Akshay is focused on Smart+Connected Lighting and is the lead for all Business Development activities in EMEAR relating to Indoor PoE based Lighting. As the lead for EMEAR, Akshay is responsible for go-to-market, partner enablement, eco-system development, industry relations, and overall solution promotion. Previously Akshay was a core member of the UK&I Business Development team focused on Innovation and creation of new markets. In this role he co-created/led various programmes (British Innovation Gateway & National Virtual Incubator) to support, nurture, and develop hi-tech innovation in the UK, worked with and scouted for technology start-ups, and incubated selected companies in an innovation centre (IDEALondon). Prior to working on the NVI and IDEA London, Akshay was heavily involved in business development activities associated with Cisco’s sponsorship of the London 2012 Games. Since joining Cisco 14 years ago, Akshay has worked in various roles based in Australia and UK. His first role was part of the Engineering organisation as a Development Engineer for the Midrange Routing Business Unit and then moving into Network Consultancy as part of the Advanced Services organisation to support Mobile Services Providers. From there it was a move into the Service Provider Sales team as a Sales Engineer for the Deutsche Telekom account, and then to the Finance sector for the UK & Ireland. Akshay obtained his Engineering degree in Computer/Networking from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and is a former Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP), along with other Cisco certifications. In his spare time he loves to: snowboard, ride mountain bike trails, and golf.