Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) has appointed Jeetu Patel, who joined the technology company in 2020, as executive vice president and chief product officer to oversee networking, security and collaboration portfolios under one organization.
In a blog post published Wednesday, Cisco Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins wrote that Jonathan Davidson will transition to the role of adviser to the chief executive after serving as head of the company’s networking team.
Jeetu Patel
Patel brings to the role his operational experience, product design and development expertise and market understanding.
He most recently served as EVP and general manager of Cisco’s security and collaboration units, where he led strategy, helped drive innovation and advanced inorganic investments.
Before Cisco, Patel was chief product officer and chief strategy at Box (NYSE: BOX).
His industry career included senior leadership positions at Syncplicity, EMC and Doculabs.
He currently sits on the boards of real estate services provider JLL and digital infrastructure company Equinix.
Networking, Security and Collaboration Teams Under One Organization
Robbins said combining the three teams under a single organization will enable Cisco to accelerate product innovation, better integrate its portfolios and provide a unified experience for its clients and partners.
“As we move to complete the full integration of Splunk into Cisco, we also plan to integrate the Splunk product line into this new organization at the right time. This will bring our entire product portfolio together as one team,” the chairman noted.
In March, Cisco completed its $28 billion acquisition of software company Splunk as part of efforts to expand its networking capabilities and security and observability platforms designed to help organizations drive digital resilience while advancing the adoption of artificial intelligence.
