Deborah R. Stokes is Leader & Senior Consultant, External Research, Dell Technologies Office of the CTO, responsible for the management and collaboration with universities and research institutions to drive innovation, and advanced technology exploration, delivering insights and metrics on emerging/disruptive technologies. She also leads the Technology Exploration (TEx) internal conference to share innovation and thought leadership across the Dell technical community.

Deborah has served in various ICT leadership positions for 25+years in both academia and industry, working with large global technology firms such as Nortel, FutureWei, EMC, and Dell.   She has additional experience in the education vertical. Her career expertise spans R&D, external research, university interaction, business development, operations, and marketing/communications; all providing opportunities to utilize her skills in program management, technology management, innovation, cross organization collaboration, knowledge management and leadership.

Deborah serves on various university advisory boards, including the North Carolina State University College of Computing Strategic Advisory Board and the NYU Wireless Industry Advisory Board. Deborah is a recognized speaker on best practices in external research and innovation, and has numerous publications in the technology management field

Deborah has a BS in Business Administration and completed her Executive MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas, with a focus on “Managing for Change”​.


Specialties: High energy, enthusiastic individual…quick learner with ability to adapt to new challenges…effective decision maker…unique ability to strategically conceptualize idea and follow through to tactical implementation…consistently exceeds expectations…recognized as “a real go-getter, who consistently hits home runs”.