CxO of the Week: CIO of Cisco, Guillermo Diaz Jr.

Known to friends and colleagues in Cisco as "G," Guillermo Diaz Jr. is a pioneering figure in the technology world and an inspiration to the Latino community. Today, Guillermo is the Chief Information Officer, or "CIO" at Cisco's global IT organization. He's responsible for guiding the leading communication and technology company towards business outcomes that will support not only the digital transformation of Cisco but the progress of its customers and partners too. When Diaz first launched his career in telecommunications, he was still working in the US Navy. Over the years, he gradually built up his experience working for various high-tech companies, before he found his place in Cisco in 2000. Today, Diaz continues to pursue his passions for technology, personal development, and empowering the next generation in the STEM educational field.

An Inspirational Figure and Passionate CIO

As CIO of Cisco, Guillermo is responsible for driving new business models, seeking out digital talent, and supporting the development of Cisco's future innovations. However, Guillermo also has a passion for pushing the diversification practices in Cisco too. Currently, he's the leader of the Cisco Diversity Council, and also acts as an executive sponsor of the Cisco Latino/Hispanic employee resource network, "Conexion". Before joining Cisco in the year 2000, Guillermo developed his experience with multiple senior leadership positions in some of the most respected companies of Silicon Valley. For a while, he acted as Director of Global Network Services at a company called Silicon Graphics. Diaz was also Senior IT Director for Ingram Micro and the manager of Telecoms for the Alza Corporation. Guillermo's career began when he was still serving with the US Navy, where he obtained a military scholarship that led to his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, from the Colorado Regis University. Now that he's in a leading role within Cisco, Diaz focuses his efforts on building and managing new and innovative strategies for the business. Over the years, Guillermo has worked on the development of the IT infrastructure for Cisco, as well as it's management and network systems, enterprise resource planning strategies, and intranet foundations. Diaz even played a part in the development of the Cisco.com website, and he's led teams in various primary IT application areas, including Cisco electronic commerce, professional services, technical services, marketing and service sales, customer service, and cloud/SaaS platforms.

Award-Winning Leadership

Guillermo has proven his proficiency in the technology and telecommunications fields multiple times throughout the years, winning a number of impressive awards and accolades. He earned the 2017 CIO Top 100 award, as well as the Top 10 Lidres Award for 2016, and the 2015 Hispanic IT Executive Council Award for outstanding individual leadership in the IT field. Diaz was also recognized as one of the top 100 CTO/CIO leaders in the STEM development field, and he's been recognized multiple times by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a CIO community champion.

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