Pete Shimer had a distinguished career of more than 40 years at Deloitte, having held several senior leadership positions to drive enterprise-wide transformation, corporate development and strategic planning.
Having spent a decade amongst Deloitte’s c-suite, he undertook critical roles such as chief operating officer, chief financial officer and interim CEO at the company. His plethora of expertise attests to how deep his operational and financial experience is – all crucial advantages he could bring to Cisco’s board.
He also currently services as director on the boards of Alaska Airlines, Korn Ferry and Synopsys, in addition to his role as executive chair of the Cancer Artificial Intelligence Alliance (CAIA).
Shimer joins the Cisco board alongside company chair and CEO Chuck Robbins, in addition to the likes of Michael D. Capellas, Dr. Kristina M. Johnson, John D. Harris II and Sarah Rae Murphy, among others.
“We’re delighted to welcome Pete to Cisco’s board,” said Robbins. “His four decades of experience leading large global organisations and guiding clients through digital transformation bring invaluable insight at a critical moment, as Cisco delivers the critical infrastructure powering AI innovation worldwide.”
The news comes as Cisco commits to scaling its AI efforts. Recently, the company had strong share performance, amid its role in core networking and AI-related infrastructure, closing at US$80.44 with returns of 4.4% within the past week.
Speaking in March, company chief product officer Jeetu Patel said the company is marketing itself as the “critical infrastructure company for the AI era”.
He added: “The sovereign AI movement is going to be real and sustained. Our ability to work with hyperscalers, private clouds, sovereign clouds, service providers and enterprises allows us to have one of the most comprehensive views in the industry.”
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