While the rest of the industry is eager to reduce headcount in the wake of using AI to replace human workforce, Cisco has a different idea. The company’s CEO, Chuck Robbins, has made it clear that unlike its rivals, Cisco isn’t interested in letting go of its human resources. Instead, it is betting high on AI to give it a strategic advantage to its human workforce.
Robbins emphasised that the company’s AI strategy is focused on enhancing engineer productivity rather than cutting jobs.
Cisco not laying off employees anytime soon
While acknowledging to CNBC that some of his peers are anticipating a smaller workforce due to AI tools, Robbins stated that Cisco’s goal is to enable its engineers to “move faster and be more productive.”
While the CEO did not completely rule out future workforce reductions, he clarified that the current use of AI is not driven by that intention.
This philosophy appears to be paying off. Cisco’s strategic focus on AI infrastructure is seen as a key contributor to its recent success. The company announced quarterly results that exceeded both its earnings and revenue targets. Cisco more than doubled its initial fiscal year 2025 AI infrastructure order target of $1 billion, securing over $800 million in orders from major webscale customers such as Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft in the fourth quarter alone.
Cisco peers have laid off big workforces
While Cisco wants to hold on to its human workforce, tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are continuing to lay off employees. The layoff trend is driven by a combination of factors, including a post-pandemic correction in hiring, economic uncertainty, and a strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence tools.
Many of these companies overhired during the pandemic to meet a surge in demand for digital services. As the world has returned to the old normal, these firms don’t need surplus and hence are downsizing their workforces. A key driver for the job cuts, however, is a shift in business priorities. Firms are replacing staff in departments and roles with AI. These roles, which are deemed less critical, such as certain engineering, HR, and recruiting positions, are seeing humans making way for AI tools.
