Michael Ballard in

Michael Ballard

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Senior Director of Marketing at Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
📍 Wake Forest, North Carolina, United States

Michael is a seasoned B2B marketing leader with over 20 years of experience driving growth at Applied Optoelectronics, Cisco, and Lenovo. He specializes in AI-driven strategy, demand generation, and marketing technology. Those who have worked with him describe him as a strategic, visionary, and data-driven leader.

Outside of his marketing career, Michael is a licensed private and remote pilot, indicating a strong passion for aviation. He is also a Colson Fellow with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, reflecting a deep engagement with faith and cultural analysis.

Unique fact: Michael holds both a Private Pilot Certificate and a certification for piloting small unmanned aircraft systems (drones).

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Experience
15 Years
Current Role
Senior Director of Marketing
Job Level
Senior
Location
Wake Forest, North Carolina, United States
Personality Overview

How Michael shows up

Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

Behavioral traits and communication patterns that shape how this person evaluates opportunities, builds trust, and makes decisions in professional settings.

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Priorities

Topics Michael cares about

AI-Driven Marketing
His professional headline emphasizes AI-driven growth strategy, and he has implemented AI-workflows in his current role to increase efficiency and data security.
B2B Demand Generation
A core theme throughout his career at Lenovo, Cisco, and AOI. He has also written for Demand Gen Report, a key industry publication.
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Career

Work history

6-2023
Senior Director of Marketing
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
2-2019 - 3-2023
Senior Manager, Global Omni Channel Marketing
Cisco
12-2017 - 2-2019
Senior Manager, Global Digital Marketing
Lenovo
4-2015 - 2-2019
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing
Lenovo
1-2014 - 4-2015
Demand Generation Strategy & Operations Manager
Lenovo
In the press

Media appearances

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Education
7-2024 - 5-2025
Colson Center for Christian Worldview
Colson Fellow
2007 - 2009
MBA
University of North Texas
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

Dominance, influence, steadiness, and calculativeness scores with guidance on how this person prefers to communicate and decide.

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