Dr. Guy Diedrich is a Vice President and the Global Innovation Officer for Cisco Systems where he is responsible for Country Digital Acceleration. He is currently working with government and industry leaders in countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas to digitize the public and private sectors to increase GDP, create millions of next-generation jobs and develop sustainable innovation ecosystems. Prior to his current role at Cisco Systems, Dr. Diedrich was a Vice Chancellor at the Texas A&M University System where he was responsible for research, commercialization, federal government relations, state government relations and strategic initiatives.

Before joining Texas A&M, Dr. Diedrich served as President and CEO of GRA Inc., a software development and consulting company that he co-founded and grew from a start-up to a firm employing more than 130 professionals. The company was sold to a publicly-traded technology company.

Dr. Diedrich holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge (Kings College) and a Ph.D. from Swansea University where he studied the economics of trust in organizations. He served on the Executive Committee of the George H.W. Bush China-US Relations Conference and has served on several for-profit and non-profit boards, most recently as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at St. Michael’s Academy in Austin, Texas. Dr. Diedrich is a published author in cost accounting and medical psychology, and has worked extensively throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East for more than two decades.