Cisco has appointed Gerri Elliott as a new executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer and Maria Martinez will serve as the company’s executive vice president and chief customer experience officer. Elliott and Martinez will join Cisco’s executive leadership team and serve as executive officers of the company, said a statement.
As chief sales and marketing officer, Elliott will align the sales and marketing organisations around the company’s go-to-market strategy and growth opportunity. She will also oversee networking giant brand and reputation in the market.
Elliott joins San Francisco based firm with a breadth of leadership experience from roles at IBM, Microsoft and Juniper, as well as various public board positions. Elliott will join Cisco on April 30th. At that time, as previously announced, Chris Dedicoat, EVP of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations, will move into a senior advisory role, taking on a number of strategic initiatives for Cisco Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins. Karen Walker will remain in her role as chief marketing officer reporting to Elliott.
The company has created a new role encompassing services and customer success. In this role, Martinez will help build customer loyalty and ensure customers take full advantage of Cisco’s software, services and subscription offerings.
Martinez drives for results, leads with a clear vision, and transforms organizations. She joins Cisco from Salesforce where she served as president, Salesforce Customer Success Group and Success Cloud as well as general manager, Salesforce Latin America. She’s also held a number of leadership positions at Microsoft, Motorola, AT&T as well as CEO of the start-up, Embrace Networks. Martinez will join Cisco on April 16.
“I am excited to have two phenomenal leaders, Gerri and Maria, join Cisco’s executive leadership team,” said Robbins. “Their collective vision and vast experience across software, networking, services and customer success are a powerful combination as we drive greater momentum with our customers and partners.”
