Cisco succession

Cisco has announced that Chuck Robbins, who joined the company in 1997, will replace John Chambers as CEO on July 26.

Chambers, who has been at the Cisco helm for 20 years, will become executive chairman and act as supervisor to his successor, as well as “engaging closely with customers and governments around the world”. He is to step down from the company in July 2016, the fiscal-year end for the US tech giant.

Reuters reports that the US tech company has been looking for a new CEO for the past 16 months.

Robbins, 49, who was recently senior vice president of worldwide operations, and led the global sales and partners team, was identified among 10 possible candidates for the CEO post as early as 2012, according to Bloomberg.

However, other internal candidates, such as CTO Padmasree Warrior and Rob Lloyd, president of development and sales, were seen by many as perhaps more likely successors.

Robbins said he would spend his first 90 days in the job talking with employees, the leadership team, customers and partners.