A DAY IN THE LIFE
GET TO KNOW...
On the lighter side of things, we ask the
industry-experts what makes them tick…
Ayman Elgohary, General
Manager, Cisco, Egypt & Libya
Ready for risk,
ready for challenge
Ayman Elgohary is a results-oriented senior executive at Cisco,
who does not hesitate to take risks to move forward in his career
and is ready to tackle regional challenges to meet business
objectives. In his current role as General Manager for Cisco in
Egypt and Libya, Elgohary is responsible for operations in both
the countries.
Elgohary has been in this job role for 3+ years and describes
himself as a result-oriented and highly competitive individual.
Winning a competitive deal or project that has direct business
benefit for a customer and improves Cisco’s position in the
regional market gives him satisfaction. He feels proud when
Cisco’s corporate social responsibility activities give back to the
community in Egypt.
“Every day, I feel motivated and energised coming to the office,
meeting customers, meeting partners, or meeting internally with
people from the organisation. One of the best things that makes
me happy is to sit with an employee in an informal coaching
one-on-one and really making a positive impact on this person,”
he explains.
Elgohary’s job is full of challenges, but this is what he loves
doing. His specialty is sorting out issues and making things
work when there have been obstacles and difficulties. “It gets
really tough when issues take longer than expected, especially
with customers.”
“I always wanted to be general manager for Cisco in Egypt and
this is what happened in 2013. I got the role after very tough
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INTELLIGENTCIO
If you take care of
people, people will take
care of the business
competition and going through a hard-interviewing process.
I always believe that we choose certain paths for reasons we
may not know immediately, but that we realise the outcomes
in the future,” he reflects. He likens his career movements to
taking a risk in a corporate environment just as entrepreneurs
take in their startup ventures.
Elgohary’s qualification of Bachelor of Science in Electrical
Engineering with a specialisation in communications and
electronics, naturally pushed him into a career in technology.
He also completed his MBA alongside his work life from
Strathclyde Business School in 2005. Looking forward, he
believes IT security will continue to be the hottest topic for a
long period.
His approach to working in a team is, if you take care of
people, people will take care of the business. As a team
leader, Elgohary describes his attributes as coaching,
mentoring and developing the proper environment for people
to be creative.
Outside of work, Elgohary spends time with his family and
friends, admitting he could do better on the work-life balance.
He enjoys sports, travelling, sports cars and driving fast.
o c . i t n e g i l e t n i .