-- Nita Laad has been honored with a 2025 Global Recognition Award for her outstanding leadership and significant contributions to progress in the technology sector. This accolade highlights her ability to drive meaningful change across established global firms and emerging startups, setting new benchmarks for excellence in a rapidly evolving industry.
Photo Courtesy of Nita Laad
Her career spans more than two decades and demonstrates a rare combination of technical mastery and strategic vision. She has consistently delivered measurable business results across international markets, and her commitment to service-driven leadership has fostered success for businesses, customers, partners, and teams.
Nita’s impressive success record spans Engineering, Product Management, and GTM. “I believe that cross-training in multiple functions is extremely important for professionals aspiring to be Pioneers/Operators. The wide range of skills learnt cross-functionally allows me to be adaptable and operate across the breadth and depth of a complex technology business,” she says.
Strategic Leadership and Business Impact
Nita currently serves as the Founder and CEO of Nexia, an applied AI technology startup in the San Francisco Bay.”The recent rapid advancements in AI infrastructure and evolution of the tech stack across AI models, Agents, and protocols like MCP and A2A, the tech industry is well-positioned for innovation in Applied AI Software applications across a wide variety of use cases. The emergence of AI-enabled low-code/no-code platforms has enabled rapid prototyping of AI software, allowing startups to rapidly design to customer needs,” she says. Nexia is currently in Stealth mode, in Product development, driving towards achieving product-market fit.
Prior to Nexia, Nita has played a crucial role in guiding the strategic direction of prominent technology companies in the Silicon Valley like Cisco, FireEye and HP, At HP, she led a major cross functional effort across all of the company’s businesses to result in the formation a new company-wide strategy that led to the incubation of multiple innovative products in artificial intelligence alongside organic and inorganic bets to position the company for growth. She led and liaised strategic partnerships for innovation with MIT Media Lab to access the latest advancements in AI, robotics, and human-centered design. Her influence extended to constructing artificial intelligence strategy, product development, and advising on mergers and acquisitions at the executive level, earning accolades from top corporate leadership.
While at Cisco, she oversaw the product management of complex SaaS platforms serving over 200,000 customers, leading programs that improved customer experience and increased revenue. By introducing new industry-best monetization models and enterprise agreements, she contributed to Cisco’s $20+ billion software business and helped generate $3+ billion in incremental annual recurring revenue over three years.
As Global head of monetization at FireEye, Nita led the company’s shift to a subscription-based pricing model, which resulted in a $200 million revenue increase in 12 months. This showcases her ability to lead impactful transformations and deliver measurable business outcomes.
Innovation, Technological Progress, and Market Leadership
Nita is a published IEEE author on multiple technical topics including Software Agents for 20+ years. While at San Jose State University she led the research and development of a Software Agent platform for Healthcare(Telemedicine) co-sponsored by IBM and HP.
At Cisco, she pioneered multiple industry-best technology innovations in IPv6 multicasting, campus fabric extender technology, and Software and network management platforms that ingest telemetry from software agents.
Nita’s career journey was not easy. She consistently challenged norms and cultivated environments that promote forward-thinking innovation. Her leadership transformed Cisco’s Smart Licensing architecture and customer experience platform, leading to pivotal customer wins for Cisco.
Mentorship, Community Engagement, and Ethical Leadership
Nita’s dedication to mentorship and community involvement underscores her broader leadership vision. She has actively supported emerging leaders in technology, mentoring and advocating for women professionals at all stages of their careers to promote diversity and inclusion.
Her volunteer efforts at the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple and engagement with professional groups such as IEEE reflect her ongoing efforts to give back. As a mentor with FabFems and other networks, she has mentored young women and opened doors for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. Nita continues to volunteer at multiple schools in the Bay Area, leading conversations with students to promote their interest in STEM-based professions, and hopes to see a better representation of women in the technology industry, especially in senior leadership positions.
Nita hopes her journey inspires other women to pursue STEM and leadership in technology. “I hope my story inspires more women to take on STEM professions and grow into senior leadership positions in product or Founder roles in building technology companies. Only 15 percent of tech founders in North America are women. It's about time we changed this statistic.”
Final Words
Alex Sterling, spokesperson for Global Recognition Awards, stated, "Nita’s achievements exemplify the qualities of leadership, innovation, and service that this award seeks to recognize. Her impact on the technology sector is profound, and her ongoing dedication to mentoring and community engagement sets a standard for others to follow."
This award celebrates Nita Laad’s remarkable achievements and continued potential to Influence the technology industry through new ventures and lasting contributions. Her professional journey represents a rare fusion of deep technical knowledge, strategic business insight, and principled leadership, creating long-term value across global platforms.
About Global Recognition Awards
Global Recognition Awards is an international organization that recognizes exceptional companies and individuals who have significantly contributed to their industry.
Contact Info:
Name: Alexander Sterling
Email: Send Email
Organization: Global Recognition Awards
Website: https://globalrecognitionawards.org
Release ID: 89165337
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