India has long played a critical role for us as a strategic market: Jacqueline Guichelaar, Cisco

Digitalisation is now a reality for all organisations across different sectors irrespective of the growth phase they are in. Considering the fact the digitisation is at present the most crucial aspect of the modern economy, it has to figure in the priority list of decision makers in the IT sector. Jacqueline Guichelaar, senior vice president and general manager, customer experience, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China, Cisco recently spoke to Dataquest about some of the latest trends in digitisation, and how Cisco is gearing up to address this demand.

DQ: Digitalization is a global trend and a growth factor of the modern economy. How is Cisco gearing up to address this?

Jacqueline Guichelaar: I’ve noticed many global businesses have put more focus, energy, and urgency into digital transformation and the need to deliver digital-first services. Even institutions that are typically slower to change have leapt into the digital world. In fact, according to an AppDynamics report, 74% of CIOs report their digital projects are now being approved in a matter of weeks instead of months or even a year. 

Cisco is uniquely positioned to address these changing needs. Our entire focus as a company is to help our customers connect, secure, and automate in a cloud-first world.

We’ve spent the last 38 years building trust with our customers and partners, focused on transparency, authenticity, and empathy. We continue to build upon that foundation by delivering the industry’s most innovative and trusted experiences across the globe — from implementation to business optimization to ongoing support.

It’s why we’re the choice of 98% of the Fortune 500 and have been named a best place to work year after year, all around the world, and why businesses, governments, hospitals, and schools turned to us during the pandemic – they knew we’d be there to see them through. And that’s exactly what we did.

DQ: How are you evolving your technology portfolio to meet the evolving customer needs?

Jacqueline Guichelaar: We pride ourselves on being a strategic partner and ensuring our customers realize their outcomes, faster. Just as the market has shifted to outcomes, Customer Experience has become even more proactive. Our evolving technology portfolio means we can engage customers before they call, educate them before they ask, and give them the confidence that we’ve got their back no matter what.

I believe the era of reactive support and services has been replaced by one that is proactive and predictive, made possible by the convergence of data, telemetry, insights, machine learning, technical expertise, and knowledge. 

DQ: How according to you has India as a market evolved through the pandemic? How is the Cisco strategy pivoted around Customer Experience in India?

Jacqueline Guichelaar: I’ve seen customer needs change, and in response digitization has become the core and center of our customer strategy. Technology is now more people-independent, with an outcome-based consumption model that can deliver value quickly and with enhanced security. 

Cisco Customer Experience has the second largest presence in India, over a quarter of the global CX footprint. We have best-in-class technical talent contributing across Service Provider Networking and Mobility, Security, Enterprise Networking, Data Center, and Collaboration, making India the largest base of TAC support. India is also one of the largest contributors to Success Tracks, one of our newest lifecycle-focused services, in the APJC region. We’ve also invested in in-country repair solutions for faster outcomes.

DQ: What are CIOs doing for skill development and how are you gearing up your tech team for the future?

Jacqueline Guichelaar: In my experience, soft skills are often just as important as technical skills. I look for people who are naturally curious and eager to learn new things — about our customers, technology, and strategy. Attitude is also a big differentiator — having a good one. Lastly, I look for the ability to be proactive and anticipate what customers want and need — I hear this feedback from many of our customers.

During my time as Cisco’s CIO, I headed up our Customer Zero program, where IT road tests our own solutions before they’re made available to customers.  It’s a great way to not only gather valuable feedback but also have our employees experience our latest and greatest technologies before they’re fully adopted.

In Cisco CX, we have a dedicated team. Our flexible resourcing model allows us to quickly fill skill gaps with access to expertise when and how we need it. As leaders, we champion and advocate for our employees, connecting them with resources and coordinating across teams to accelerate business outcomes.

DQ: What are some of Cisco's key technology priorities? And what are the key factors driving the growth of Cisco solutions in India?

Jacqueline Guichelaar: Security is our top priority. It’s embedded in everything we do. I’m proud that Cisco is the largest enterprise security provider in the world. We integrate the industry’s broadest portfolio with an open platform approach that strengthens security from the network, cloud, endpoint, and applications.

We’re focused on driving operational simplicity, automation, and visibility across the entire infrastructure – anywhere on any device. Our unrivalled threat research and industry-leading Zero Trust approach make it possible to quickly prevent, detect, and respond to threats, with intelligence fed into the entire Cisco security portfolio.

Within our own IT organization, we have 110k devices in Cisco’s CX Cloud. It provides a secure, single pane of glass view into our complex estate, and we can see real-time security alerts and upgrade quickly to ensure our infrastructure is always up to date.

I see so much potential and talent in India and love visiting our teams there.  India has long played a critical role for us as a strategic market with over 34,000 full-time and partner employees supporting Sales, Engineering, and CX. For me, India is and will continue to be an innovation hub for emerging markets and the world. Our global CX Center in Bangalore supports the delivery of our lifecycle services across APJC and globally.

India is also one of our largest and fastest-growing markets for SaaS offerings such as Webex and the Duo Security platform. In fact, many of our Customer Success global best practices have come out of the successes and lessons we’ve learned in India.   

DQ: What are the key customer experience trends you feel will have an impact on the digital workplace in 2023?

Jacqueline Guichelaar: We’re in an era of hybrid work where work is not where you go, but what you do and how you do it. I believe this shift has permanently reshaped expectations for customers, employers, and employees alike.

Employees today want more flexibility and a voice in where, when, and how they work. I think this is fast becoming the de facto factor in determining a digital workplace strategy and retaining talent in 2023.  As innovation continues and factors for wellbeing shift, I believe we need to embrace hybrid work from a technological and cultural lens. Our ability to adapt to these changing dynamics will create significant opportunities for all of us. We’ve already seen transformation in the workplace with our smart building solutions including DNA Spaces. These innovative spaces provide a transparent view of data in the office’s physical space, enabling safe practices like density monitoring, room occupancies, and contactless experiences.