Aruna
Ravichandran

For Aruna, it all began with a foundation of studied education. Holding an MBA and MS Computer Engineering degree from Santa Clara University, a BS Computer Science degree from Bangalore Institute of Technology (BIT), and a graduate degree from the esteemed CMO Leadership program at Kellogg Business School in 2019, it’d be fair to call her a decorated student.

Over the past two decades — Aruna has become an industry expert on SaaS marketing and enterprise technology. She’s built digital routes-to-market and expanded on the service addressable market for companies including HP, Juniper, CA Technologies and now, Cisco, where she currently holds a leadership role overseeing the marketing for what’s become a $6B organization.

Today, Aruna has authored two pioneering books on DevOps, is a contributor for Forbes.com, and serves on multiple corporate boards. She is a multi-award honoree, including: Top 100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley 2016, and the National Diversity Council’s 2016 Most Powerful and Influential Woman.

Recognized as an authority on ‘the future of work’, Aruna’s passion and success lies in her ability to marry her computer engineering background with a maniacal customer focus. By positioning the role of CMO as one of a ‘growth partner’, instead of a ‘marketing cost-center’, and establishing a business-outcome philosophy that is based on equal parts: purposeful storytelling and data science, she’s been an innovative, rapidly rising star in her field. Put simply: when you focus on the people at the heart of a business’s narrative, the tale will always be a success story.