Chief Technology Officer
Hotwire Communications
Pragash Pillai is the Chief Technology Officer of Hotwire Communications. He is also a Board Member of Astound Broadband and VCTI. In addition, he serves as the Dean’s Advisory Board Member – Hofstra University School of Engineering.
Previously, Mr. Pillai served as Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Information Officer. In this role, he oversaw technology and product development with a focus on expanding fiber broadband to communities across the country and delivering a best-in-class experience through the Company’s portfolio of connectivity and entertainment services. Mr. Pillai also led all areas of construction, engineering, digital platforms, information technology, cybersecurity, and network operations.
Over the course of his tenure with Altice USA, Mr. Pillai has served in a variety of leadership positions across field operations, customer experience, digital transformation, and care and support organizations, including recently as Executive Vice President of Operations, and, prior to that, as Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and Regional Market Strategy, in which Mr. Pillai was responsible for managing the company’s operations strategy and local market expansion.
Prior to Altice acquiring Cablevision, he served as the Senior Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering for Cablevision, managing all aspects of end-to-end voice, video, data, and wireless service delivery infrastructure. He also was Senior Vice President of Engineering and Technology for Bresnan Communications, which was acquired by Cablevision in 2010. Before joining Bresnan, he served as Vice President of Advanced Engineering, Digital Video for Charter Communications.
Mr. Pillai has won numerous industry accolades and honors, including NAMIC’s “Next Generation Leader” Award and the CED Pace Setter Award for Converged Platform. He has also been recognized by Cablefax Magazine as the MSO Technology Innovator and has been featured on Cablefax’s 100 and Diversity lists. Mr. Pillai was also the recipient of the Broadcasting & Cable – SMPTE 2007 Next Generation Engineering Leadership Award. He serves on the board of The Cable Center and has served as an executive board member and treasurer for NAMIC.
Mr. Pillai has co-authored several industry articles on technology and operations, has participated in multiple industry technical panels and sessions, and was awarded patents for proactive network performance and power outage detection.
Mr. Pillai holds a master’s degree in Applied Science in Telecommunications from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri. In addition, he completed graduate work in Telecommunications Management at Washington University – St. Louis. Mr. Pillai is a graduate of the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program at Anderson School of Management at UCLA. He also completed the Kellogg School of Management, Corporate Governance Program and the MIT Sloan Executive Program in Strategy and Innovation.
