What skills do dealmakers need in a volatile M&A market?

As Vice President of Corporate Development Integration, Karen is responsible for the evaluation and execution of potential acquisitions and divestiture opportunities for Cisco. She leads an industry-recognized, cross-company team focused on delivering value from acquisitions and divestitures to enable new business models, expand technical capabilities, and acquire new talent in support of Cisco’s growth.

Karen’s development of a standardized integration methodology -- centered around business value, the customer, partner, and employee experience -- has fortified the success of dozens of acquisitions. She led the integration of the $4.5 billion acquisition of Acacia and the $2.3 billion acquisition of Duo, two of Cisco’s largest platform acquisitions. She also architected the divestiture of Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software and Solutions business, one of the most complex in the company’s history.

Prior to her current role, Karen served as Vice President, Product Operations for Cisco Supply Chain, during which she was responsible for leading the product introduction and lifecycle management for Service Provider customers. Under her leadership, the team delivered complex operations solutions that improved product time to market, margin, quality, and delivery.

A staunch advocate for gender diversity, Karen has spearheaded multiple programs across Cisco and beyond to inspire and position women for leadership. She founded iWise -- Inspiring Women through Information Sharing and Experiences – and is the sponsor for the Finance Women’s Network and served as executive sponsor for the Corporate Strategy Office gender diversity initiative. This included overseeing CSO Women’s Day, an event Karen sponsored for three consecutive years, annually attracting over 600 attendees from Cisco, its customers, and partners. In 2018, Karen was awarded the YWCA Tribute to Women Award for her outstanding achievements, leadership, and impact in the organization, field, and community. Karen was also recognized by Purdue University in 2018 for her exemplary accomplishments, leadership, and service to community as an Outstanding Industrial Engineer. Karen is a Board Member of the YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley.

Karen earned a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Marco is the Head of JPMorgan’s North America mergers and acquisitions group.

Marco has focused on media, digital media and communications M&A during his 22 years at J.P. Morgan. Prior to JPMorgan, Marco was a lawyer at Paul, Hastings.

Marco attended Vanderbilt University and George Washington University Law School.

Jeff Markusson joined Ontario Teachers' in 2006 and has participated in a number of investments across the industrial, business services, and financial services sectors. He currently leads Ontario Teachers' financial services group within the Private Capital department and serves on the boards of Allworth Financial, APCO, Broadstreet Partners, Fairstone Financial, Lendmark Financial Services and Seacube.

Jeff was previously an investment banker at CIBC World Markets, working in both the mergers and acquisitions group and the company's Vancouver office.

Jeff received a BA (Economics) from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from the University of Toronto, where he graduated as the Gold Medalist. He also holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Todd Albright is the General Manager of Datasite Enterprise, a business unit of Datasite, a leading SaaS platform used by enterprises globally to execute complex, strategic projects. In this role, Todd is responsible for leading and executing the commercial strategy, including sales, product, and customer success for Enterprise, the company’s flagship SaaS solution. Additionally, Todd is responsible for the cross-sale of all Datasite solutions through the Datasite Enterprise channel.

Prior to this, Todd led Datasite’s sales organization as Global Chief Revenue Officer, managing Datasite’s go-to-market strategy and a worldwide organization of more than 450 sales, enablement, and operational professionals supporting clients in over 180 countries.

Before joining Datasite in 2015, Todd held several international sales leadership roles at a variety of high-growth firms, including FIS Global, Intralinks (now part of SS&C), and EY.

Todd holds a BA in Public Policy from Duke University and an AAS in International Economics from Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg. He has also completed executive education programs at Harvard Business School.

He lives with his wife and children in New York, New York.

Sujeet Indap is the Wall Street Editor at the Financial Times and he has written extensively on the intersection of corporate finance and corporate law. In 2021, he published his first book, The Caesars Palace Coup, detailing the epic private equity/hedge fund war over the Caesars gaming empire. Prior to joining the FT in 2013, he was an investment banker. Sujeet is a graduate of Pomona College and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Sujeet is based in New York City.