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Susan L. Bostrom Biography
With over eight years of experience at Cisco Systems in a variety of roles and more than twenty years of strategic marketing experience, Chief Marketing Officer, Sue Bostrom is responsible for developing and communicating Cisco’s vision and strategy through positioning, branding, advertising, and associated growth initiatives.
Bostrom’s organization consists of innovative marketing professionals who are responsible for acting as a stimulus for Cisco’s growth strategy and cultivating new opportunities in both new and existing market segments.
Bostrom also has responsibility for the Worldwide Government Affairs organization which develops and executes upon Cisco’s public policy agenda. The group partners with government leaders worldwide to develop policies that will enable the deployment of productivity enhancing technologies in areas such as healthcare information technology. The collaboration between Cisco’s public policy efforts and marketing is critical in helping Cisco to meet market demands in new and existing markets.
Prior to her role as Chief Marketing Officer, Bostrom had responsibility for the Internet Business Solutions Group, an organization she created and built to bring vertical expertise and Internet business solutions best practices to Global Fortune 500 companies, governors, and heads of state.
Customer- and partner-focused, Bostrom believes in setting a strategic direction, establishing clear business objectives and ensuring that these objectives are met. The ability to be flexible and adjust priorities quickly to accommodate changing customer demands is central to Bostrom’s management style, and the success of her organization.
In addition to her primary responsibilities, Bostrom served as the executive sponsor of the Women's Initiative at Cisco from 2001 through 2004. She firmly believes that diversity in the workforce brings diversity of thought which increases a business’ competitive advantage.
Bostrom joined Cisco in 1997 as Vice President of Applications and Services Marketing and was appointed to Vice President of IBSG in 1998. She was promoted to Senior Vice President in February 2000.
Previously, Bostrom served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Strategic Planning at FTP Software, where she was instrumental in developing the company's product technology road map and long-term strategic options. Prior to joining FTP, Bostrom worked with National Semiconductor, where she developed and assisted in implementing National's strategy in the analog mixed-signal marketplace. Bostrom also served for seven years at McKinsey & Company as a leader in the electronics practice, working in areas such as strategic technical marketing, channel management, and business process reengineering.
Bostrom serves on the Board of Directors for Varian Medical Systems and Stanford Hospital and Clinics. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and was formerly on the Management Board of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Management.
Bostrom holds an MBA degree from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and a B.S. degree in marketing from the University of Illinois, where she graduated in the top one percent of her undergraduate class.