Cisco hires two top executives to lead sales and marketing

In the wake of an executive shakeup late last year, Cisco has announced the appointment of two industry veterans as its new top executives. The new executives have been entrusted with leading the sales, marketing and customer experience for the networking giant.

Gerri Elliott was named executive vice president, and chief sales and marketing officer at Cisco, effective April 30. She is assigned with the task to align the sales and marketing organizations around the company's go-to-market strategy and growth opportunity.

Elliott spent five years at Cisco rival Juniper Networks from 2009 to 2014, with her last role as executive vice president and strategic advisor, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to Juniper, she spent seven years at Microsoft and more than two decades at IBM. In 2015, she founded Blacktara, which provides consultant and advisory services in leadership development and go-to-market strategies for technology organizations.

Elliott will replace Cisco's global sales leader Chris Dedicoat, who has been with Cisco for 22 years and will be stepping down from his current post in July. Dedicoat will move into a senior advisory role at the company, taking on a number of strategic initiatives for Cisco Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins, according to the company.

Cisco also appointed Maria Martinez to serve as the company’s executive vice president and chief customer experience officer, effective April 16. A new position within Cisco, Martinez in his assignment will be responsible for building customer loyalty and ensuring clients take full advantage of Cisco's software, services and subscription offerings.