Cisco has a new chief technology officer (CTO) for Australia and New Zealand, with Carl Solder taking over the position vacated by Kevin Bloch in July 2020.
Based in Perth, Solder will be responsible for elevating Cisco’s technology strategy and highlighting the latest company innovations, with a strong customer focus to understand the needs and application of technology, the tech giant said in a statement.
“It’s great to be back. I’m keen to connect back with our Australian and New Zealand customer community who, at the executive briefing centres in San Jose, are often viewed as technology thought leaders when compared to customer peers across the world,” Soder said in a statement.
“In my last few years at Cisco’s engineering headquarters, the team have upped the ante on driving its innovation engine. I saw more innovation being pushed out the door than any other time across my 25 years with Cisco.”
Solder has been with Cisco for more than 26 years and returns to Australia after 14 years in Silicon Valley across a range of roles including in the company’s engineering and enterprise networking business.
“The world is undergoing massive changes in the way it uses the network and associated technology and is integrated throughout business and in our lives,” he said.
“From the pandemic and shift to hybrid work, to increased cyber-attacks, the adoption of the internet of things, automation, developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning – all these factors have resulted in an acceleration of Cisco’s innovation engine.
“We are at a time in which the opportunities for customers and partners are evolving faster and innovating more creatively. I am committed to helping our customers in Australia and New Zealand to continue leading the way.”
Solder replaces long time local Kevin Bloch who left the role he held for 21 years in June 2020 to start his own technology advisory company.
Bloch spent the last 12 years as CTO of Cisco ANZ and prior to that, held other senior roles within the company.
“I have been fortunate to be part of an incredible company, have worked with visionary leaders and led teams of talented, committed individuals and now I’m excited to be establishing my own technology advisory company,” Bloch said at the time.Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.