Padmasree Warrior: Creative combat

With a name  that conjures images of conquest, it is hardly surprising that Padmasree Warrior has had a brilliant career. At the age of 49, she is Chief Technology Officer for the American multinational Cisco. Everything began in 1984 when this chemical engineering graduate of Indian origin joined Motorola. Her first job was as an engineer in one of the semi-conductor factories of Motorola in Arizona, where she was the only woman. Very early on, she learned to overcome gender and cultural barriers. Twenty years later, she became Executive Vice-President of the company. In December 2007, she left Motorola for Cisco Systems. John Chambers, the CEO who recruited her, calls her a “technology visionary, an excellent leader with a strong industry voice and business acumen.” She plays a key role in the development strategy of the IT company. One of her leading projects consists in linking together all the resources of data centres to make them more efficient and profitable. Her model path and inventiveness explain her presence amongst the top 100 most creative business figures according to the US magazine Fast Company.