Product Talk Outshift by Cisco CPO & VP of Product on Building Breakthroughs Inside a $60B Enterprise
Dec 12, 2025
Papi Menon, VP and Chief Product Officer of OutShift by Cisco, leads innovation for one of the world's largest enterprises. He reveals how to unlock breakthroughs like agentic AI and quantum networking within a massive corporation. Papi shares strategies for identifying promising ideas while navigating internal pressures and creating strategic optionality. He discusses the importance of a dedicated go-to-market team and the culture of high-energy incubation, as well as the risks and time horizons when pursuing tech ventures. His vision emphasizes collaboration and governance in shaping the future of enterprises.
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Measure Strategic Optionality, Not Early Revenue
- Internal incubators must measure strategic optionality, not early revenue milestones.
- Success is about creating levers that give the core business new future choices, not small revenue wins.
Build A Portfolio Across Risk And Time
- Provide a portfolio of bets across technology risk and time horizon to balance ambition and practicality.
- Mix near-term (6–18 months) and mid-term (2–5 years) ventures to keep momentum and future optionality.
Own Your Early Go-To-Market Motion
- Create a dedicated go-to-market team for nascent ventures instead of relying on core sales.
- Build playbooks, pricing, messaging and a repeatable sales motion before handing products to the main salesforce.