EXCLUSIVE | Former Cisco CEO says AI and agility are key to modern business success

“Today, if you're not interested in AI, if you don't have a good AI strategy and implementation, investors aren't going to want to invest in you, even if you're a manufacturing company or a semiconductor company,” former Cisco CEO John Chambers said in an interview. CNBC-TV1Speaking at 8 as part of his “Voices from the Valley” series, Chambers highlighted the unprecedented speed of change in the age of AI, noting that growth today is “10 times faster and 10 times greater than it was just a few decades ago.” This rapid pace demands a high level of agility from companies, a term Chambers once disliked but now sees as essential.

Reflecting on the evolution of startups, he spoke of the dramatic acceleration of development timelines. “In the internet era, it took two years to build a product, a year to get five or six good referrals, two more years to get to a $1 million run rate, a $5 million run rate, and that was the arrival of a unicorn,” he said. “Today, you can build a product in one to three months, get customer referrals, get to a $1 million run rate the next quarter, and it might take you maybe 18 months, maybe 12 months to get to a $5 million run rate.”

Chambers stressed that this rapid pace is not unique to startups, but applies to all sectors. “Anyone can be disruptive, but it's going to happen to large companies, too,” he said. He rejected comparisons to the days before the dot-com bubble burst, and while he acknowledged the possibility of failure, he remained optimistic. “I think we're in the second innings in terms of what AI means,” he said. “This is going to be the decade of AI, the century of AI, and AI is going to be fundamental in determining economic growth in companies and in that direction.”