Cisco’s Gerri Elliott Retires; Channel Leader Jeff Sharritts Promoted To Executive Leadership Team

Gerri Elliott, Cisco’s chief customer and partner officer, will be retiring in May and will be succeeded by Jeff Sharritts, the tech giant’s senior VP of Americas, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said in a blog posted Monday evening.

Gerri Elliott, Cisco’s executive vice president, chief customer and partner officer since 2018, is retiring, the company announced on Monday evening.

Succeeding her will be Jeff Sharritts, senior vice president of Americas, who will join the ranks of Cisco’s Executive Leadership Team as executive vice president and chief customer and partner officer, effective May 1, Cisco said.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said in a blog post published Monday evening that Elliott (pictured above) and Sharritts will work together over the next few months and that customers, partners, and Cisco teams can expect a smooth transition.

For the past four years, [Elliott] has led our Sales and Marketing team and been an incredible advocate for customers, partners, and Cisco teams alike, guiding them through some of the most complex times we’ve experienced,” Robbins said in his blog. “We are grateful for all that Elliott has done to make Cisco a better place with the lasting impression she has made.”

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Elliott has an impressive resume working for some of the largest leaders in the tech industry. She came to Cisco nearly four years ago from Juniper Networks, where she spent more than five years as executive vice president and strategic advisor to the company’s CEO. She held a variety of positions during her tenure at Juniper, having also served as chief customer officer and chief sales services and support officer for the company. Prior to her time with Juniper Networks, Elliott served as corporate vice president, worldwide public sector for Microsoft for more than seven years and IBM, where she led the company’s North American Distribution sector.

Sharritts, for his part, got his start at Cisco more than 20 years ago as a partner account manager and has since then has held a variety of roles throughout the company’s sales organization. In his current role, Sharritts leads teams across 17 countries and six theaters, including Service Provider, Canada, Latin America, U.S. Commercial, U.S. Public Sector, and the Global Enterprise Segment, according to Cisco.

Robbins said that Sharritts and his team have spent the last couple of years leading Cisco’s transformation in favor of selling more software and subscriptions, a business model shift that’s critical to the San Jose, Calif.-based company. Robbins added that “there is no one better” than Sharritts to fill Elliott’s shoes.

“I am excited to see [Sharritts] step into this role, as he is an outstanding leader. He has an amazing ability to balance seeing the big picture with tremendous attention to detail. His love of technology and dedication to customers is evident in every interaction,” Robbins said. “He is both humble and confident, and he deeply cares about his team. He also believes in the power of technology and its role to make this world a better place.”

Cisco said that it will be searching for a replacement for Sharritts’ role of senior vice president of Americas. For now, however, both Elliott and Sharritts will be executing their current roles during the transition time.