\u201cAI is the most significant technology transition that we\u2019ve seen in probably our lifetime, and I think Cisco was right at the heart of it,\u201d Patterson, CFO since July 2025, told me. That includes not just building the infrastructure powering the AI economy but embedding AI into how the business runs.<\/p>\n
Starting in its new fiscal year at the end of July, Cisco (No. 83 on the Fortune 500) is rolling out AI agents to its approximately 90,000 employees. Each employee will have access to a personalized assistant capable of handling tasks, answering questions, and routing requests to the most efficient AI model. The company said it does not separately disclose those costs outside of its earnings reporting.<\/p>\n
The architecture reflects a focus on performance optimization. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to burn a whole bunch of tokens with frontier models,\u201d Patterson said. Cisco\u2019s system dynamically selects the right model for each task. \u201cIt knows which tool is most effective and most efficient,\u201d he said. Much of the infrastructure is built on-premises, giving Cisco greater control over cost and data.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like that\u2019s the most efficient way is to build our own AI stacks, which will go out and query the different models based on the particular use case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In general, AI agents use far more tokens than standard chats because they continuously plan, call tools, and process intermediate steps. While a typical chat may use a few thousand tokens, complex agent tasks can consume hundreds of thousands to millions in a single run.<\/p>\n
Patterson has his own agent as well. He uses it primarily for benchmarking\u2014quickly comparing Cisco\u2019s performance against peers across metrics like revenue growth, EPS, R&D spend, and capital allocation, often through dashboard-style analysis.<\/p>\n
I asked him about training. Cisco is pairing its rollout with company-wide upskilling efforts and internal knowledge sharing to encourage experimentation. Patterson expects internal competition as teams discover new AI applications.<\/p>\n
Reimagining the finance function<\/strong><\/p>\n Regarding AI already in use on the finance side, Patterson said MD&A preparation, which is the mandatory narrative section in public company filings, has been streamlined. \u201cI\u2019d say 80%-90% of the first draft, at least, is now done by AI,\u201d he said. Cisco has built and is refining an AI tool for investor relations that analyzes its financial history alongside competitors\u2019 earnings calls and can anticipate likely questions from specific analysts. <\/p>\n Patterson and his team are also refining a \u201cCFO cockpit,\u201d an AI-powered dashboard that would synthesize performance data across products, geographies, and customer segments, predicting where the business is headed and recommending actions. <\/p>\n The opportunity ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded more than 40 years ago, Cisco built its business on networking technologies that power enterprise networks and much of the internet. But it has repositioned itself for the\u00a0AI era by embedding AI across its portfolio and expanding into high-speed data center networking, custom silicon, optical networking, and AI security. Cisco\u2019s stock has climbed about 53% year to date in 2026, trading around $117 in late June.<\/p>\n Patterson said the AI era has unlocked multi-year, multi-billion-dollar opportunities by expanding existing markets and opening new ones. A key growth driver is Cisco\u2019s work with hyperscalers, where its custom silicon, optics, and systems offerings are fueling rapid expansion, he explained. Cisco reported $2 billion in orders in fiscal year 2025 and has raised its fiscal year 2026 guidance to $9 billion, reflecting growth that is becoming an increasingly material part of the business, he said.<\/p>\n In his career at Cisco, Patterson has held leadership roles across finance, strategy, operations, and the sales organization. Before becoming CFO, he was chief strategy officer. Now a year into the role, he has a central position in steering AI strategy to create value.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my 26 years at Cisco, I\u2019ve never seen as much opportunity as we have today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sheryl<\/strong>\u00a0Estrada<\/strong> Jonathan Collins<\/b> was appointed SVP of finance and CFO of Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO), a footwear company, effective Aug. 3. Genesco president and CEO Mimi E. Vaughn has served as interim CFO since March. Collins brings more than 30 years of senior financial experience. Most recently, he served as CFO of America\u2019s Car-Mart, Inc. He previously spent more than a decade with Walmart (from 2012 to 2025) in a series of successive executive leadership roles, including CFO of Walmart Africa, chief accounting officer of Flipkart Group, and chief accounting officer of Walmart.<\/p>\n Ravi Thanawala<\/b>, CFO of Papa John’s International, Inc. (Nasdaq: PZZA), is leaving for a CFO position at another public company. Chris Collins, SVP of corporate finance and principal accounting officer, has been appointed to the additional position of interim CFO, effective immediately. Thanawala will be available in an advisory capacity until July 31. The company has begun a search for a permanent CFO.<\/p>\n A Pew Research Center report finds that AI adoption among U.S. adults is growing\u2014about half now report using AI chatbots, with roughly one in four using them daily, and 44% saying they use ChatGPT specifically.<\/p>\n The most common applications are information searches (42%) and work-related tasks (38%). Yet despite rising usage, public sentiment remains largely skeptical: 40% believe AI will have a negative impact on society over the next 20 years, about two-thirds say it is advancing too quickly, and 71% worry it will make personal information less secure. Only 16% expect a positive societal impact.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n “Nike\u2019s earning numbers exceeded Wall Street\u2019s expectations. But CEO Elliott Hill\u2019s next test is the World Cup” is a Fortune<\/em> article by\u00a0Mia Osmonbekov.\u00a0<\/p>\n Osmonbekov writes: “When\u00a0Nike\u00a0brought Elliott Hill out of retirement almost two years ago to helm the sports conglomerate, it was with the intention of turning the brand\u2019s strained relationships with athletes and retailers around in what Hill would later call a ‘sport offense.’ That offensive strategy seemed to pay off\u2014in North America at least\u2014when Nike\u2019s quarterly earnings exceeded Wall Street\u2019s expectations.” Read more here.<\/p>\n \u201cChange can be made in response to a dramatic disaster, or change can be made proactively.”<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014R. Jisung Park, a labor economist at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School, told Fortune<\/em> in an interview about the effects of a heat wave on productivity and the economy. Park is the author of Slow Burn: The Hidden Costs of a Warming World<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Cisco #rolling #agents #single #employees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good morning. Mark Patterson has spent 26 years at Cisco Systems, which is long enough to watch the company navigate multiple technology cycles. 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sheryl.estrada@fortune.com<\/p>\nLeaderboard<\/h3>\n
Big Deal<\/h3>\n
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<\/div>Going deeper<\/h3>\n
Overheard<\/h3>\n