President Obama pledged during his campaign to appoint the nation's first-ever chief technology officer. As CTO of Cisco Systems--a leading maker of the Internet's routing and switching equipment--Padmasree Warrior is a leading candidate for the job.

Warrior sees the federal CTO as helping revitalize the economy by advising how information technology can drive down health-care costs, revamp the electrical grid, and improve education. Whether or not she ends up in Washington, Warrior is already in a position to help chart the future of the Internet through Cisco's networking strategy and investments. She spoke about this future with Technology Review chief correspondent David Talbot.