Laura Merling

Laura Merling was appointed Vice President of Ecosystem Development & Platform Solutions at AT&T Business Solutions in December 2012. In this role, she is responsible for shaping AT&T's strategy for developing and exposing APIs to identify new opportunities for growth for AT&T's business customers; and to define new business models for AT&T Business Solutions. Merling also works closely with the AT&T Foundry Innovation Centers to uncover and implement breakthrough technology for business customers.

Prior to joining AT&T, Merling led Alcatel-Lucent's application enablement business unit where she oversaw the vision and execution of services and solutions that enable the network to be delivered as a software platform.

In her 20+ year career, Merling has held roles in sales, marketing, business development and product management at Fortune 500 companies and venture capital-funded start-ups including Pepsi, Ford, Mashery, Krugle, and Sybase.

Merling is acknowledged as an industry-leading pioneer, serving as Executive Director and CEO of the SDForum from 2002-2006 and earning a coveted SDForum Visionary Award in 2006. Merling is a regular speaker at industry events including the API Strategy Summit and GlueCon. She also holds board seats at the SWIFT Bank Innovation Group, Evans Data Software Development Market Research and Innovation Games, and is actively involved in entrepreneur mentorship.

Merling studied Economics at Oakland University, Michigan, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.