Cisco names 17-year company veteran and senior VP of worldwide operations Chuck Robbins CEO, effective July 26, following the stepping down of John Chambers, who becomes executive chairman after 20 years as CEO.
Robbins was also elected to the Cisco executive board.
“This is the perfect time for Chuck Robbins to become Cisco's next Chief Executive Officer. We've selected a very strong leader at a time when Cisco is in a very strong position,” Chambers says. "Chuck’s vision, strategy and execution track record is exactly what Cisco needs as we enter our next chapter, which I am confident will be even more impactful and exciting than our last.”
Reportedly Cisco was only considering internal candidates for the position.
Robbins joined Cisco in 1997, and is described as a "key architect" of the company's commercial business segment strategy. He sponsored the Sourcefire and Meraki acquisitions, and most recently led the company's sales organisation reinvention.
