# Abilash Menon

> Abilash Menon is a networking engineer, inventor, and the CEO and co-founder of MaiaEdge, a Burlington, Massachusetts company building infrastructure for sovereign, federated private networks. After more than two decades spanning MPLS architecture at Cisco, SD-WAN work at 128 Technology, and large-scale network design at Juniper Networks, he is applying a portfolio of more than 40 patents to a stubborn industry problem: helping independent operators connect, automate, and monitor private paths without surrendering control of their customers or networks.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder at MaiaEdge
- **Organizations:** MaiaEdge, Juniper Networks, 128 Technology, Cisco
- **Education:** Executive MBA, Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
- **Known for:** Named inventor on more than 40 networking patents, according to MaiaEdge and Mplify biographies., Led MPLS architecture teams at Cisco., Contributed to SD-WAN innovation at 128 Technology before its acquisition by Juniper Networks.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2016** — Worked at Cisco, where he led MPLS architecture teams.
- **2016-2020** — Worked at 128 Technology on SD-WAN and service-oriented routing; patent assignment records identify his work there by 2016.
- **2020-2024** — Continued large-scale network design and engineering leadership at Juniper Networks after its acquisition of 128 Technology.
- **2023** — Completed the Executive MBA program at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
- **2024** — Co-founded MaiaEdge with Tim Ziemer in Burlington, Massachusetts.
- **2026-02** — MaiaEdge announced a $20 million Series A to deploy sovereign, federated private-networking infrastructure.
- **2026-03** — Discussed federated networking, underused fiber capacity, and AI connectivity in an Mplify member interview.
- **2026-06** — Spoke at CCT Global in Dublin on network security, performance, and sovereign AI.

## Achievements

- Named inventor on more than 40 networking patents, according to MaiaEdge and Mplify biographies.
- Led MPLS architecture teams at Cisco.
- Contributed to SD-WAN innovation at 128 Technology before its acquisition by Juniper Networks.
- Co-founded MaiaEdge in 2024.
- Raised a $20 million Series A for MaiaEdge in February 2026.
- Served as a session lead and advisory-board participant in Mplify's work on network automation and federation.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Joined a CCT Global panel in Dublin on network security, network performance, and sovereign AI.
- **2026-06** — Presented on distributed AI and helped lead standards discussions at the Mplify Member Summit in Lisbon.
- **2026-05** — Discussed AI inference and carrier monetization in a Capacity TV interview at ITW 2026.
- **2026-04** — Appeared on Mplify's Executives at the Edge podcast to discuss a federated, programmable network fabric for distributed AI.
- **2026-03** — Explained MaiaEdge's federation thesis and the opportunity to monetize underused network capacity in an Mplify Member Spotlight.
- **2026-02** — MaiaEdge announced a $20 million Series A led by executive management alongside G20 Ventures.

## Links

- Website: https://maiaedge.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abilash-menon-022a56218

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/abilash-menon
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26