Guillermo Diaz isn't shy about emphasizing the impact of his time in the Navy.

It's not only where he developed his competence in technology but where he began to truly understand the power in building relationships—the power in fostering a sense of community.

As chairman of the Hispanic IT Executive Council and former CIO of Cisco Systems, Diaz can provide plenty of proof of his brilliance in technology. What has his focus today is leveraging that expertise to connect Latinos in the greater business community. He does that as the mastermind behind the digital platform Conectado.