The latest episode of The Leaders’ Room features Denis Dullea, head of network management engineering at Ericsson and R&D site lead in Athlone. This series is created in partnership with IDA Ireland.
In season three of The Leaders’ Room podcast, we once again get the back stories of the leaders of some of Ireland’s most influential multinationals in tech, life sciences and innovation, as well as insights into their leadership styles and industry trends they see coming down the line.
In this episode, we spoke to Denis Dullea, head of network management engineering at Ericsson and R&D site lead in Athlone, about his long career at the mobile infrastructure giant, a global organisation that celebrates 150 years in existence in 2026.
Ericsson recently announced a €200m investment in the Athlone site, so it was great timing to hear Denis’ perspective on what that means for Ireland’s place in the telecom giant’s plans – and to chat with him about his own journey and how he leads his growing team.
Dullea is clearly very proud of the engineering team he leads here in Ireland. “If you’ve used a mobile device to make a call or watch a YouTube video or whatever, anywhere in the world, then it is likely that you used Ericsson equipment in that call,” says Dullea. “And that Ericsson equipment has been managed by software produced in Athlone.”
The €200m investment will be made over a period of three years, in which Ericsson will develop its open programmable networks and accelerate the global deployment of 5G standalone connectivity.
Additionally, there will be a key focus on further developing the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform, as well as its network powered rApps, which are applications that automate radio access network management. The platform aims to create the next phase of network and automation features by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and analytics.
Dullea himself starting out at Ericsson as a graduate, working in maintenance, before moving into project management, and eventually into line management. That’s a journey many graduates are beginning now, and some are doing so under Denis’ leadership.
The Ericsson Athlone site employs more than 1,300 people, with most of those in engineering roles, a real example of how these days many multinationals see Ireland as a hotspot for talent when it comes to R&D, and Dullea was strong on Ireland’s real advantage being our talent, something that has been echoed throughout this series.
As for leadership, it is interesting to hear how Denis borrowed lessons from his time in Sweden and how understanding other work cultures can give us an extra edge. Denis is all about an enabling model of leadership – balancing autonomy with accountability, something that complements his approach to setting a strategic vision, rather than being prescriptive about the path itself.
We’re grateful to all our interviewees for taking the time to come into the studio and share their insights and their intelligence for season three of the podcast. And big thanks as ever to our partners IDA Ireland who have made this series possible.
The Leaders’ Room podcast is released fortnightly and can be found by searching for ‘The Leaders’ Room’ wherever you get your podcasts. For those who prefer their audio with visuals, filmed versions of the podcast interviews are all available here on SiliconRepublic.com.
Check out The Leaders’ Room podcast for in-depth insights from some of Ireland’s top leaders. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.