About

Ritesh Kapahi is a highly motivated and results-driven professional with over 20 years of experience in all aspects of networking systems design and development. As a Sr. Director of Engineering at Cisco Systems, Ritesh has in-depth expertise in engineering management, process and product development, R&D, and operations. He has exceptional leadership and team-building skills that drive focused teams towards performance excellence. Ritesh has a proven ability to streamline multi-site cross-functional teams engaged in the design and development of complex networking products from concept to final release. He analyzes requirements and market needs with product line management to come up with innovative system solutions to address customer needs and achieve competitive differentiation. He has an outstanding track record of meeting goals and objectives through teamwork. Ritesh's core management competencies include new product architecture and development, team management, product development with ODM/JDM partners, managing supplier relationships, building infrastructure for design/development, proactive measures for cost reduction and avoidance, efficient project planning and execution, design tools, methodology and process implementation, risk mitigation and crisis management, adaptability and multi-tasking skills, and quality and solution-focused. Currently, Ritesh is advising and investing in a new venture in sports technology called str8bat, where he is an Advisor and Investor. str8bat's vision is to enhance the game of cricket (and later other sports) by using wearable technology to enable budding and professional players to develop their skills. It will give actionable insights to players and coaches and help them build their muscle memory & skills. Ritesh has previously worked as a Sr. Director of Engineering at Aruba, where he was responsible for WiFi Analytics Clarity Application, L2/L3 Infra, UI/UX for Next Generation Aruba OS Software, and was involved in front-end technologies such as JQuery, AngularJS. He collaborated with PLM, Dev and Test Engineering, Customers to define the roadmap for UI for NextGen AOS software. Ritesh has also worked as a Sr. Hardware Engineering Manager, Branch Solutions Business Unit at Juniper Networks, where he managed 7 hardware programs in different development stages of Concept, Prototyping, Pilot, and Production, in addition to managing the sustaining issues and customer escalations for 10 SKU(s) in a fast-paced start-up like environment. Ritesh has a Certificate Program in Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership from Stanford University, an ILPSE in General Management and Leadership from INSE