Marc Graff

Marc Graff joined Ciena in August 2025 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. His north star is creating owner value. “My job is to make sure we’re driving value for everybody—first by delivering for customers, and by ensuring the market recognizes the strength of our business.”

He views his role through two lenses: customer and owner. “Our customers have choices where to buy. Our owners do, too,” he says. “Our sales team helps customers choose Ciena’s solutions. I help investors choose Ciena.” Day to day, he focuses on a few big levers: improving gross margin and speeding up working capital, especially inventory, so owner capital is put to its best use.

Stewardship guides all of it. “We never want to constrain innovation,” Marc says. “My job is to make sure the resources are there to create our future—then be disciplined about where we buy, build, or return capital.”

As a leader, Marc invites debate and expects ideas from everyone at the table. “I’m pretty curious,” he says. “I use data and analytics to channel that curiosity. From curiosity comes debate, and the best results happen when we exchange ideas openly.” He credits Ciena’s relationship-driven culture with helping him learn quickly in a new field. “I like what I’m doing with the people I’m doing it with.”

Before Ciena, Marc was Senior Vice President and CFO at Altera Corporation, where he helped lead the majority sale of the company from Intel to Silver Lake Partners. Before that, he spent 28 years at Intel in senior roles, including CFO and COO of its Data Center and AI Group. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado Boulder and an MBA in finance and strategy from the University of Michigan. He lives in Maryland, and outside of work he enjoys scuba diving, woodworking and the occasional round of golf.