Robert Lloyd
Company: Cisco
Current CEO: John Chambers
These aren't the best of times for the company behind the human network. Last month Cisco Systems announced plans to lay off 9% of its workforce and to transfer another 7% to another company. But Cisco has high hopes for its new, streamlined organizational chart and its possible future CEO, Robert Lloyd. A Canadian (he holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Manitoba), Lloyd rose through the ranks since joining the company in 1994 as general manager of Cisco's Canadian subsidiary. He's now executive vice president of worldwide operations, a position that some say could be a stepping-stone to the top job at the Fortune 500 mainstay.