Mark Patterson

As Chief Strategy Officer, Mark Patterson is responsible for driving Cisco’s overall strategic direction including acquisitions, investments, and emerging technology incubation efforts to create new markets and fuel growth for the company. Mark also leads the Office of the Chair and CEO, partnering with the Executive Leadership Team to accelerate innovation, alignment, and growth. His team is responsible for annual and long-range strategic business planning, strategic partnerships, developer relations, and critical cross-functional initiatives. Previously, Mark held the role of SVP, Chief of Staff to the Chair & CEO, serving as a trusted advisor and driving alignment across Cisco functions through forums focused on strategy, innovation, and leadership. Prior to that, he served as SVP, Global Strategy, Planning and Operations, where he focused on our transformation to deliver recurring revenue, digital selling, and evolving Cisco’s go-to-market strategy. Mark also led sales operations, inclusive of sales and partner training, compensation, customer listening, and Cisco’s Customer Experience Centers around the globe. Throughout his 23-plus years at Cisco, Mark has held a number of functional leadership roles across the company ranging from finance, sales strategy, planning, and operations, working with each of Cisco’s primary customer segments spanning enterprise, commercial, public sector, and service provider. He led the original formation of the Americas region, bringing together multiple theatres, countries, and market segments. He was instrumental in the integration of the product and service sales forces. He has served in several executive sponsorship roles for customers and countries, as well as championing multiple diversity efforts. Before joining Cisco in 2000, Mark led finance and overall business operations for IPMobile. IPMobile was previously named “One of the Hottest Start-Ups in America” by America’s Network Magazine and was later acquired by Cisco. Earlier in his career, Mark focused on serving high-tech and telecommunication clients as manager at a top global public accounting firm. Mark holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in accounting from Baylor University in Texas. He serves on the Board of Directors for NPower, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to create pathways to economic prosperity by launching digital careers for military veterans and young adults from underserved communities.