Hugh Eaton

Hugh Eaton leads Public Sector and Government Markets for Cisco in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was promoted to this role in August 2018.

In his current role, Hugh is focused on leading teams to inspire more than 20,000 government clients in 122 countries to better understand and use technology, data and innovation to address the rapidly changing dynamics in their countries; as well as enabling better outcomes in the areas that really matter to citizens – public safety, education and healthcare. During his 13-year tenure at Cisco, Hugh has held several other leadership roles, including the UK Public Sector, Professional Services, and in Global Strategy. He specialises in high-performance organisational design, as well as process and people change management.

Prior to joining Cisco, Hugh had a very busy military career covering more than 18 years of combat operations, and then worked for PA Consulting Group to create a new Defence and Intelligence Practice across the UK and US. He holds top level security clearance, is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, a Colonel in the Army Reserve and an adviser to several governments on cyber security.

Hugh holds a master’s degree in International Security Studies and was awarded an MBE in 1994, and an OBE in 2004, for services to the United Kingdom.

Hugh has three children and lives between London and Oxfordshire. His extracurricular interests include Alpine and Nordic skiing, and social and political history.