Officer – and Piñeiro’s new boss – Laxmi Akkaraju, said “Javier brings an interesting new outlook on the digital ecosystem to the GSMA and has a solid understanding of the key topics impacting the region.”

For his part, Piñeiro gestured to the considerable growth underway in Latin America’s mobile sector in his comments on the appointment. “I am thrilled to be joining the GSMA, particularly at this time in which Latin America stands on the verge of a digital revolution that will certainly have mobile at its core,” he said. “I look forward to working closely with all our members in addressing the major strategic challenges they face and help shape the digital transformation of the region.”

Dovetailing with the growing mobile penetration in the Latin American market is the intensifying enthusiasm for sophisticated mobile technologies such as selfie-driven authentication apps, with major solutions providers like FaceTec and Jumio having aggressively pursued partnerships and opened new offices in the region.