This blog is part of our focus on employed Cisco who are “Sustainability“Finding opportunities to integrate sustainability into your daily work.
At Cisco, we focused on developing from a linear economy that extrants sources and finally is Wasts, on a circular that will find new use for products and their inputs. By understanding the impact of our environmental products, we can make informed decisions to reduce the use of renewal and determine how to extend the life of our products.
This brings us to Sripriya Narayanan, the manager of the product manager based in India, who works for the Industrial Internet Things (iiot) business unit, which focuses on industrial routers, switches and access points. She has worked with Cisco’s Circular Design Team to develop a number of industrial roads with the main circular design principles in the core. I recently sat down with her to learn more about her story:
When did your interest in sustainability start?
SRIPRIYA: My way to sustainability began in my childhood in India, surrounded by my parents and grandparents who live, what we now call a sustainable lifestyle. Their approach was simple: the purchase of only what was necessary, avoiding plastic, minimizing waste and receiving a holistic, minimalist lifestyle. This simplicity influenced me deeply. Another influence is my love for nature and spending time in the natural environment. Being in nature taught me the importer of maintaining his peace and beauty for future generations.
When I moved to the United States after the start of my career in Cisco, I started voluntarily with an environmental non -profit organization in San Jose called Our City Forest. There I trained as an arborist and gained certification in tree planting. We weekends, I led community groups, including children and parents, in the activities of tree planting across Santa Clara County. This experience dropped my passion for environmental defense.
Can you tell us about your professional and educational path so far?
SRIPRIYA: My journey began as a software engineer in Cisco, where I advance to the main engineer and technical leader. While I liked my work, I realized that to manage change, I had to go to the business side where the impact on sustainability was made. To make it easier, I watched MBA. I knew Berkeley’s Haas School of Business because of my focus on sustainability and active clean impact of the club. This club allowed me to participate in industrial influences and educate my peers, many of whom were CEOs or VPS Banding Eventring and Weekend Class. Cooperation with these key data on the industry was enriching because it allowed us to promote sustainable procedures collectively.
During my second year in Berkeley, I went to Cisco product management, a natural progression that copes with my goals. I joined the IoT industrial business unit as a product manager that led the portfolio of industrial direction. This role includes end-to-end management, from defining the product to its launch and cooperation with customers, as well as managing its end at the end of life. The Industrial IoT business unit was essential for me because it allowed direct interaction with industry leaders in sectors such as public services, production, oil and gas and transport. IT and OT convergence is focused on industrial industries and critical infrastructure providers. Cisco uses its direct interactions with the leading enterprises to explore how proven procedures, including sustainability, across networks to industrial premises, can all allow for confidence and internal products and external factors. It was lucky that it affected sustainability on a larger scale and fulfilled my ambition to integrate the practices of circularity into the business empire.
How do you integrate the circular into your role as a product manager?
SRIPRIYA: The acceptance of modular design has become necessary, especially in our industrial business unit IoT, where customers long-la-la-la-la-lshing products, unlike the business sector with frequent renewal cycles. Modularization components allow standardization across business units and offer flexibility and reduce overwork costs. This approach also copes with the objectives of sustainability by minimizing waste and using resources.
When developing our new generation products, I preferred the principles of circular design. Inspired by sustainability advocates and their own passion, we cooperate between the function of the integration of modular components and improve energy efficiency for customers dealing with energy consumption.
I also started more effort to sustainability of packaging, excessive foam elimination and receiving low -impact materials from production or end of life. This was achieved through cooperation with the Cisco package sustainability team. At this point, I was promoted to the position of product manager and was selected as a leader who managed the sustainability initiatives for our entire IoT business unit in the field.
Looking into the future, I will continue to manage sustainability for the Cisco industrial Internet, in cooperation with the teams of the main sustainability office (CSO) and the Engineering Office for Sustainability (ESO).
What advantages did you observe from the implementation of the principles of circular design?
SRIPRIYA: The implementation of the principles of circular design offers a number of advantages, especially in the life of the product. Businesses traditionally focused on refreshing the product Freent to achieve their goals. However, by adopting a circular design, however, it allows us to support innovations without the necessary products to start new products every few years. This shift in the perspective is not only beneficial for our society, but also resonates across various industries, including the B2B corporate sector.
The circular design can support fast innovation on existing products rather than from scratch. This approach reduces operating costs and capital expenditures as well as greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), minimizing the use of natural resources. In addition, designing products in a modular way makes it easier to use back and reuse, which can reduce financial pressures on both our customers and for the management of the supply chain.
From an environmental point of view, it reduces the circular design of waste and improves energy efficiency. During the use of the product, energy efficiency is essential. Our cooperation with the CSO team on the analysis of the product life cycle has stressed that most greenhouse gas emissions occur during the use phase. Therefore, the integration of energy -efficient features in the product design is necessary to reduce emissions.
How do Cisco’s industrial innovations help customers move to more circular models?
SRIPRIYA: It is necessary to add up the current business challenges of our customers and at the same time provide them with easy ways to use new innovations without being able to replace their existing products. Cisco industrial solutions underline energy efficiency and circular practices, which increases sustainability in product management.
With the approval of circular design, we allow our customers to save the cost of purchasing a completely new equipment every time a change in requirements, which also eliminates the sources and energy needed to create new equipment through production, sending and logistics. By upgrading or repairing only individual modules, customers prolong the life of the product, reduce the materials available prematurely, and help maintain resources.
You can find customers stories that Cisco IoT has helped them with their goals here.
Do you do something in your personal life to support the circle? If so, what advice would you give to others?
SRIPRIYA: In my personal life, I try to support the orbital by accepting a minimalist lifestyle. This journey began during my stay in the United States, where I focused on buying only basic items and using repeatedly usable bags for food shopping to avoid plastic waste. Choosing an electric or hybrid car on a traditional gas vehicle was a significant step I took, as well as transport.
I recently moved to India to be closer to my family and take care of my aging parents. Here the announcement announcement means challenges looking for waste management and environmental awareness. Although in some countries the awareness of plastic pollution is increasing, in India, this understanding is often limited to a certain urban area.
Despite these challenges, I like to influence my community by defending a simple lifestyle change that reduces consumption and responsible life. Encouraging people to consider the necessary purchases and look for better, more sustainable options. It is a conscious decision and recognition that there are always alternatives that are better for the environment.
I also believe in the management by example and sharing knowledge with others to inspire them to become environmental advocates. By strengthening discussions about sustainability, I hope to contribute to a more responsible and ecological consumption world. These little actions in my daily life reflect my commitment to promote circularity and encourage others to do it.
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