Wendy Carstairs is head of Technical Strategy, UK Defence, Cisco Systems. She has been working for Cisco in the Central Government and Defence sectors since January 2006 and is currently heading up the Cisco technical strategy for the Defence sector, engaging with customers across the MoD, MoD Agencies and Defence contractor supply chain. Wendy has 17 years experience in the IT industry, starting life in telesales and retraining as a network engineer in the late 90s and has worked in a variety of companies that include network hardware vendors, service providers, IT resellers and IT distributors. She has covered multiple enterprise verticals including Oil & Gas, Parcel Distribution, Logistics and Government and is today focused on enabling organisations to exploit internet technologies for measurable benefit.

Wendy is leading Cisco’s ’Girls in IT’ initiative in the UK in partnership with e-skills UK to inspire the next generation of girls into considering a career in IT.