Akiko (Kiko) Nakano
About Akiko (Kiko) Nakano
Akiko (Kiko) Nakano is the Vice President of Product Marketing at Sarcos Robotics, where she leads marketing programs and manages industry analyst relations. With a background in product marketing at Aiwa and Qualcomm, she has extensive experience in both commercial and defense sectors.
Current Role at Sarcos Robotics
Akiko Nakano serves as the Vice President of Product Marketing at Sarcos Robotics, a position she has held since 2018 in the Greater San Diego Area. In this role, she leads strategic partner marketing programs aimed at accelerating growth and enhancing market exposure. Her responsibilities include managing the industry analyst relations program, ensuring that Sarcos products are accurately positioned in syndicated research reports. This positioning influences potential customers and helps drive the company's marketing initiatives.
Previous Experience at Qualcomm Technologies Inc.
Prior to her current role, Nakano worked at Qualcomm Technologies Inc. as the Senior Director of Product Marketing from 2010 to 2016. During her six years there, she focused on chipset software strategy and the emerging business group. Her experience at Qualcomm contributed to her expertise in product marketing within the technology sector.
Early Career at Aiwa
Nakano began her career at Aiwa, where she worked as a Product Marketing Associate from 1991 to 1995. During her four years in Tokyo, Japan, she was part of the Product Planning & International Marketing Group. This early experience laid the foundation for her future roles in product marketing and strategic planning.
Education and Academic Background
Akiko Nakano holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management with a focus on Marketing and a minor in Japanese from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additionally, she studied Japanese Studies at Nanzan University, where she participated in a Study Abroad Program. Her educational background supports her expertise in both marketing and international business.
Achievements in Product Marketing
Throughout her career, Nakano has successfully launched products that have received recognition from various industry authorities, including Time Magazine, Frost & Sullivan, Fast Company, Wired, and IEEE. She has created marketing plans and sales enablement tools that have generated pipeline opportunities worth hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Her work spans both commercial and defense sectors, where she drives product development and go-to-market strategies through customer discovery and competitor intelligence.