AI and the Future of Work: Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace, Business, Ethics, HR, and IT for AI Enthusiasts, Leaders and Academics 363: Cisco President and Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel on AI’s Real Constraints, Skill Gaps, and the New Rules of Work
Nov 24, 2025
Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, previously transformed Box into a multi-product juggernaut. He shares insights on how Cisco is evolving into an AI-first company, stressing the urgency of embracing AI across all jobs. Jeetu discusses constraints like power and data that hinder enterprise AI adoption and highlights the growing importance of human skills in the AI era. He also emphasizes building trust with employees and predicts that AI will soon solve previously unsolvable challenges, enabling innovative solutions.
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Learning Scale By Joining Big Companies
- Patel's career through startups and big companies taught him to think about global scale and integration.
- He purposely moved from startups to EMC then Box to learn how to scale products and businesses.
Acquired CEOs Given Bigger Canvases
- Cisco now asks 'what are we going to build next?' instead of defaulting to 'what will we buy next?'.
- Patel recounts that acquired company CEOs now take on broader charters inside Cisco.
Build First, Acquire To Accelerate
- Cisco shifted from acquisition-first thinking to building capability as the central strategy.
- Patel says acquisitions accelerate strategy but should not replace building products customers love.