Verve’s Power Women: Padmasree Warrior

Padmasree Warrior, 54

Cited as one of the most powerful women in tech, Padmasree Warrior, chief technology and strategy officer of Cisco Systems, finds her place on the lists featuring the most powerful women in the world. Born and raised in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, the IIT Delhi alumnus has been described by her boss, CEO John Chambers, as ‘one of the sharpest technology persons in the world’.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE: Warrior prefers to call it ‘integration’. ‘Ideologically, integration is just being mindful that there are more areas that are important to be aware of.’

ON HER SHELVES: Warrior reads often and prefers literary fiction. And, one will find a pile of business books, sometimes untouched, on her desk.

LEISURE TIME: She is known to paint, writes haikus and poems, and is fond of photography.

NEW CATCHPHRASE: Internet of things. ‘It is very powerful. To me it means an intelligent lifestyle for citizens.’