Fared Adib, senior vice president of product development and operations, Sprint Nextel

There's no doubt that Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) is in the midst of a transformation. Japanese operator Softbank intends to purchase 70 percent of Sprint in a $20.1 billion deal, and Sprint plans to spend $2.2 billion to acquire the part of Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) it doesn't own.

Key to that transformation is Fared Adib, Sprint's senior vice president of product development and operations. Adib has been instrumental in keeping Sprint on the cutting-edge in many areas, particularly its device selection. For example, Adib and his team were responsible for bringing Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iconic iPhone to Sprint.

Adib works closely with the company's developer organization to foster state-of-the-art apps, and he champions various Sprint operating system platforms, from Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone 8 to Apple's iOS. Sprint has said it plans to launch LTE smartphones with Windows Phone 8 this summer.

But Adib also takes some risks--for example, he is an advocate for Mozilla's Firefox OS and Tizen. Adib has said in interviews that these operating platforms are important for HTML5, which is something Sprint believes is necessary for mobile devices. 

Adib also played a key role in the launch of a new business for Sprint: Pinsight Media+, which provides mobile advertising and analytics. Through Pinsight, Sprint is working with a variety of partners to enable new forms of monetization for mobile developers and advertisers.

Adib is also a champion of the company's mobile content efforts such as Entertain ME, which bundles music and video services including the operator's own video and music services alongside a series of third-party music applications including Spotify, Slacker, iHeartRadio, Shazam and Rumpus. Sprint touts its content offerings as a key differentiator, because when combined with Sprint's unlimited data plans, customers don't have to worry about going over their data bucket when using these entertainment services. 

The next few months will certainly be critical for Sprint and Adib as the company tries to close on its Softbank and Clearwire deals, stay on track with its Network Vision modernization project and still deliver stellar products and services to its customers.