Thomas is VP/GM Networking Solutions Group in the Network and Edge Cloud Connectivity Group, responsible for defining and selling innovative connectivity solutions for cloud centric deployments, optimized for performance, security, and TCO. In his previous role, Thomas was Vice President, Product Management, for Cisco’s Data Center Networking business group. He led the consolidation and growth of the Nexus portfolio into a multi-billion business with a large recurring software component. Thomas has 25 years of experience in the networking industry working with cloud providers, enterprise customers, and partners in various roles for Cisco, Juniper, and Insieme Networks. His main areas of expertise are the datacenter and optical interconnect technologies. In the past, Thomas served on the Board of Directors of The Ethernet Alliance., was a Board Observer at Innovium (acquired by Marvell), and a Board of Directors member for the Inspur-Cisco JV. Thomas is a frequent speaker at data center industry events and published blogs on technology trends. Before his first stint at Cisco, Thomas started his career in Germany working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Thomas holds an MSEE from the Technical University Chemnitz (Germany) and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley.