What matters to us
Our purpose
To some, humanity and technology are opposites. The more technical you get, the more you lose the human touch. And yet, at Ciena, the two go hand in hand.
We’re just as passionate about building the most advanced networks as we are about building the most meaningful relationships. Our culture is just as strongly defined by our spirit of innovation as it is by our sense of humanity. And it’s interesting what happens when you marry the two.
For us, this means open collaboration without egos. It means blurring the line between our team and our customers, so much so that we become an extension of their business and enablers of their success. It’s showing up in our communities—local and global—to celebrate differences, power change, and create a workplace where we actually dare to promise happiness. Because the simple truth is that when you bring your humanity into your work, you see it differently. So you build it differently. And that changes everything.
Ciena. Bringing humanity to innovation.
A letter from our CEO
As our industry continues to develop transformational technologies, the network has become increasingly integral to society with the promise of fundamentally changing the way we live, work, connect, and thrive. It is with this continued evolution in mind that, as a company, we remain focused on one thing—the people with and for whom we build networks.
At Ciena, our DNA is characterized by two attributes that fuel one another: a relentless drive to innovate, and a deep sense of humanity. We are just as passionate about building the world’s most advanced networks as we are about building meaningful relationships—with customers, partners, and communities. This is the essence of who we are beyond the technology we make and the possibilities we enable. People are why we do what we do.
Our purpose is to bring humanity to innovation.
We see things differently, so we build things differently. From the beginning, our natural approach has been to cultivate a higher degree of trust and collaboration with our customers, our partners, and each other—enabling us to design networks that better serve the people who run them—and ultimately those who use them. Our ethos is evident in the depths of our customer relationships, in the way we approach solutions, in our workplace philosophies, our contributions to communities, and our commitments to sustainability.
Over the decades, our focus on people continues to drive us to do what others say is impossible. The blending of our deep humanity and relentless innovation is what sets us apart. In an industry that moves literally at the speed of light, being rooted in people means we never lose sight of what really matters—today and always.
Gary B. Smith
President & CEO
Ciena