Avatar

Maciej Kranz

Vice President and General Manager

Corporate Strategic Innovation Group

Maciej Kranz brings 25 years of business and management experience to his position as Vice President, Corporate Technology Group. Kranz leads an effort focused on identifying and capitalizing on major technology market disruptions, shaping and amplifying Cisco technology strategy, and conducting technology due diligence for potential investments/acquisitions.

Prior to this role, Kranz drove the vision, strategy and P&L for a new hyper-growth business unit focused on Internet of Things. As General Manager, Connected Industries Group, he built a 220-person team and $250M business from the ground up in 18 months. He relentlessly evangelized the business across the company to establish the Internet of Things as a major Cisco initiative.

As VP Borderless Networks, Kranz led the efforts across Cisco businesses of defining, prioritizing, and delivering Borderless Network Architecture and roadmaps. Cisco networks enabled enterprises to conduct business and communicate from anywhere, anytime, and in any way they wish – as Borderless Networks.

With his tenure as VP of Marketing for the Wireless Networking Business Unit (WNBU), Kranz drove business and product strategy for business-class indoor and outdoor wireless and mobility offerings.

Kranz also led product management for the stackable Ethernet switching business unit, which he grew to a multi-billion dollar business across enterprise, small business, and Metro Ethernet networks.

Prior to Cisco, Kranz held various management positions at 3Com Corporation, where he was instrumental in the strategy, development and expansion into new markets of 3Com’s $1B Ethernet network interface cards (NICs) product line. He began his professional career at IBM Corporation in International Marketing.

Articles

October 12, 2016

INNOVATION

These Boots Were Made For Walking: A New Look at the Path to IoT Success

2 min read

Last year, I wrote a series of blogs exploring the various technology and business factors to keep in mind while considering an Internet of Things (IoT) deployment. Since then, IoT has continued to accelerate its drive toward transformational change across industries. And I have continued to log in thousands upon thousands of miles meeting with […]

September 7, 2016

INNOVATION

No Vacation for Innovation

1 min read

Last week I was pleased to be part of a Cisco celebration of home-grown innovation. Our first-ever Strategic Innovations Party on the Patio showed that there was no vacation for innovation this year at Cisco.Drone

July 18, 2016

INNOVATION

Welcome to the Co-Economy: There’s Never Been a Better Time

2 min read

The world has never been more connected, and there’s never been a better opportunity for co-innovation, co-development, co-marketing, and even co-funding. The time is right for the co-economy—a trend that is reshaping how we work, live, and conduct business. Granted, some aspects of the co-economy have been around for years. I remember the idea of […]

June 23, 2016

INNOVATION

Succeeding with Customers and Partners in the “Co-Economy”

3 min read

Cooperation, co-development, co-opetition. What does it take to succeed in the “co-economy”? Just as the “sharing economy” has changed the basic assumptions upon which the hotel and taxi industries are built, the “co-economy” is changing some of the fundamental ways we think about developing and bringing innovations to market.

May 19, 2016

INNOVATION

Co-Innovating for Startups and Enterprises—Better Together?

4 min read

People say that opposites attract, but big differences in economic or social background, education, and personality can sometimes lead to misunderstanding, conflict—and a weekly appointment with a marriage counselor! The same can be true when unevenly matched companies—such as a large enterprise and a startup—try to collaborate on an innovation initiative.

April 20, 2016

INNOVATION

Setting the Stage for Co-Innovation Success

3 min read

The new model for co-innovation can be messy. No longer a one-thing-at-a-time, linear methodology, today’s development process involves people from different organizations, with different backgrounds and cultures working on several different tracks at once, with rapid prototyping, real-time customer feedback, and multiple iterations all along the way. It involves frequent failures, fast recovery, and new […]

April 5, 2016

INNOVATION

The Time Is Now for Co-Innovation: Three Reasons Why

3 min read

Traditionally, Cisco’s innovation strategy has been built around four foundational pillars: build, buy, partner, and invest. Recently, however, a fifth pillar—co-innovation —has become more prominent. In my last blog, I introduced the idea that innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it requires diverse skill sets and multiple points of view. But it’s only been in the […]

March 23, 2016

INNOVATION

Co-Innovation: Shining a “Lightbulb” on the Myth of the Lone Inventor

3 min read

A few years ago I sat down with technology leaders at a major oil and gas company to talk about a solution they wanted Cisco to develop, and they had some unique and interesting requirements:

December 16, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The Internet of Things: Hype or Reality?

3 min read

Having spent several days last week at the Internet of Things World Forum in Dubai, I am more convinced than ever that the Internet of Things (IoT) is not some hyped-up futuristic vision of what could be, but a present-day reality that is transforming businesses and industries here and now. In this blog series over […]

December 7, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Our Innovation Ecosystem Shines Brilliantly at IoTWF in Dubai

3 min read

As the sun rises on the third day of the third annual Internet of Things World Forum (IoTWF) this year in the super smart city of Dubai – the brilliance of the Internet of Things (IoT) market and the robust ecosystem that supports it continues to shine brightly. Rapid IoT prototyping and other innovative solutions […]

December 4, 2015

INNOVATION

Job One: Securing IoT

4 min read

Recently, I participated in the panel on Internet of Things (IoT) security as part of the Automation Perspectives media event hosted by Rockwell Automation, just prior to Automation Fair 2015 in Chicago. It is clear that the ability to deal effectively with security threats is the No. 1 make-or-break factor for IoT adoption. With this […]

November 30, 2015

INNOVATION

The Future of IoT Is Now: Proof at the upcoming IoT World Forum

2 min read

We’re now less than a week away from the Internet of Things World Forum, located in Dubai. This premier industry event, on December 6-8, will showcase many of the exciting transformations made possible by the Internet of Things (IoT) gaining momentum across the globe. The agenda is packed with keynotes by industry leaders, breakout sessions, […]

November 19, 2015

INNOVATION

Cisco Provides Leadership in Newly Formed OpenFog Consortium

1 min read

The OpenFog Consortium has made its debut as an ecosystem of industry and academic leaders to foster an open architecture for fog computing in the Internet of Things (IoT). This is an important milestone that will accelerate IoT deployments and maximize their value across a wide range of industries. My friend and colleague, Helter Antunes, […]

November 17, 2015

INNOVATION

Building Scalable, Sustainable, Smart+Connected Communities with Fog Computing

4 min read

This week, Cisco is showcasing innovations across our Smart+Connected Communities portfolio at the Smart City World Expo Congress in Barcelona. We’ve entered the digital age and smart cities worldwide are embracing technologies to streamline their operations and meet the growing expectations of their citizens. Today, citizens in the most vibrant cities are already seeing many initiatives […]

November 12, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Not Just for Holidays: My Recipe for IoT Success

3 min read

Sharing recipes among family and friends is a long-standing holiday tradition. I have my own favorite recipe, but it’s not part of an extravagant holiday dinner. It’s my recipe for success in the Internet of Things (IoT). Over the past six months or so, I’ve discussed in this series of blogs the various elements to […]

October 28, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Back to Business: IoT Makes Traditional Industries Cool Again

2 min read

The U.S. space program in the 1960s and ‘70s was a classic example of an innovation model that began with a government initiative, was applied to enterprise issues, and finally filtered down to consumers. Internet innovation in the early 2000s turned that model on its head by focusing first on consumer needs, consumer applications, and […]

October 12, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The Internet of Things: Why Now?

3 min read

The time is ripe for an IoT explosion. The number of connected “things” in the world has skyrocketed from about a million in the early 1990s to 13 billion today. As the Internet of Everything (IoE) gains momentum—digitizing business processes in every industry—we expect to see 50 billion connected devices by 2020. The technology connecting […]

September 14, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

It’s Not Just the Connections, It’s the Applications

3 min read

The Internet of Things (IoT) is connecting sensors, cameras, machines, and other devices at an amazing rate. But what drives the value of these digitized devices is not just the connections—it’s the applications that the connections enable. Think, for example, of a connected transportation system. It is not enough that buses have GPS and can […]

August 24, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Fog Analytics: Turning Data into Real-Time Insight and Action

2 min read

The world is awash in data, and 90 percent of it was created in the last two years.1 In fact, every day we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data2 and that number is growing exponentially. The explosive growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) promises to add to this data glut, with 40 percent of […]

August 10, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Fog Computing: Bringing Cloud Capabilities Down to Earth

2 min read

When we think of “cloud” we think of a vast collection of compute, network, and storage capabilities that resides somewhere high above us—a massive repository of functionality that can be accessed from anywhere and any device with enough bandwidth to handle the data flow. With practically unlimited power and scalability, cloud technology has been a […]

IoT Meets Standards, Driving Interoperability and Adoption

2 min read

For years, industrial control systems have been characterized by proprietary devices, protocols, communications, and applications. However, at the Hannover Fair last spring, virtually every exhibitor showed products that support IP, Ethernet, or Wi-Fi interfaces—something that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago. The Internet of Everything (IoE) is driving this change, with an exponentially […]

IT Is from Venus, OT Is from Mars

3 min read

Bringing Alien Worlds Together in the Internet of Things In the 1990s, I, like millions of others, read the book Women Are from Venus, Men Are from Mars. This best-seller suggested that the frequent misunderstandings between genders make it seem as though men and women are from different, alien worlds. But it’s not just men […]

Number of Access Technologies and IoT Deployments Is Skyrocketing

3 min read

Almost daily, I work with customers and partners as they develop strategies to gain competitive differentiation through innovative technology. One area bursting with change is the Internet of Things (IoT), which has grown more than threefold in number of deployments since 2012. This is the first in a series of blogs on technology and business […]

What happened after the Innovation Grand Challenge Awards?

3 min read

At Cisco, we have invested significant time, money and resources into igniting innovation around the Internet of Everything (IoE) both inside and outside the company. Since fostering an innovation ecosystem is so critical to the success of IoE, last year we launched the global Innovation Grand Challenge. The risk-reward ratio was high, but with a […]

November 7, 2014

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

From Local to Global: Extending Our IoE Innovation Strategy with openBerlin and TTTech

2 min read

There are people all over the world doing truly innovative acts to move the technology needle, but without proper support, many of these ideas fail to come to true fruition. We at Cisco are committed to doing our part by guiding these creators towards a path of success. With both internal and external programs to […]

October 20, 2014

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Academia and Industry Come Together For The 1st Annual IoTWF Research Symposium

1 min read

This year we launched the first annual Research Symposium at the IoT World Forum in Chicago. This Symposium brought together scholars, industry leaders and visionaries from across the world to discuss how academia and industry can partner to address the challenges and the opportunities that IoT presents. We were delighted to be joined by impressive […]

October 15, 2014

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Announcing Winners of the IoT Innovation Grand Challenge! #IoTWF

1 min read

Today we’ve successfully completed the IoT Innovation Grand challenge that was announced in April 2014. When Cisco embarked on this journey, our goal was to discover, recognize, promote and reward innovators, entrepreneurs and early-stage startup businesses with innovative ideas and solutions for IoT. With over 800 submissions from 71 countries, the response has been absolutely […]

October 14, 2014

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

1871 and Lighting a Fire For IoE innovation

2 min read

This morning I had a pleasure of joining 1871 CEO Howard Tullman, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and many others in launching the expansion of 1871.  Launched in 2012, 1871 is a leading Chicago non-profit incubator that provides affordable co-work spaces to Chicago entrepreneurs as well as community gatherings and programs such as tech talks, hackathons […]

How Dundee Precious Metals is Reinventing Mining with Internet of Everything

2 min read

Maciej Kranz, VP and GM of Cisco’s Corporate Technology Group, shares his perspective on Dundee Precious Metals and the Internet of Everything I’ve traveled a great deal around the globe in the last year and am amazed at the interesting things organizations are doing with technology to connect the unconnected. As we enter the next […]

Calling All Internet of Things Entrepreneurs!

2 min read

With less than 1% of things in the physical world connected to the Internet, there is an incredible opportunity to connect the unconnected. In keeping Cisco’s commitment to drive Internet of Things innovations, Cisco announces a new initiative to recognize and support up-and-coming innovators, entrepreneurs and early-stage startup businesses that contribute to the growth and […]

February 26, 2014

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Summary: CIO Perspectives – Mobility, Customer Experience and the Road Ahead

2 min read

Many business and IT leaders understand the current benefits of mobility, but some are still wondering what’s down the road and how the growing Internet of Everything (IoE) will impact the future of mobility and enhance tomorrow’s digital experience, for those both inside and outside of the workplace. How can today’s CIOs be prepared to […]

February 26, 2014

NETWORKING

Summary: CIO Perspectives – Mobility, Customer Experience and the Road Ahead

1 min read

In my conversations with many CIOs and IT leaders, they have agreed that investing in mobile and BYOD policies will contribute to the long-term success of their business. However, many are still wondering what’s down the road and how the growing Internet of Everything (IoE) will impact the future of mobility and enhance tomorrow’s digital […]

February 25, 2014

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

CIO Perspectives – Mobility, Customer Experience and the Road Ahead

3 min read

Today’s CIOs understand how mobility and BYOD programs have benefited the companies thus far – from increased productivity, improved collaboration, reduced costs and much more, according to a recent Mobile Enterprise article. In my conversations with many CIOs, they have agreed that mobile leads to more mobile. The success of their initial mobile solution deployments […]

February 11, 2013

MANUFACTURING

Manufacturing Innovation Begins with a Converged Network

Many manufacturers are gathered at the ARC World Industry Forum in Orlando this week discussing new technologies, best practices and emerging standards in manufacturing.  They’re talking about how to drive innovation with real-time advanced analytics, increase equipment utilization, implement energy-savings and sustainability strategies, collaborate amongst supply chain expertise with machine-level context and awareness, and enable […]