When he was young, Anand Patil was fascinated by illustrious personalities. “I used to be in awe of freedom fighters, CEOs, fighter pilots, global leaders and even rock stars,” he says. Perhaps, this is why he also strived to be a good orator. “While public speaking comes naturally to some people, for me, it is a cultivated skill. I find it to be a very useful tool, not only in creating and motivating high performance and professional teams but also in influencing decisions and policymakers.”

Today, as vice-president of systems engineering at Cisco, Patil leads a team of “technology evangelists”, who work closely with telecom operators to push Cisco solutions that help create the blueprint for next-generation networks, with the assurance of a high level of customer satisfaction.

His management style is an open and transparent one. “If an individual enjoys his work, he will be committed and can deliver results. Therefore, I try to create an environment where everyone enjoys their role, and the results take care of themselves. As a leader, my primary responsibility is to remove hindrances from my team’s path and make their journey smoother.”

Of course, having spent the entire duration of his career in the communications field is a bonus. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunications from the Maharashtra Institute of Technology, he moved to the US. There, he pursued a master’s in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, and, under the guidance of his mentor Dr Dave Smith, he wrote a thesis on “Acousto-optical tunable filters for DWDM systems”.

His first job was with Advanced Fiber Communications in California, where he worked with next-generation digital loop carrier systems. After a brief stint there, he returned to India in 1997 to join Hughes Network Systems in Mumbai as a network design engineer for its telecom rollout in Maharashtra. He moved to Cisco as a pre-sales consultant in 2000.

Putting together the current team at Cisco is definitely high on Patil’s priority list, as he enjoys being part of and contributing to India’s “telecom revolution”. 

But the boardroom is not all that keeps Patil busy. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies, with Top Gun, The Usual Suspects and 99 being his favourites. Listening to rock, heavy metal and grunge music is another pastime. In fact, he was part of a band while in college and still enjoys strumming the guitar. Interestingly, he says he would love to attempt bungee jumping, of course, only with his wife’s permission!