Kashif Ali

Kashif Ali is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ukama, a telecommunications startup focused on decentralized networks and rural connectivity infrastructure. Prior to his current executive role, he co-founded Endaga, an independent cellular infrastructure company that was successfully acquired by Facebook in 2015. Following this strategic acquisition, Ali joined Facebook where he founded and directed the OpenCellular project. In this capacity, he scaled the open-source hardware initiative from its initial inception to active production deployments with multiple tier-1 telecom operators worldwide. His technical and academic background includes specialized postdoctoral research in rural connectivity at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a doctorate from Queen’s University in Canada. Ali's professional focus centers on bridging academic research, startup innovation, and global commercial telecommunications to develop open-source cellular infrastructure for underserved populations and emerging markets.