In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen HIGHLIGHTS: Jayshree Ullal - CEO of Arista Networks
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Jan 2, 2026 
Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks and veteran networking executive, shares her remarkable journey from electrical engineer to tech leader. She discusses how Arista is redefining high-performance networks for AI, likening them to highways that optimize chip utilization. Ullal contrasts today’s rapid AI infrastructure growth with the slower internet expansion she witnessed at Cisco. She highlights the values that shaped Arista's success, emphasizing a culture of integrity and innovation, driven by her parents' high expectations.
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Networking Is The Highway For AI
- Arista builds high-performance, low-latency, highly automated networks that connect accelerators, users, servers, and storage.
- Jayshree Ullal says the company's EOS software unifies diverse data types to fuel these mission-critical platforms.
AI Boom Is Faster And Far Bigger
- The current AI wave is faster and much larger than the internet boom, compressing a 15-year shift into 5–7 years and expanding scale by ~1000x.
- Ullal argues this is a sustained mega-trend backed by responsible large companies, not a short bubble.
Joining Arista At Zero Revenue
- Ullal joined Arista when it had zero revenue and about 30 engineers because she wanted to return to entrepreneurship.
- She valued working with people she enjoyed and building products from the roots of Silicon Valley.