Parminder Singh Kocher

A passionate technology executive and software product architect, Parminder Kocher has a long track record of building high-performance teams, setting product vision, and directing multi-year, multimillion-dollar projects. As the Engineering Director for the Cisco Networking Academy—“The World’s Largest Classroom”—he currently leads the team responsible for developing the Academy’s platform, which is accessed by 1.5 million students in 180 countries. Previously he led and directed Cisco’s next-generation Cloud & Managed Services (CMS) platform, which is used by Cisco services engineers to provide SaaS solutions for the management of video, data centers, and security.

In 2012, Kocher also founded Cisco’s Services Technology Innovation Center (STIC), an internal startup focused on creating disruptive offerings in everything from analytics and semantics to mobility and IoE (Internet of Everything). As the director of research and innovation, he was responsible for setting up the innovation model, project pipeline, and monetization, as well as articulating company technology, direction, and vision to CTOs, CIOs, and CSOs of partners, vendors, and prospects. During his tenure at STIC, Kocher envisioned, spearheaded, and delivered multiple “Connected Analytics” solutions, including Connected Analytics for Retail, which integrated many new technologies to help top U.S. retailers convert their visions into actionable tech roadmaps.

Born and raised in India, Kocher earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science, as well as an executive MBA from Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, an executive certificate in strategy and innovation from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and a certificate in Professional Coaching from iPEC, an International Coach Federation (ICF)-accredited coaching training program. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.