Cisco has just handed its EMEA reins to a company veteran who has worked his way up from account manager.
Gordon Thomson was today named as Cisco’s EMEA President amid a wider global sales leadership reshuffle at the networking vendor.
He joined Cisco as a UK account manager in 1997, beavering up through the ranks to most recently hold the position of Senior Vice President, Service Provider, EMEA.
Cisco’s EMEA business generated $14.1bn of the vendor’s $53.8bn top line last year.
The exec rejig follows the promotion of previous EMEA President Oliver Tuszik to the role of Chief Sales Officer in April.
It comes as Cisco gets set to face off against an enlarged networking competitor in the shape of HPE.
HPE claimed it now has the “most comprehensive, secure, AI native, client-to-cloud portfolio of networking products” in the market following the closure of its $14bn union with Juniper Networks last week.
Networking marketshare leader Cisco saw fiscal Q3 2025 revenues rise 11% year on year to $14.1bn as CEO Chuck Robbins hailed momentum in AI, however.
“Incredibly easy”
Tuszik claimed the “breadth and depth” of Cisco’s talent pool made the global sales rejig “incredibly easy”.
Besides Thomson, Tuszik also promoted Patrick Morrissey to lead its Americas Sales team (among other changes).
“I am truly humbled to be taking on the role of EMEA President at Cisco. I have spent almost three decades at this incredible company, and I have never been more excited to step into a new position,” stated Thomson.
“This is a special time for Cisco and I can’t wait to help the EMEA team continue to shape the region’s digital future.”
“Gordon’s knowledge of Cisco and our customers is unparallelled,” Tuszik added.
“His extensive experience of how our AI, networking and security solutions can be used to unlock digital transformation, productivity and innovation across industries and geographies is an incredible asset to the business. He is an inspirational leader and has guided countless teams across the world to success. I look forward to seeing him do the same with the Cisco EMEA team.”
