Cisco CEO Successor: Chuck Robbins Stock Rising?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) CEO John Chambers plans to stick around for another one to three years. Roughly 10 Cisco executives are in the running to be the networking giant’s next CEO. The VAR Guy originally thought Rob Lloyd, president, development and sales, had the inside edge for Cisco’s CEO post. Now, our resident blogger is starting to think Senior VP Chuck Robbins is emerging as a leading candidate. Here’s why.

In recent years, Lloyd has been seated right next to Chambers during media briefings at Cisco Partner Summit. Many times, Chambers deferred key media questions to Lloyd. Then, Lloyd’s promotion to president in October 2012 seemed to accelerate his upward move to the eventual CEO seat. Sure, Cisco promoted COO Gary Moore to the president post at the same time. But numerous pundits close to Cisco suggested Moore had no interest in the CEO gig.

So is the CEO post Lloyd’s for the taking? Perhaps not. Three sources in the IT channel — each of whom watches Cisco closely — suggest Chuck Robbins’ stock has been steadily rising within the halls of Cisco. One of Robbins’ core strengths: Rallying Cisco’s sales staff and partners to competitive wins vs. HP and others.

As Senior VP of worldwide field operations, Robbins leads the company’s sales and partner organizations. Previously, Robbins was senior VP of the Americas — responsible for more than 8,500 employees. 

Still, Lloyd is no slouch. He oversees Cisco’s development and sales efforts, as the company creates tighter connections between customer requirements and innovation, along with ensuring greater speed-to-market, according to his official Cisco biography. With 18 years of global leadership experience at Cisco, the biography says, Lloyd has managed the majority of Cisco’s worldwide business.

Hmmm… Either way it looks like Cisco has a deep executive bench. And at least one pundit also points to Padmasree Warrior as a CEO candidate — though her career seems to be heavily weighted toward the technology side of the house.

What does Cisco have to say about all this speculation? The VAR Guy must concede: He didn’t reach out to the networking giant on this item because Cisco doesn’t comment about executive speculation. But perhaps if The VAR Guy keeps stirring the pot…