Carl Moberg
Field CTO · Co-Founder · $175M Exit Tail-f Systems, acquired by Cisco
Stockholm, Sweden (previously based in Silicon Valley, CA · open to relocation) · callemoberg@gmail.com
Executive Profile
Technology executive and hands-on Field CTO with a 25-year track record at the intersection of infrastructure automation and AI deployment. Co-founded Avassa Systems, building the technical and commercial foundation for enterprise edge AI at scale. Drove $100M+ revenue products at Cisco and a $175M acquisition at Tail-f Systems. Experienced in developer ecosystems, enterprise go-to-market, and translating complex distributed systems into compelling technical narratives for customers, partners, and the industry. Active at the policy and standards layer — including expert engagements with the European Commission and technical working group participation in the Linux Foundation.
Areas of Expertise: AI/ML Infrastructure · Edge Computing · Platform Strategy · Developer Ecosystems · Go-to-Market Execution · Network Automation · Distributed Systems · Enterprise Architecture · Product Leadership · API Design · Cloud-Native / Containers · LLM Integration · MCP / AI Agent Orchestration · Technical Keynote & Conference Speaking
Professional Experience
Avassa Systems, Co-founder & CTO
March 2020 – Present · Stockholm, Sweden
Co-founded Avassa to solve deployment and operations of containerised applications and AI/ML inference workloads at the distributed edge — a segment underserved by hyperscale cloud platforms. Venture-backed, with enterprise customers across manufacturing, retail, and critical infrastructure. As CTO, led technology vision, product positioning, developer relations, analyst relations, and technical go-to-market.
- Designed and built a cloud-native edge control plane that allows enterprises to deploy and manage containerised applications across thousands of edge locations from a single API-first control point — delivering cloud-like operational consistency to distributed infrastructure.
- Led analyst relations, securing recognition from Gartner (Cool Vendor, Edge Computing 2022), Intellyx (Digital Innovation Award, Winter 2024), and QKS Group (SPARK Matrix: Edge Management & Orchestration, 2025) — establishing Avassa as a recognised name in the edge computing analyst community.
- Expanded the platform to support AI/ML inference at the edge, enabling enterprise customers in manufacturing, retail, and critical infrastructure to run low-latency model inference across distributed OT/IT environments without cloud dependency.
- Pioneered MCP-based AI agent orchestration for edge operations, enabling engineers to manage distributed infrastructure through natural language interfaces.
Cisco, Senior Director of Product Management
August 2014 – March 2020 · Stockholm, Sweden
Joined Cisco through the acquisition of Tail-f Systems, taking a senior role in the Service Provider Business Unit. Led product management for Cisco's Network Services Orchestrator (NSO), a network automation platform serving 150 major enterprise and service provider customers with $100M+ annual revenue contribution.
- Led product strategy and GTM execution across Cisco's global service provider base, spanning orchestration of virtualised and cloud-native networks — directly influencing a $100M+ revenue product line.
- Drove NSO product roadmap through a major industry transition to SDN, NFV, and network programmability, maintaining platform relevance and expanding the addressable market through API-first and developer ecosystem investment.
- Built and led a team of product managers and developer community leaders, creating the partner and ISV ecosystem programmes that extended NSO's reach beyond Cisco's direct sales motion.
- Collaborated with engineering, sales, and field teams across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific to align product direction with enterprise architecture requirements at scale.
Tail-f Systems AB, Employee #3 · VP Engineering → COO → VP Technology / North America CTO
June 2006 – August 2014 · Stockholm, Sweden & Silicon Valley, CA
Joined as the third employee in 2006 and held roles spanning engineering, operations, and technology leadership as the company scaled from founding to a $175M acquisition by Cisco in 2014. Built the ConfD and NCS product lines that became the basis of Cisco NSO.
- VP Engineering (2006–2008): Built and led the founding engineering organisation through early-stage growth, from initial product to a stable team on consistent release cadences.
- COO (2007–2010): Ran day-to-day operations including finance, customer success, and partnerships as the company scaled from early startup to product-market fit and revenue growth.
- VP Technology / North America CTO (2010–2014): Led global commercialisation of ConfD and NCS. Relocated to Silicon Valley in 2013 to establish US operations, drive strategic partnerships, and lead technical sales engagement in the period leading up to the $175M Cisco acquisition.
ServiceFactory AB, Co-founder & Director
November 1999 – May 2006 · Stockholm, Sweden
Co-founded ServiceFactory, a developer of customer service and provisioning platforms for internet service providers. Designed and implemented the core platform architecture; transitioned from technical founder to Director, leading product lifecycle management, roadmap, pricing, and go-to-market execution.
Telia AB, Senior Network Architect / Network Operations Engineer
January 1997 – November 1999 · Stockholm, Sweden
One of the principal architects of Telia's second-generation internet services platform — an industry first supporting diverse access types and application services to millions of subscribers. Defined and maintained the architecture of the European and North American IP transport network, with active participation in IETF and RIPE. As Postmaster of the telia.com domain, operated an email infrastructure serving 750,000 subscribers across three countries.
Board & Advisory Experience
- Netnod Internet Exchange i Sverige AB, Board Member — 2020–2023
- Pocket Media Group, Chairman — December 2010–March 2012
- Birdstep Technology, Advisor — 2006–2011
Selected Industry Engagements
- Margo (Linux Foundation), Technical Working Group Member — edge computing interoperability initiative
- European Commission, Expert Interview — edge node deployment, 2024
- IETF YANG Doctors, Expert Reviewer, 2017–2021
- CableLabs, Contributing Engineer
- Metro Ethernet Forum, Member & Contributor
Selected Patents & Publications
- Patent: Detecting and Managing Recurring Patterns in Device and Service Configuration Data (US10462010B2)
- IETF RFC: RFC 8199, YANG Module Classification (IETF, 2017)
- Publication: A Next Generation Provisioning Architecture for the New Cable Headend Platform (CableLabs)
- Analyst Recognition: Gartner Cool Vendor, Edge Computing, 2022 — Avassa
- Award: Intellyx Digital Innovation Award, Winter 2024 — Avassa
- Analyst Recognition: QKS Group SPARK Matrix: Edge Management & Orchestration Platforms, 2025 — Avassa
- Award: 2016 Telly Award, for web content created for This Week in Tech (TWiT) at Cisco
Selected Talks
- From Lab to Field: Operating AI Models Across Thousands of Edge Devices, embedded world, Nuremberg 2026
- MCP Meets Edge Management: Using Claude as an Edge Operations Interface, 2025 (31 min)
- Building an Infrastructure Stack for AI-Ready IT/OT, SPS 2025 (16 min)
- Panel: The Future of Industrial Edge Computing, Hannover Messe 2025
- Charmed by Linux, Haunted by VMs: A Container-First Lifestyle at the Edge, TechEx 2024 (25 min)
- How to Achieve Cloud-Like Operations for Distributed Edge Deployments, Edge Computing World, Santa Clara 2022 (20 min)
Education
KTH Royal Institute of Technology · Studies in Electrical Engineering · 1993–1995 · No degree conferred; left to join Telia's internet operations team
Personal
Languages: Swedish (native), English (fluent)
Personal: Avid cyclist — commutes by bike and competes in masters races.
Carl Moberg