Ahead of its fourth-quarter 2025 and full-year earnings call, the service provider giant revealed that it’s bringing on 24-year Cisco veteran Jeff Sharritts as its CRO.
Lumen Technologies has revealed a big get. The service provider is bringing on longtime Cisco Systems veteran Jeff Sharritts as its executive vice president and CRO, effective Feb. 4.
Sharritts, who spent 24 years at networking giant Cisco, will lead Lumen’s commercial strategy, including the acceleration and growth team, with a focus on deepening customer relationships, Lumen said.
Sharritts will report directly to Lumen CEO Kate Johnson. He will take the place of Ashley Haynes-Gaspar, who joined the company in 2023. The former COO of U.S. business applications and industry at Microsoft is stepping down from the company, Lumen said.
[Related: AT&T Closes $5.75B Purchase Of Lumen Technologies’ Mass Markets Fiber Business]
Sharritts most recently served as executive vice president and chief customer and partner officer for Cisco until leaving the company at the conclusion of its 2024 fiscal year in July 2024. Sharritts joined Cisco in 2000 as manager of channel operations and ascended to the role of senior vice president of Americas sales in 2018. In 2022, he became executive vice president and chief customer and partner officer in 2022 with the retirement of Gerri Elliott.
The longtime Cisco sales and channel veteran was a critical part of Cisco’s transformation as it shifted its go-to-market strategy in favor of selling more software and subscriptions, while generating more than $50 billion in annual revenue.
“The next phase of our transformation will require commercial focus, execution and scale. We’re building on strong momentum, from expanding our physical network to launching new digital solutions and strengthening our partner ecosystem,” Lumen’s Johnson said in a statement on the latest hire. “[Sharritts] brings deep networking industry expertise and a proven track record as a commercial operator. His leadership will help us accelerate our progress as the trusted network for AI.”
Lumen Monday said that it officially closed the sale of its 11-state mass-market fiber-to-home business to telecom giant AT&T. Lumen, via the sale of its consumer business, is now almost solely focused on business customers.
Lumen will report its fourth-quarter 2025 and full-year earnings Tuesday evening.
