Michael Ganser

Michael Ganser is Senior Vice President Central Europe (Eastern Europe, Russia/CIS and Switzerland) at Cisco.

In this role, he is responsible for sales and services, growth and customer-centric innovation in 28 countries. He is also Executive Sponsor and spokesperson for Digitization on Cisco’s EMEAR leadership team as well as for Cisco Smart Citiy initiatives in Hamburg.

Michael Ganser joined Cisco in 1996 as General Manager in Switzerland. Over the past 20 years, he served in various leadership positions at the company, among others as Vice President for Cisco’s Service Provider business in Europe and the Middle East; General Manager Cisco Germany and Senior Vice President and head of the Enterprise segment in Europe. In November 2015, he was appointed Senior Vice President responsible for the Central Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS sales region.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience in the IT industry, Ganser has a deep understanding of market transitions and business transformation as well as their impact on society. As countries, cities, and companies are digitizing at exponential speed, it is crucial for all organizations to reinvent themselves. Customer-centric innovation through technology is therefore a primary focus for Ganser. He is actively engaged in innovation projects including hackathons and rapid prototyping and is one of the initiators of the Global Center for Digital Business Transformation, a joint think tank between Cisco and IMD in Lausanne.

Talent development and a collaborative environment are another priority for Ganser. He regularly mentors prospective leaders from around the world and is an ambassador for diverse teams. Cisco organizations in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland and others have been awarded as great places to work under his leadership.

Michael Ganser is regularly invited to speak at European and Global IT and business conferences about digitization and digital disruption in verticals such as the public sector, manufacturing and healthcare.