Hewlett Packard Enterprise has named former Sprint CFO Tarek Robbiati as its new finance chief, citing his experience in “driving transformation and building and sustaining growth.”
Robbiati left Sprint in February after a two-and-a-half year tenure during which, according to HPE, he “drove Sprint’s transformation efforts to significantly reduce operating expenses and played a strategic leadership role in repositioning the company.”
At HPE, Robbiati will replace Tim Stonesifer, who will step down in October after helping guide the maker of server, storage and networking equipment through its separation from Hewlett-Packard Co. in 2016.
“Tarek has significant experience helping global companies create and deliver differentiated value for customers, teams, and shareholders,” HPE Chief Executive Antonio Neri said in a news release.
“He is both a visionary leader and a pragmatic business operator with a proven track record in driving transformation and building and sustaining growth,” he added. “HPE will benefit from Tarek’s financial expertise, his customer-centric mindset, and his industry segment knowledge.”
Before joining Sprint in August 2015, Robbiati was CEO of Flexigroup, an Australia-based financial services provider. He also has held various senior business and finance roles at Telstra, Australia’s top telecommunications company.
Robbiati’s educational credentials include an MBA from the London Business School and masters of science degrees from French institutions. He attended high school in Rome, Italy.
The Wall Street Journal noted that HPE “announced plans in June to invest $4 billion over four years in so-called edge computing, which allows data to be processed and analyzed on or near the device where its generated. Mr. Robbiati is expected to play a role in directing that investment.”
Before the HPE spinoff, Stonesifer served as CFO for HP’s Enterprise Group. The spinoff was the largest separation in corporate history and, according to HPE, “Stonesifer played a critical role in defining HPE’s financial architecture and capital allocation strategy.”
Under his tenure, HPE completed 11 acquisitions.
“Tim has been an incredible partner and adviser for our company and for me personally,” Neri said.