Cisco CX Leader Denzil Samuels Leaves For Solution Provider Behemoth NTT Data
Denzil Samuels, one of Cisco Systems' leaders in customer experience, has left the tech provider to join global solution provider giant NTT Data to help drive multibillion IT services growth, the executive announced on Wednesday.
Samuels revealed that he has joined the solution provider behemoth this month with his extensive channel sales experience in tow to help drive multi-billion growth across NTT's wide portfolio of IT services for its clients, which are some of the largest enterprises in the world, the executive said on LinkedIn on Wednesday.
"I am thrilled to be working with an amazingly talented group of people, in what feels like a $30 Billion ‘start-up!’” Samuels said in a post on LinkedIn. “… Please know that this invisible giant, is about to become more visible! Farewell to my friends and colleagues at Cisco. We did amazing things together in the last [four] years! The good news is, as NTT Data is one of Cisco’s top global partners, we will continue to work together, and that warms my heart,” he said.
[Related: Cisco Q4 2024 Earnings: CEO Robbins Touts Security Growth, Customer AI Prep]
Samuels joined Cisco in 2021 and served for more than three years as global vice president, partner ecosystem for Cisco's customer experience organization. He was responsible for shepherding Cisco’s partner ecosystem as it made its move from hardware reselling, to focusing on software and as-a-service and helping Cisco partners build successful practices with a priority on customer experience.
Samuels will continue to be a significant part of the Cisco ecosystem in his capacity at NTT Data, according to the executive’s LinkedIn post.
CRN reached out to NTT Data and Cisco Systems for comment but did not hear back before publication.
Samuels has built his career around direct and channel sales, which, he said, uniquely positions him to drive multi-billion growth at NTT Data. Prior to his time with Cisco, Samuels has held executive roles at the likes of Salesforce, HPE, GE Digital and Avaya.
Samuels’ move to NTT Data, No. 3 on CRN’s 2024 Solution Provider 500 list, comes as Cisco this summer made changes to its executive leadership team and revealed a planned round of layoffs that would impact 4,000 employees, or about seven percent of the company's global staff.
The tech giant in August confirmed plans for a massive round of layoffs which should cost the company up to $1 billion and leave Cisco with a global workforce of around 75,000 people.
Cisco in August also revealed that Jonathan Davidson, a Cisco veteran of more than 20 years, had moved on from his role as executive vice president and general manager of the networking business to serving as an adviser to Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. Meanwhile, Jeetu Patel, former executive vice president and general manager of the security and collaboration business units, is now leading a unified networking, security and collaboration organization as the company’s chief product officer.