Chief Strategy Officer
Render Networks
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
David Hicks is Render Networks' Chief Strategy Officer, with 30 years of experience in Construction, Operations, and Engineering. Known for driving transformation and building high-performing, collaborative teams, he has held executive leadership roles at Render Networks, Cox Communications, and AT&T.
Core Expertise and Career Highlights:
Chief Strategy Officer, Render Networks: Passionate about converting complex challenges, ambitious concepts, and multi-faceted objectives into a clear, unified strategy that aligns the organization.
VP Construction, Cox Communications (2018-2024): Managed $1.2B in annual capital for national construction programs, successfully transforming team performance from under-delivery to consistent over-delivery.
VP Engineering & Operations, Cox Communications (2013-2018): Oversaw a team of 1000+ employees responsible for national network design, engineering, and operations. He instilled a delivery-focused culture, guaranteed reliable capital plan execution, and pioneered cloud network virtualization and automation initiatives.
Diverse Leadership Roles, Cox & AT&T Business Services (1998-2013): Served in key positions such as VP Networks Ops, Executive Director Engineering, Director Network Operations Center and Engineering Director, where he developed strong analytical, strategic, and operational leadership capabilities.
Key Capabilities & Credentials:
His expertise includes fiber deployment, team leadership, network engineering, business analytics, and workforce planning. A multiple patent holder, David is also Six Sigma Black Belt and ITIL certified. He holds an MBA from Georgia State and a BS from NC State. Additionally, he is a fluent Spanish speaker and serves as a Director on several non-profit boards.
Balancing Speed, Cost, Quality and Community Collaboration
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
8:50 AM - 9:30 AM ET