Vladimir Michalec
VP of Technology & Innovation, Swisscom Outpost
Vlad holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science (specialization in computer systems and networks) from Slovak University of Technology.
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With over a decade at Swisscom, Switzerland’s largest telecommunications and technology provider, Vlad is now based in Palo Alto as part of Swisscom Outpost. Together with his team, he scouts innovative startups, breakthrough technologies, and emerging trends relevant to Swisscom in Switzerland as well as to Fastweb+Vodafone in Italy (a Swisscom subsidiary). By building networks and partnerships across Silicon Valley, Vlad drives projects for internal transformation, new market offerings, and investment opportunities for the Swisscom Ventures team. His focus areas include telecommunications and artificial intelligence.
Previously, Vlad held innovation leadership roles at Swisscom, where he incubated new B2B products and led strategic initiatives to help transform the company from a traditional telco into a techco. He has been deeply involved in Swisscom’s open innovation activities — from startup competitions and innovation campaigns to pitching programs — within the Strategy and New Business Development organization. In 2023, he joined Swisscom Outpost to fully leverage Silicon Valley’s ecosystem for the benefit of Swisscom and its subsidiaries. An engineer by training and at heart, Vlad remains passionate about hands-on technology and never misses an opportunity to directly test and evaluate new solutions with his team.