Since taking over as CEO, I have spent a lot of my time listening. I've met with customers, partners, government leaders, investors, and Cisco's employees. Each conversation yielded new insights and fueled my continued optimism about our future. What I have learned has not only helped solidify my thinking, but has enabled our entire leadership team to move quickly to define our differentiated strategy to lead the digital future.
Today, it's a given that every customer is using technology to enable their business. But some customers view technology as a real differentiator for their business, and the most progressive define their strategy in the context of what technology makes possible. In doing so, they drive competitive differentiation and, in many cases, define new business models.
On a visit to our Customer Experience Center in San Jose last week, one of our financial services customers told me he defined his organization as an outstanding technology company that secondarily happens to be very good at banking. This customer, like many others, has recognized the role that technology can play in enabling phenomenal customer experiences. In his case, the reach of financial expertise and the ability to securely deliver differentiated services is only limited by the reach of his private network and the Internet. Based on this understanding, he wants Cisco to be his partner in this digital transformation.
The strong belief in technology's transformative power isn't just restricted to business leaders. It extends to governments as well. India's Prime Minster Narendra Modi is laser-focused on leveraging technology to improve the lives of India's citizens, and he recognizes his partnership with Cisco as critical in moving his Digital India agenda forward and creating a fully connected society, a knowledge economy, and unlocking the power of India on a global scale.
Our opportunity is clear: Cisco can be the most strategic partner to cities, countries and all of our customers on this digital journey. Frankly, every organization recognizes the transformative power that technology can provide, but our research shows that only 25 percent of companies and governments say they have a plan to execute on that opportunity. These organizations that have a plan need our help to deliver the ultimate benefits. The remaining 75 percent need our help in clearly defining the opportunity that exists for each one of them.
The critical timeframe to deliver on the transformation cycle is compressing and we all must move faster than ever before. Those who were viewed as disrupters yesterday could be disrupted tomorrow. The organizations that understand and take advantage of the tremendous opportunity will be the winners in the future.
Today, at our Global Editors Conference in San Jose, I shared the framework of our technology strategy for how Cisco aims to partner with organizations driving digital transformations.
With this framework, we're outlining how our technology portfolio, investments, and strategic partnerships will deliver the business process and model innovation, new user experiences, and operational agility our customers need to lead in a digital world.
You'll hear us discuss our execution on this framework going forward, but here is quick summary:
When I took this role, I outlined my goal to articulate a technology strategy to drive our business strategy and opportunity going forward. We've moved quickly, yet deliberately, as we defined the strategic framework that will make Cisco the most strategic digital partner for all of our customers around the world. I told our teams this past week that I have never been more optimistic about our opportunity. I truly believe that the next decade will be even better than the last two for Cisco.