About zTouch Networks
Thinking about improving your enterprise connectivity but scared about approaching high-performance but complex technologies like 5G? We sympathize!
We know first-hand how painful it can be to set up, deploy and maintain wireless networks. 5G is not as simple as WiFi, and any customization wants you to go over thousand-pages long standard documents and specifications, or ask professionals to do it for you. This needs to change!
We envision a world where networks are truly autonomous platforms that configure, optimize, and evolve themselves – speak your needs and the network will make it happen for you! This is the only way organizations can focus on their business, not their infrastructure.
Built for Simplicity. Engineered for Intelligence.
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Superior Simplicity
Deploy and manage private SG networks through natural conversation. No complex configurations or technical expertise required
Continuous Optimization
Al-powered optimization automatically adjusts network performance, resource allocation, and configurations in real-time
Infrastructure Monetization
Transform your network infrastructure into a revenue-generating asset through intelligent resource sharing and optimization
Why Are We Building zTouch Networks?
Our story
As researchers and inventors with 40+ years of combined experience at the leading edge of wireless networking research, our team has pioneered critical open-source 5G technologies used by researchers and leading telco engineers worldwide, including OpenRAN Gym, ns-O-RAN, and the first O-RAN slicing xApp that demonstrated how AI can tailor 5G networks to diverse needs and priorities. From Northeastern University’s Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, we’ve spent years advancing what’s possible in communications infrastructure. But we kept seeing the same frustrating gap despite the evolution to open network standards and software flexibility: only large, specialized organizations have the capabilities to deploy and manage modern network solutions.
We witnessed enterprises with transformative visions forced to compromise. Brilliant use cases remained unrealized because network infrastructure and operational management models were too rigid or costly to be optimized for specific applications. Organizations were leaving massive value on the table, settling for generic connectivity when they needed networks that could evolve inline with their business growth and aspirations.
Our mission
We are building zTouch because we believe connectivity infrastructure should unleash innovation, not limit it. More importantly, infrastructure can generate revenue, and not just be a cost. In our research published in top scientific and engineering venues and demonstrated at leading industry events (e.g., MWC), we developed AI-driven systems that can automatically reconfigure networks in real-time and continuously optimize performance for specific use cases. We have seen the flexibility that AI, orchestration, and automation can bring – and the paradigm shift that is possible. Our research makes networks easy to deploy and maintain. They understand intent and reshape themselves to realize whatever applications and use cases organizations need to drive their success. Now, with zTouch we want to ensure any enterprise can harness this power of autonomous infrastructure.
Our Team
Tommaso Melodia
Co-founder
Director of the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at Northeastern University, Tommaso brings over 20 years of pioneering research and industry leadership to zTouch. His work has directly influenced 5G standards and Open RAN architectures used worldwide. Tommaso ensures our technology roadmap stays ahead of industry needs while remaining grounded in real-world applicability. His deep relationships across academia, industry, and government enable zTouch to anticipate market shifts and build customer centric solutions that meet today’s needs.
Salvatore D’Oro
CTO, Co-founder
Pioneer in shaping modern cellular network implementations toward AI-driven, autonomous systems. Salvo is actively involved in the evolution of networks toward O-RAN and AI-RAN. He open-sourced the first O-RAN slicing xApp. Salvo holds multiple patents in network automation and AI-driven orchestration, and has collaborated with leading telecommunications vendors and operators to bring next-generation networking capabilities from research concepts to production deployments. His expertise spans the full technology stack, from radio access networks and edge computing to machine learning systems and distributed software architectures.
Michele Polese
Chief Scientist, Co-founder
Expert in end-to-end system design and evaluation, 5G/6G networks, and wireless testbeds. Michele’s research has spanned open radio access networks and end-to-end automation platforms, showing how AI can transform networks into autonomous systems. He is currently the chair of the AI-RAN Alliance WG2 AI-and-RAN working group and has led several contributions to the O-RAN ALLIANCE and open-source projects. As Chief Scientist, Michele leads the strategy for translation of advanced scientific insights into practical, scalable technologies that shape the future of connectivity and interaction.
Niloofar Mohamadi
Principal Software engineer
Niloofar received her Ph.D. from Ontario Tech University in 2022. She specializes in automation in O-RAN and AI-RAN. From 2022 to 2023, Niloofar worked as a Design Specialist at TELUS, where she was involved in the validation and verification of non-RT RIC in O-RAN networks and designing the AI/ML pipeline for O-RAN networks. She contributes to several O-RAN and AI-RAN working groups and is the leading engineer at zTouch Networks.