Cisco names Oliver Tuszik as new president for EMEA

Networking giant Cisco has officially announced Oliver Tuszik as its new president for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.

Tuszik has accumulated more than 10 years’ experience at Cisco, most recently holding the position of senior vice president of its global partner sales and routes to market business, where he led Cisco’s global partner ecosystem. He also fronted Cisco Germany between 2013 and 2018.

Overall, the company veteran has more than 25 years of leadership experience from his previous roles at Cisco, a spell as CEO of Computacenter in Germany, as well as stints at a host of other IT companies.

In an announcement, Tuszik said that his time spent working in EMEA has led him to the conclusion that the region has the “biggest untapped opportunity on the world stage”.

“The power, innovation capability and talent diversity of the countries is unmatched," he said. "Technology is the most critical component to accelerate digitization and enable industry transformation for the region.

“From secure and sustainable infrastructure to transformative technologies in AI, to empowering the future of work, Cisco is literally at the heart of making it possible."

Unusually, the announcement of Tuszik’s appoint comes two weeks after Cisco’s new EMEA chief revealed the news himself via a LinkedIn post. In it, he said he will continue to advocate for partners despite moving to a new role within the Cisco organization.

“I’m excited about my new adventure with the Cisco EMEA team,” he wrote. “I’ll carry forward all that I’ve learned and experienced in the US and across the globe and apply it in this next chapter of my journey.”

In a Tweet, he added: “Cisco partners – I remain your advocate and will support/use what we started and have been accelerating.”

His switch to EMEA comes at a time when Cisco says it is accelerating its connectivity efforts around the world, as “ecological priorities” become more prevalent for businesses. In recent times, industries have had to reconsider business models and supply chains to become more agile, resilient, and sustainable.

Reporting to Jeff Sharritts, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief customer and partner officer, Tuszik will help drive this aim forward, working with Cisco’s ecosystem, partners, and customers to “advance significant digitization and innovation” across the region.

"Oliver has had an incredible impact in his ten years at Cisco,” Sharritts commented. “He has repeatedly proven to be one of the most inspirational leaders at the company and is one of the strongest advocates for our customers and partners that I have come across. I can't wait to see what our amazing team in the region will accomplish under his leadership.”