Derek Idemoto does not draw his inspiration by keeping his eyes on the next big acquisition or investment. For him, it comes from his pride in his family, as a third-generation Japanese American, and the adversity his grandparents had to overcome while living in the US during World War II.
“Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese American families, including mine, were forced into internment camps. Their home, their farm and their belongings were taken from them. My father was incarcerated as a young boy. My mother was born behind a barbed-wire fence,” Idemoto says. “Once the war was over and my family was allowed to re-enter society, they had to start over as sharecroppers tending to someone else’s land.”
It is not necessarily about the fastest growth anymore. Instead, we are seeing an emphasis on sustainable growth and profitability among startups.
His grandparents’ story taught him how important resilience and stamina are as traits for success in the face of challenges, as well as the importance of being bold, courageous and willing to take risks – traits he takes with him as head of Cisco Investments.
Since joining Cisco in 2007, Idemoto has led more than 100 acquisitions and investments totalling more than $50bn across Cisco’s businesses. Most recently, he led the acquisition of big data platform Splunk for approximately $28bn, just one of the AI and machine learning deals he has spearheaded.
“Find me an investor who is not excited about AI,” he says. However, the adoption curve of AI may be slower than the enthusiasm for it, he says, as there are still big questions to be answered around security. It is not just what is getting investment, but who is doing the investing, that has surprised Idemoto.
“It is not just Silicon Valley,” he says. “Investors are becoming much more geographically diverse, extending outside what we would consider to be the typical tech hubs. It is not necessarily about the fastest growth anymore. Instead, we are seeing an emphasis on sustainable growth and profitability among startups.”
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