Cisco’s long-serving chief executive John Chambers will step aside to make way for another company veteran, Chuck Robbins, who will take the helm this summer.
The transition will take place on 26 July, at which date Chambers will become executive chairman of Cisco. He will also continue as the firm’s chairman.
Chambers, who will turn 66 in August, has been with Cisco since 1991 and has served as CEO for the past 20 years. His decision to retire has been public knowledge for the past year or so, but until now no date had been set.
His successor joined the network equipment maker in 1997 and now holds the post of SVP of wo rldwide operations, putting him in charge of the firm’s global sales and partner team.
"Chuck has demonstrated the same energy and passion to make Cisco great that John Chambers has demonstrated during his entire 20-year career as CEO," said Carol Bartz, lead independent director of Cisco, in a statement on Monday.
"Finding a successor who could follow John was a challenge we took very seriously," she said. "Chuck stood apart as a leader with an extraordinary ability to connect vision, people and ideas to drive strategy and execution."
Cisco took its time with regard to naming Chamber’s successor, with the formal CEO search process beginning 16 months ago.
"The opportunity that lies ahead for Cisco is enormous, and the ability to lead this next chapter is deeply humbling and incredibly exhilarating," Robbins said.
"At a time when our industry is on the cusp of more disruption than we’ve ever encountered, I couldn’t be more confident in our ability to win, or more honoured to lead this great company," he added.
