Cisco names Cognite CEO Girish Rishi to its board

Cisco has named Girish Rishi, who leads the industrial AI company Cognite as its chairman and CEO, to its board of directors. The appointment took effect Oct. 9, 2026, the company said in an announcement.

"I'm delighted to welcome Girish to Cisco's board," Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins said in the release, adding that Rishi has helped large organizations make use of data and AI.

According to Cisco, Rishi has spent about 30 years running technology businesses in hardware, software and systems, with experience in data and AI, product development, supply chains and mergers and acquisitions. He is also a senior advisor to Blackstone.

Before Cognite, he was CEO of Blue Yonder, a company that sells supply chain software and consulting. Earlier in his career he held executive posts at Tyco International, Zebra Technologies, Motorola Solutions and Symbol Technologies.

Rishi has been a director of Insight Enterprises since 2017 and formerly sat on the board of Digi International. He belongs to the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the executive board of the Arizona Commerce Authority. He studied at the University of Mumbai, earned an MBA at the University of Hartford and holds a public policy master's degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Cisco employs about 2,000 people in Richardson, according to the city's annual financial report.

Sources

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