Shannon McFarland

About Shannon McFarland

I collaborate with technology, product, and business leaders to build engineering organizations and developer ecosystems that drive innovation at scale. As the leader of Cisco DevNet and Cisco OSPO, I define and implement programs that accelerate the adoption of AI, APIs, automation, and cloud native architectures across global developer and partner communities.With over 35 years in the tech industry, I have built and led engineering teams, developed platform strategies for networking, cloud, and AI infrastructure, and guided organizations through complex transformations. I enable teams to move faster, improve quality, and deliver results for customers and partners, while fostering inclusive and resilient engineering cultures.I speak, write, and mentor on cloud native innovation, programmability, open source, and leadership. I align technical strategy with outcomes that drive greater velocity, higher reliability, stronger ecosystems, and measurable business value.Key Achievements- Leadership Impact: Successfully manage and inspire large, diverse teams at Cisco, driving strategic initiatives that shape the future of technology, developer engagement, and AI innovations- Industry Transformation: Lead efforts within Cisco DevNet and the Open Source Program Office to enhance Cisco’s influence and impact across industries, fostering innovation, collaboration, and AI excellence- AI and GenAI Leadership: Spearheaded developer relations and enablement for AI infrastructure and GenAI best practices, guiding teams in leveraging AI technologies for groundbreaking solutions- Strategic Partnerships: Cultivate strong relationships with customers, and partners, creating alliances that propel technological advancement and growth- Technical Expertise: Author and thought leader with extensive knowledge in cutting-edge technologies, including programmable infrastructure, and AI frameworks, contributing to industry thought leadership- Innovative Solutions: Spearhead projects that leverage new technologies, such as modern applications on cloud native infrastructure such as Kubernetes and Application Service Meshes, to deliver transformative solutions for our customers and partners.

Experience

1. Global Vice President of Developer Relations & the Open Source Program Office

   Cisco

   Jun 2023 — Present · CO, US

   Shannon is the Vice President of Cisco DevNet (Developer Relations). He is a dynamic and results-driven leader who excels at building and leading development and engineering teams. With a focus on empowering developers and driving innovation, Shannon oversees a diverse team of developer advocates, engineers, content authors, and open source community leaders. The strategic vision of the DevRel team encompasses developer education and enablement, tool creation, online labs, open source advocacy, and internal code and API quality. Providing comprehensive resources and guidance through Cisco Live/DevNet events, hackathons, meetups, workshops, webinars, videos, and documentation ensures developers have the knowledge and skills to succeed. They also drive the development of developer and user-friendly tools, foster collaboration through open source initiatives, and maintain exceptional code and API quality standards. Additionally, they create and sustain an API-first and AI-first strategy for Cisco and their customers, prioritizing APIs and AI uses for automation and programmability as the foundation of their products for seamless integration and innovation.Shannon also leads the Cisco Open Source Program Office (OSPO) and oversees the governance and standarization of open source contributions. His charter includes the governance on the use of open source, external project contribution, software releases, and foundation affiliations.

Skills

• Enterprise Software
• Enterprise Architecture
• Cisco Ios
• Routing
• Vmware
• Dns
• Openstack
• Network Design
• System Deployment
• Ccie
• Virtualization
• Cloud Computing Iaas
• Load Balancing
• Sdn
• IT Strategy
• Vpn
• Mpls
• High Availability
• Nfv
• Voip
• Data Center
• Bgp
• Storage
• Tcp/Ip
• Citrix
• Ip
• Ipv6
• Vsphere
• Cisco Technologies
• Ethernet
• Multicast
• Network Architecture
• Firewalls
• Networking
• Cloud Computing
• Agile Methodologies
• Ipv4