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Francine Katsoudas, executive vice-president and chief people, policy and purpose officer at Cisco, joins Business Day Spotlight host Mudiwa Gavaza.
Katsoudas describes the mood at Cisco as upbeat, optimistic, and impatient to drive technological implementation after the group reported record revenue of $15.8bn for the third quarter to April 2026, up 12% year on year and better than analysts’ estimates. The performance was driven by a surge in AI infrastructure demand, prompting Cisco to increases its full-year revenue guidance.
The group also announced it will cut 4,000 jobs, amounting to about 5% of its global workforce, which Katsoudas described as a strategic reallocation of talent rather than a simple cost-reduction exercise.
The company uses internal and external recruiters and career coaching to help employees with the transition, and Katsoudas notes that in previous restructurings Cisco has successfully placed 65% of affected employees in new internal roles.
Katsoudas also points out that Cisco Networking Academy recently crossed 600,000 graduates.
Valued at about $440.6bn, Cisco is 40 years old and one of the world’s largest technology companies that manufactures and sells networking hardware, telecommunications equipment and other products.
Reflecting on her recent travels, Katsoudas praises the governments of Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa for proactively focusing on AI skilling.
Those nations are working to ensure their populations are not left behind by investing heavily in AI factories and data centres, she says.
Katsoudas also details the company’s financial performance; workforce reallocation; investments in AI; networking academy milestone; and engagements with African governments.
Producer: Demi Buzo
Business Day Spotlight is an Arena Podcasts Production.
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