BRAD SULLIVAN
Atlanta,GA
Summary
Hands-on sales engineering leader with 20+ years building and scaling high-performing technical teams at Cisco, DISH Wireless, and Ciena. Proven expertise leading complex, multi-year enterprise and service-provider sales cycles in Zero Trust and SASE-aligned architectures, owning the full technical sales motion from discovery through close while serving as executive sponsor for strategic accounts. Customer-obsessed leader skilled in value-based storytelling, refining scalable pre-sales processes, and driving operational efficiency to improve win rates, reduce cycle times, and accelerate customer transformation. People-first, no-ego culture builder with high retention, deep talent development (recruiting, mentoring directors/managers/ICs), and environments where teams take ownership and pride in outcomes.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Head of Global Pre-Sales CMS & Service Enablement
CIENA
Atlanta, GA
01.2024 - Current
- Lead global organization of Systems Engineers and Solution Architects responsible for pre-sales technical strategy, solution design, and partner enablement in AI-driven networking and managed services.
- Own segment-level technical execution with Sales leadership—driving discovery, technical win plans, POV strategy, and executive-facing narratives to accelerate deal progression for strategic accounts.
- Collaborated with sales leaders to refine and scale core pre-sales processes, playbooks, and demonstration frameworks—reducing proposal cycles ~30% and improving execution consistency across Americas, EMEA, APJ.
- Established metrics-driven governance (KPI/OKR cadence, utilization, opportunity influence) to increase visibility, accountability, and operational efficiency.
- Act as hands-on executive sponsor and technical leader in strategic engagements—joining customer meetings, coaching SE leaders, and securing technical wins to build executive confidence.
Head of Pre-Sales Solution Creation & GTM (Enterprise Services)
DISH WIRELESS
Denver, CO
01.2023 - 01.2024
- Directed pre-sales architecture and systems engineering for enterprise connectivity and SaaS platforms, integrating SASE-based architectures, automation, and data protection outcomes.
- Designed and launched IDEAS (Intelligent Dynamic Edge Access System)—evolving single engagements into multi-million-dollar enterprise programs through repeatable GTM and technical validation.
- Led senior engineers in automation-driven onboarding and standardization, accelerating time-to-value ~40% and reducing operational risk.
- Aligned multi-vendor partner architectures (AWS, IBM, Dell, Google Cloud) to deliver secure, scalable solutions in complex environments.
- Served as trusted technical advisor to C-level stakeholders in regulated industries on resiliency, recovery, and Zero Trust-aligned secure connectivity.
- Created SASE-based framework addressing large-scale fleet connectivity—packaging repeatable NaaS journey (L1–L5: visibility → policy → automation → closed-loop) into solution architecture.
Sr. Director, Global Professional Services & Solution Delivery (Strategic Customers)
CISCO SYSTEMS
San Jose, CA
01.2015 - 01.2023
- Directed global organization of 200+ engineers and architects supporting Cisco’s largest strategic customers; led multiple lines of management with strong recruiting, mentoring, and talent-development focus.
- Transformed technical engagement models from hardware-centric to software/SaaS-led architectures (incorporating Zero Trust principles), improving agility, customer satisfaction, and recurring revenue growth.
- Partnered with Sales, Product, and Services to develop solution architectures, demos, POVs, and value-based positioning—enabling $400M+ revenue expansion with consistent margins and forecast accuracy.
- Championed automation, observability, and AI/ML-informed models that reduced escalations and improved adoption outcomes.
- Created reusable reference architectures and standards adopted by 20K+ engineers globally to enhance quality, consistency, and operational efficiency.
- Recognized in Cisco’s Top 1% of Global Leaders; earned 2× Sales Champion and 2× Manager of Excellence awards; keynote speaker at Cisco Global Sales Conference.
Education
B.S. - Computer Information Systems
Valdosta State University
Skills
- Sales Engineering Leadership
- Multi-Layer Team Building
- Zero Trust Networking
- ZTNA
- SASE Architecture
- Cloud Security
- Data Protection
- Technical Sales Motion Ownership
- Segment-Level Strategy
- Account Execution
- Executive Sponsorship
- Value-Based Storytelling
- Pre-Sales Process Optimization
- Operational Efficiency
- QBRs
- Forecasting
- KPI Dashboards
- POV Strategy
- POC Strategy
- Technical Win Plans
- Partner Enablement
- Ecosystem Enablement
- Talent Recruiting
- Mentoring
- Development
- Autonomous Networking
- Closed-Loop Operations
- NaaS Journey
- L1–L5 Enablement
- SSL/TLS
- Web Security
- Secure Access
- DLP
- VPN Modernization
- Network Segmentation
- Cloud Architectures
- Data Center Architectures
- Automation
- AIOps
- Zero Touch Onboarding
- ZTO
Websites
Certification
- Prisma Cloud Security Engineer (PCCSE)
- AWS Cloud Practitioner (CCP)
- Google Cloud Digital Leader (GCDL)
- CCIE-SP (Expired)
- Generative AI Fundamentals
- Large Language Models
- Responsible AI
Leadership Principles
- People-first: Focused on recruiting top talent, retention, clear growth paths, and coaching—teams understand how their work drives customer and company success.
- No-ego operator: Give credit to the team, remove obstacles, create psychological safety for ownership and stretch assignments.
- Lead from the front: Regularly engage in the field with SEs, consultants, customers, and account teams to model excellence and accelerate wins.
Selected Impact
- Exceeded booking targets up to 140% by shifting sales motions to solution-led Zero Trust/SASE outcomes; recognized 2× Cisco Sales Champion of the Year.
- Drove $400M+ revenue expansion by aligning technical strategy, demos/POVs, and services to executive business priorities in complex security transformations.
- Built repeatable pre-sales frameworks (playbooks, reusable architectures, technical win plans) adopted globally by 20K+ engineers—standardizing execution, quality, and customer experience.
- Reduced proposal and solution cycle times by ~30% through operationalized playbooks, governance, and process refinement.
- Accelerated customer onboarding/time-to-value by ~40% via automation-led enablement and configuration standardization.
Security Networking Expertise
- SSL/TLS & web security
- Secure access (ZTNA)
- DLP & data protection
- VPN modernization
- Network segmentation
- Cloud & data center architectures
- Automation / AIOps
- Zero Touch Onboarding (ZTO)
Fit For Position
Led SASE-aligned architectures, ZTNA concepts, VPN modernization, SSL/web security, and DLP/data protection outcomes across enterprise and partner ecosystems—directly applicable to Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange., Built repeatable pre-sales playbooks, demo/POV frameworks, and governance that reduced proposal cycles by ~30% and improved consistency across global regions., Trusted advisor to CxO stakeholders; frequent participant in executive briefings, partner reviews, and field enablement—regularly joining customer discovery, POVs, and strategic meetings to secure technical wins., Thrives in ambiguity, ships first versions quickly, iterates with field feedback, and scales what works in high-growth environments., Atlanta-based with extensive experience supporting strategic accounts across the South (TX, FL, GA coverage through prior roles).
Timeline
Head of Global Pre-Sales CMS & Service Enablement
CIENA
01.2024 - Current
Head of Pre-Sales Solution Creation & GTM (Enterprise Services)
DISH WIRELESS
01.2023 - 01.2024
Sr. Director, Global Professional Services & Solution Delivery (Strategic Customers)
CISCO SYSTEMS
01.2015 - 01.2023
B.S. - Computer Information Systems
Valdosta State University