Sherif Hanna, one of Qualcomm's most visible 5G representatives, said he is leaving the company for a new position at image authentication technology provider Truepic.
The move is notable considering that Qualcomm has based much of its future around the success of the 5G network standard. Moreover, some of the world's biggest wireless network operators, including AT&T and Verizon are in the midst of gearing up to launch their first commercial 5G networks starting in the next few months.
Hanna is the latest high-profile executive to leave Qualcomm. Matt Grob left the company in May. Grob was Qualcomm’s executive vice president of technology and was a member of its executive committee, sitting alongside the likes of President Cristiano Amon, CFO George Davis and HR chief Michelle Sterling. And Paul Jacobs—a former Qualcomm CEO and the son of the company’s founder—left the company and is now to take control of Qualcomm in a bid to take the company private.
Hanna is the company's director of product marketing for 5G. Prior to joining the company in 2012, Sherif held product management positions at Atmel Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor for touchscreen, low-power RF, microcontroller and USB products. Although Hannah was just one of many employees in Qualcomm's marketing department, he rose to visibility by discussing many of its most advanced technologies, including the company's LTE modems and its latest 5G products. Hanna played a key role in the unveiling of Qualcomm's first 5G modem, the Snapdragon X50 5G chipset.
Hanna's departure comes amid dramatic changes for Qualcomm. The company earlier this year fought off a hostile takeover attempt by Broadcom, partly thanks to the intervention of President Trump. Qualcomm also dropped its years-long effort to acquire NXP. The company conducted a round of layoffs earlier this year, actions that included eliminating 1,500 jobs in California.
Hanna said he will join Truepic, which bills itself as an authentication platform for videos and photos on the internet, in a product management capacity.
Article updated on August 29th to correct Hanna's title.