Heroic Era

Cisco is driving technological and economic change in China, powered by IT superwoman Hera Siu.

- Holly Johnson

There are few women in business, in China especially, who have a track record like Hera Siu. Over more than 30 years, Hera has held senior leadership positions, spearheading growth and transformation in international companies such as Pearson, SAP, Nokia, Pacific Century CyberWorks, Nortel and Sierra Pacific Power Company. Ask Hera how technology and innovation can completely transform an industry and she’ll draw deep insights from her lengthy career in IT across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

“I’ve been fortunate to have defined my own career. I’ve done everything from sales and marketing, to production, manufacturing and management. I always knew I wanted to do something that had an impact on people’s lives – some may call that greedy, but it’s my passion. It doesn’t have to be a lot of people, but as long as I can improve the life of just one person, I’ll be happy,” she explains. “I’ve had the privilege of working with groundbreaking technology that is changing people’s lives worldwide. I’ve learned so much and, at the same time, I’ve been able to give back as well.”

Hera says her husband Bernard Kwok has had a huge impact on her career pathway. “As a finance major, I’ve always been good with numbers. Bernard, however, works for the computer virtualisation company VMware China, so he actually introduced me to the world of IT telecommunications. The self-evolving futuristic features of the industry intrigued me from the very beginning – so I built my career around it,” she admits.