James Staten is Global Head of Vertical Market Development, Strategy & Planning, Equinix. Previously was general manager and chief strategist for the Cloud+Enterprise division at Microsoft where he leads portfolio and innovation strategy and customer cloud strategy engagements. He believes that understanding the customer's business and business transformation strategy is critical to success. He is passionate about how businesses market innovative ideas and build communities that connect people. James has more than 25 years' experience in marketing, business development and corporate strategy and has held key executive positions at Forrester, Gartner, Sun Microsystems and Azul Systems. He holds degrees from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California and the University of North Texas. James is a frequent keynote speaker at industry events and conferences and has lectured at leading business schools.