BICSI Winter 2026

Karen Leos
Vice President - Global Sales and Professional Development - Tellabs and Chairman of the Board - APOLAN
APOLAN / Tellabs


Karen Leos is a seasoned technology and services leader with more than 23 years at Tellabs, where she currently serves as Vice President of Global Sales and Professional Services. Throughout her tenure at Tellabs, Karen has led several mission-critical organizations, including IT, Global Support Solutions, and Technical Services. Her time overseeing IT was foundational in modernizing enterprise systems, strengthening cybersecurity practices, and aligning technology strategy with business outcomes. This experience gives Karen a unique vantage point at the intersection of network architecture, service delivery, and operational resilience, insights that directly influence her approach. Karen’s leadership spans the full lifecycle of Optical LAN adoption, from early scoping and design to implementation, optimization, and long-term support. A passionate advocate for modernization and long-term infrastructure planning, Karen emphasizes how fiber, PoE evolution, and safe-power strategies enable smarter, greener, and more resilient buildings and campuses. Karen currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for APOLAN, a non-profit organization composed of manufacturers, distributors, integrators, and consultants dedicated to advancing Optical LAN adoption worldwide.

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