Todd Nightingale leaving Cisco to take on CEO role at Fastly
Todd Nightingale, long-time executive vice president and general manager of the Cisco Enterprise Cloud and Networking Group, will become CEO of edge cloud platform provider Fastly on Sept. 1. Cisco, according to an emailed statement, will combine the Enterprise Cloud and Networking and Mass-scale Infrastructure groups under the leadership of Jonathan Davidson who currently heads the Mass-scale Infrastructure Group.
On the business realignment, Cisco said the group combination “allows us to deliver one vision for networking end-to-end. Uniting these two organizations gives us the ability to bring technology solutions even closer together, uniquely solve our customer challenges in transforming infrastructure and align our business.
From Cisco: “We always want the best for our teams, our people, and their continued growth in their careers. We are grateful for Todd’s…many contribution to Cisco and congratulate him as he takes on a new opportunity as a CEO of another company in an adjacent market. At the same time, we are excited for…Davidson to take on an expanded role leading a new organization…We are confident that this new team will continue to accelerate innovation for our customers and partners and drive growth for our business.”
Prior to leading the Enterprise Cloud and Networking business at Cisco, Nightingale served as senior vice president and general manager of the Meraki business. Fastly Founder, Chief Architect and Executive Chairperson Artur Bergman said in a statement, “I’m confident in Todd’s ability to lead the company with the rigor and energy needed to elevate Fastly to its next level of extraordinary technology and product growth, including a strong go-to-market motion and operational strengths.”
Commenting to RCR Wireless News, Will Townsend, senior analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, said, “I’ve gotten to know…Nightingale over several years at Cisco when he led Meraki and eventually the enterprise and cloud business for the networking giant. He’s a passionate executive, technically deep, and keenly aware of customer requirements. He’ll be a great addition to Fastly as its new CEO given the company’s focus on edge cloud and his vast experience as an early cloud infrastructure trailblazer.”
Before taking on leadership of the Mass-scale Infrastructure Group, Davidson served as senior vice president and general manager of Service Provider Networking. He spoke last to this outlet during the company’s Cisco Live event in Las Vegas where reducing structural networking costs in an effort to spur investment in extended connectivity into un- and underserved areas was a recurring topic. For more on that, read “Cisco sees a virtuous cycle: Innovation lowers cost, lower cost means more connectivity.”
