Karen Walker

Senior Vice President, Marketing, Cisco

202 - Big Data and The Internet of Things: Get Ready to Connect!

Karen Walker is Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cisco. She leads the global Go To Market Organization that manages the outbound marketing of Cisco products and solutions, while accelerating sales through Cisco's sales force and partners. Her team takes an integrated marketing approach from brand to demand, using digital and social media to engage customers and partners on their purchase journey.

Karen's 20-plus years in the IT industry have included senior field and marketing leadership roles in Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific region. She joined Cisco from Hewlett-Packard, where she held business and consumer leadership positions including Vice President of Alliances and Marketing for HP Services, and Vice President of Strategy and Marketing for both the Consumer Digital Entertainment and Personal Systems groups.

A recognized industry authority on both technology and marketing topics, Karen is a Board member of the I.T. Services Marketing Association and a member of the CMO Council, the Marketers that Matter Council, Advancing Women Executives (AWE) in Silicon Valley, and CRN's 2013 Women of the Channel. She also sponsors multiple initiatives to accelerate female leadership within Cisco and has lectured on business thought leadership at UC Berkeley, Haas Business School. Karen holds a bachelor of science degree with joint honors in chemistry and business studies from Loughborough University in England.