Jelena Pesic is the Director of Optical Strategy at Nokia, where she leads strategic initiatives for the company's optical portfolio and contributes to shaping its future vision in optical networking. Prior to her current role, she worked as a Research Engineer at Bell Labs, where she focused on advancing optical network technologies and authored/co-authored over 50 scientific publications With a Ph.D. from the University of Bretagne Sud and postdoctoral research experience at INRIA and Telecom Bretagne, Jelena has a strong background in optical network technologies.

Jelena is a recognized expert in the field, having received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE ONDM Conference in 2011 and being selected as an OPTICA Ambassador in 2018- a prestigious lifetime distinction awarded to the top 10 researchers and emerging leaders in optics globally. He has served as an invited and regular speaker at prominent conferences, including the Asia Communications and Photonics Conference, Advanced Photonics Congress, and Optical Communication Conference. She is also a member of various Technical Program Committees and serves as a reviewer for leading journals in the optics field.