Cisco Networking And Cloud Leader Todd Nightingale To Join Fastly As CEO
Effective Sept. 1, edge cloud standout Fastly will have a new CEO: Cisco’s Enterprise Networking and Cloud Business leader, Todd Nightingale.
Todd Nightingale, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Enterprise Networking and Cloud Business and one of the tech giant’s executive leaders, is jumping to edge cloud company Fastly Inc., as the company’s new CEO effective Sept. 1.
Fastly’s current CEO, Joshua Bixby, announced plans to step down as the company’s leader and from its board of directors in May as the firm sought a new leader to push it through the next stage of growth. Bixby will remain with Fastly as an advisor, while Nightingale will also join the company’s board of directors.
“Fastly is delivering unparalleled application experiences for users around the world with exceptional flexibility, security and performance,” said Nightingale in a statement published on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Fastly team.”
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“Fastly is extraordinary at the things that make us unique, including our incredibly powerful programmable edge cloud, innovative performance-focused product and engineering, and our unmatched support of customers as they build the next generation of globally performant, secure and reliable applications,” said Artur Bergman, Fastly’s founder, chief architect and executive chairperson, in a statement. “I’m confident in [Nightingale’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.”
Nightingale joined Cisco in 2012 when the company acquired Meraki. Previously, he served as senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Meraki business, which is leading the tech giant’s managed services charge today and serving as its fastest-growing route to market. He climbed the ranks within Cisco, most recently serving as executive vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Enterprise Networking and Cloud. He managed business strategy and development efforts for Cisco’s multibillion-dollar networking portfolio.
He previously held engineering and senior management positions at AirDefense, where he was responsible for product development and guided the company through a successful acquisition by Motorola.
“At Cisco, we always want the best for our teams, our people, and their continued growth in their careers. We are grateful for [Nightingale’s] many contributions to Cisco and congratulate him as he takes on a new opportunity as a CEO of another company in an adjacent market,“ A Cisco spokesperson told CRN.
Cisco, as a result, is combining its Enterprise Networking and Cloud division with the Mass-Scale Infrastructure Group, which will be led by Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Mass-Scale Infrastructure group today. The combination will give Cisco a unified vision for end-to-end networking, the company said.
“We are excited for Cisco’s Jonathan Davidson to take on an expanded role leading a new organization that combines Enterprise Networking and Cloud with the Mass-Scale Infrastructure Group. We are confident that this new team will continue to accelerate innovation for our customers and partners and drive growth for our business,” the Cisco spokesperson said.