01
Discovery
Audit & listening tour.
Cisco had been deploying AI at scale for over a decade. Interviewed teams across networking, security, and infrastructure to turn fragmented capabilities into a strategic position.
Cisco AI Messaging & Narrative Development
20+ Teams.
Peak AI chaos.
ChatGPT broke the internet. By mid-2023, every Cisco team had different AI messaging. I built the framework that unified them all and turned it into a narrative that scaled across the company.
02
Framework
Built one framework.
One framework that unified it all. Technically accurate and culturally true.
The Framework
01
Core Positioning
"Cisco has the infrastructure to power AI, unmatched breadth and scale of data to feed it, and a portfolio optimized to secure it."
02
Philosophy
Responsible AI is non-negotiable. Ethics, privacy, sustainability embedded in everything.
03
Approach
Deep listening before deep learning. Customer needs first, technology second.
The Transformation
Before: Technical Language
"We leverage AI to deliver the most effective cybersecurity solutions, and we secure AI systems themselves from threats."
After: Cultural Resonance
"Where security meets the network is where Cisco shines. AI will amplify this even more."
Sound Bites That Stuck
"When it comes to AI, a trusted business partner is needed as much as an algorithm."
"Grounded doesn't mean we're not groundbreaking."
"Responsible AI isn't a campaign, it's a commitment."
Origin Document AI Messaging Exploration • July 2023 ▼
Overview
Generative AI has sparked the world's imagination. It's the technology of the moment. It has made coding fun again and made college students rethink their majors.
ChatGPT made AI visible, tangible, and most importantly, accessible. AI went from this complicated thing for PhDs and data scientists to something everyone could play with and therefore understand its potential. Especially those in the boardrooms.
Cisco is well positioned to leverage this AI moment to benefit our customers and our own employees. We're in the sweet spot to be a leader in the AI for the Enterprise space.
Point of View
Generally speaking, there are five advanced AI capabilities: Human-AI Interaction, Decision-making, Motion, Creation, and the one that scares some, Sentience. All of these capabilities are amplifications of human attributes. Generative AI is just another form of AI as an amplifier, only on a scale we've never seen before.
There is no one formula that is AI, just as there are many additional methods of AI that are, or have the potential to be, just as groundbreaking. We see AI as more than the method used. It's about the problems it's helping to solve for our customers that human effort couldn't accomplish on its own.
Approach
While AI is not new to Cisco, Generative AI does raise novel issues. But it doesn't change our approach to AI: human-first.
Responsible AI is non-negotiable because responsible tech is a given for us. Always has been for Cisco. Ethics, privacy, sustainability. Just another layer of requirements of the stack. Mandatory, reviewed, and beyond reproach before anything is shipped.
At Cisco, deep listening comes before deep learning. Or machine learning. Or computer vision. AI for the Enterprise is first and foremost about customizing and adapting technology to the customers' specific needs and priorities.
Closing Thought
Epiphanies can be hidden in the most ordinary of intersections. AI can spot the patterns in places humans never even thought to look.
The future will be one of compounding intelligence.
03
Rollout
Used everywhere.
500+ Executive Spokespeople aligned. 18 months of sustained influence. From internal manifesto to Cisco's AI story.
How It Shipped
GCC messaging document deployed enterprise-wide for all communications
cisco.com/ai external positioning and content strategy
AI Readiness Index thought leadership campaign with global research
Talk tracks for company-wide meetings and executive briefings
Spokesperson training and messaging for executives at Cisco Live
Government affairs talking points for policy discussions
Partners repeating exact language: "unmatched breadth and scale"
Cisco.com AI Solutions
Framework messaging went live. The three pillars coming through.
Framework messaging went live. The three pillars coming through.
AI Readiness Index
Flagship thought leadership campaign. Built on the framework. Global research. CEO talking points.
Flagship thought leadership campaign. Built on the framework. Global research. CEO talking points.
Partner Adoption
Partners using our exact language. "Unmatched breadth and scale." The framework spread.
Partners using our exact language. "Unmatched breadth and scale." The framework spread.