Cisco Podcast Network

404 Script Not Found Cisco Kool-Aid

Ian's got two bone-to-pick this week: a guy lifting in slides, and a CVS receipt that could legitimately double as a scarf. Kat's here to talk him down from both grievances, and once she does, they pivot to something actually important: why all the shiny AI everyone's losing their minds over still needs boring old networking underneath it. Here's the thing: you can't train a world-changing model without connecting thousands of GPUs, and you can't connect them without infrastructure. Ian and Kat break down exactly what Cisco's doing behind the scenes—the plumbing that lets hyperscalers actually scale their AI. Kat brings her MBA playbook (outcome-based partnerships, the whole deal), Ian keeps it real with the "networking is just invisible plumbing" bit, and honestly, they might've never sounded more like themselves. Turns out all the AI hype in the world doesn't matter if the pipes aren't working To check out those networking solutions Cisco has, click here: https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/networking/index.html#tabs-7edb32179e-item-d43da2dc1e-tab

Cisco Optics Podcast Ep66: Confronting the Physics of 400G per Lane - John Calvin, Part 3 of 8

In the pluggable optics industry every next generation is led by countless presentations and proposals at standards bodies meetings along with lots of lab development and testing behind the scenes. Right now the industry has its sights set on 3.2 terabit transceivers with 400 Gb per electrical lane. All those meetings and all that testing are happening as we speak. Today I am joined by John Calvin, Strategic Planner and Datacom Technology Lead at Keysight. John has been bridging the measurement science gaps of emerging telecom and datacom development efforts for 20 years. He has chaired multiple physical layer interoperability working groups and is currently serving as a contributing member to IEEE 802.3, OIF-CEI, InfiniBand, and PCIe development efforts. John holds a BSEE from Washington State University, and his graduate level studies are in signal processing from Stanford University. In Episode 66 we continue our conversation with John. We get into the signal-integrity and connector challenges engineers face when pushing Ethernet to 400 gigabits per lane. John has very generously made himself available for your follow-up questions. You can find him at IEEE 802.3 technical forums or you can email him at john.calvin@keysight.com. Please follow the Cisco Podcast Network on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! Better yet, leave a review on Apple podcasts. Remember you're listening to the Cisco Optics Podcast, which is part of the Cisco Podcast Network where you can find other great Cisco podcasts too. If you want to listen on a website, go to optics.podcastpage.io. We also have educational videos on youtube. Just go to youtube.com and search on Cisco Optics. Related links Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/ Cisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/iop Cisco Optics Product Information: https://copi.cisco.com/ Additional resources Cisco Optics Podcast: https://optics.podcastpage.io/ Blog: https://blogs.cisco.com/tag/ciscoopticsblog Cisco Optics YouTube playlist: http://cs.co/9008BlQen Cisco Optics landing page: cisco.com/go/optics Intro music Music by Sergio Prosvirini from Pixabay Outro music Dreamers by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com

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404 Script Not Found Social Selling with a Purpose

Ian is flying solo BUT is joined by LinkedIn expert Darren McKee this week—founder of 531 Social and Darren McKee Co. Darren's been posting on LinkedIn almost every single day since March 2020, and yeah, he's got the receipts. He walks us through his journey from mail carrier and pizza guy to building a sales career that actually stuck, and spoiler: the daily posting thing actually worked. But here's where it gets weird: sometimes carefully researched posts tank while a random rant about a key fob blows up. We're talking hundreds of thousands of impressions. Why? And more importantly—why do comments help more than posts? Darren breaks down the cold DM playbook (hint: don't be that guy), and explains why he treats content like a rap album: most tracks won't chart, but you keep making them anyway because you never know which will be a hit. If you've ever stared at a LinkedIn draft and thought "Does anyone actually want to read this?"—this one's for you. If you liked this episode, and are interested in signing up for Darren's next cohort you can sign up here: https://darrenmckee.co/

Why Resilience Needs the Human Element | Tech Unscripted

Host and guest Evan Mintzer (Director of Production Infrastructure, Customers Bank) discuss how banks build digital resilience through network design, redundancy, data visibility and governance. The episode covers practical challenges around third-party services, AI-assisted monitoring, and making sure critical systems keep money flowing. Key topics include the balance between automation and human oversight, the importance of shared ownership of data across teams, regulatory pressures (FFIEC, DORA), and the need for accurate documentation and tools like machine data lakes to gain context and control. The main takeaway: protect customer trust by combining the right technologies, operating-model integration and people — focusing on visibility, quick reaction, and sensible investments in security and automation.

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Efficient IT Management with AI Tech Unscripted

This episode explores how AI agents, network sensors, and cloud-managed Meraki solutions are transforming workplaces across industries—from stadiums and events to critical infrastructure. Leaders share real-world use cases on security, hybrid work, real-time visibility, and practical deployments that balance automation with human oversight.

404 Script Not Found The Learning Curve

This week, Kat is speaking Spanish, Ian is preparing to run an ungodly number of miles, and they’re both making fun of men with guitars—so naturally, it’s time to talk about onboarding. With Ian’s new hire starting this week, he shares his plan for helping her learn the role, navigate Cisco, and survive the truly unreasonable number of acronyms that Cisco has. They get into what actually makes someone feel supported in a new job: shadowing everything, meeting the right people, documenting processes, and knowing when to step in versus letting someone figure it out. Kat shares what worked when she joined field marketing, Ian explains his “I do, we do, you do” approach, and they somehow compare onboarding a new employee to coaching a gym class, raising a child, and teaching a dog to sit—all with varying degrees of success. Your usual chaos and coupled with career advice - just another 404. Give us a click, please: https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/index.html#tabs-9da71fbd27-item-1288c79d71-tab

Cisco Optics Podcast Ep65: The Tradeoffs Shaping the Race to 3.2T - John Calvin, Part 2 of 8

In the pluggable optics industry every next generation is led by countless presentations and proposals at standards bodies meetings along with lots of lab development and testing behind the scenes. Right now the industry has its sights set on 3.2 terabit transceivers with 400 Gb per electrical lane. All those meetings and all that testing are happening as we speak. Today I am joined by John Calvin, Strategic Planner and Datacom Technology Lead at Keysight. John has been bridging the measurement science gaps of emerging telecom and datacom development efforts for 20 years. He has chaired multiple physical layer interoperability working groups and is currently serving as a contributing member to IEEE 802.3, OIF-CEI, InfiniBand, and PCIe development efforts. John holds a BSEE from Washington State University, and his graduate level studies are in signal processing from Stanford University. In Episode 65 we continue our conversation with John. We get into the tradeoffs between IEEE standards, MSAs, interoperability, and the race toward 3.2-terabit Ethernet. John has very generously made himself available for your follow-up questions. You can find him at IEEE 802.3 technical forums or you can email him at john.calvin@keysight.com. Please follow the Cisco Podcast Network on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! Better yet, leave a review on Apple podcasts. Remember you're listening to the Cisco Optics Podcast, which is part of the Cisco Podcast Network where you can find other great Cisco podcasts too. If you want to listen on a website, go to optics.podcastpage.io. We also have educational videos on youtube. Just go to youtube.com and search on Cisco Optics. Related links Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/ Cisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/iop Cisco Optics Product Information: https://copi.cisco.com/ Additional resources Cisco Optics Podcast: https://optics.podcastpage.io/ Blog: https://blogs.cisco.com/tag/ciscoopticsblog Cisco Optics YouTube playlist: http://cs.co/9008BlQen Cisco Optics landing page: cisco.com/go/optics Intro music Music by Sergio Prosvirini from Pixabay Outro music Dreamers by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com

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Beyond the Fiber - S1E5 - Tech Talk Broadband Assurance & Observability - When Milliseconds Matter

In this episode Robin Olds interviews Tom Footitt, Cisco Senior Director of Product Management for Crosswork Assurance, about how AI — especially agentic systems and faster LLMs — is changing network traffic patterns and why observability and assurance are critical. They discuss new KPIs like time-to-first-token and inter-token latency, passive behavioral analysis of encrypted traffic, predictive AIOps, and the importance of security, sovereignty, and performance for service providers offering AI services.

404 Script Not Found Career Changes

Our best friend (and career coach) Sammy Brenner is back with a new role, a new language to learn, and approximately six months before she’s ready to teach any of it to us (her words). Sammy and Kat share what it’s really like to start over in a new part of the business: drinking from the fire hose, rebuilding trust, and reminding yourself that you were hired for a reason, even when doubts creep in. They also get into how to know when it’s time for a change, why networking should start long before you need a new job, and how to advocate for yourself without feeling like a professional kiss-up. Sammy shares her best advice for building genuine relationships, creating an “About Me” deck, and approaching your first few months with equal parts curiosity and blind optimism. Meanwhile, Ian bravely attempts to lighten the mood with a story about his Chrome tabs and learns no one cares. You know the drill, give us a click! https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/index.html#tabs-7edb32179e-item-d43da2dc1e-tab

Efficient IT Management with AI | Tech Unscripted

This episode explores how AI agents, network sensors, and cloud-managed Meraki solutions are transforming workplaces across industries—from stadiums and events to critical infrastructure. Leaders share real-world use cases on security, hybrid work, real-time visibility, and practical deployments that balance automation with human oversight.

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Scaling AI: What Trace3, WWT, and Presidio Know That You Don't

Across Cisco's partner ecosystem, AI adoption isn't new — it's already happening at scale. So how do partners turn that momentum into trusted, real-world outcomes for their customers? In this episode of Scaling AI in the Enterprise, we bring together an all-star partner panel featuring Trace3, Worldwide Technology (WWT), and Presidio to tackle the real challenges of scaling AI: the shift from dashboards to semantic layers, the discipline of clean data and governance, the balance between automation and human judgment, and why adoption is as much about culture and trust as it is about technology. Host: Emma Carpenter, SVP Recurring Revenue Acceleration, Cisco Customer Experience   Guests: Josh Lindstrom, Sr. Director, Data and Analytics, Trace3  Surbhi Kaul, VP CX Product Management, Cisco Customer Experience    Kevin Corace, SVP Software and Services Lifecycle, Presidio   Laura Kuehner, VP Customer Experience, WWT   Learn more about Cisco Customer Experience; read our blogs and visit Cisco.com.

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SHIFT HAPPENS - EP. 41 Deal Registration Stop Selling Alone

Deal registration isn’t paperwork. It’s partnership—and a powerful lever for growth. In this episode of Shift Happens, Jeff Edwards is joined by Tim Coogan, Gary DePreta, and Raminder Mann, CEO of ANM, Cisco’s 2025 Security Partner of the Year, for a candid look at what happens when Cisco and partners stop competing with each other and start competing together. From a $10M+ opportunity closed in under two weeks to $25M in competitive takeouts, hear how registering early creates the trust, investment and shared focus needed to win—and unlock what comes next: adoption, expansion and renewal. Why listen? 🎯 See deal reg differently: It’s not about protecting a deal—it’s about creating a foundation for mutual investment and customer value. 💰 Hear the real-world impact: Get inside the deals where partnership helped turn stalled opportunities into wins and competitive takeouts into future growth. 🚀 Think beyond the PO: Discover why the biggest value may come after the deal, when Cisco and partners have the resources and trust to drive adoption, expansion and long-term success. Because when you sell together, you don’t just win the deal—you build what comes next. 🎧 Tune in to the latest episode and let’s make shift happen. #CiscoShiftHappensPodcast

Beyond the Fiber - S1E5 - Tech Talk: Broadband Assurance & Observability - When Milliseconds Matter

In this episode Robin Olds interviews Tom Footitt, Cisco Senior Director of Product Management for Crosswork Assurance, about how AI — especially agentic systems and faster LLMs — is changing network traffic patterns and why observability and assurance are critical. They discuss new KPIs like time-to-first-token and inter-token latency, passive behavioral analysis of encrypted traffic, predictive AIOps, and the importance of security, sovereignty, and performance for service providers offering AI services.

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404 Script Not Found Cisco Charcuterie

This week is a true charcuterie board of an episode: a little career news, a little AI, and a surprisingly serious debate about crackers. Kat recaps her trip to San Francisco, shares some news about her new role, and explains why a tea leaf salad earned “best bite of the weekend.” Meanwhile, Ian reveals that he has very specific charcuterie standards and is now using Haiku almost exclusively because, apparently, he’s saving the world one AI prompt at a time. They also catch up on what they learned from Annie Hardy, get excited about Cisco’s new AI agents, and try to make sense of ChatGPT’s new iMessage integration. Is it genuinely helpful, or does letting AI write your texts feel like one step too far? No conclusions are reached, but everyone agrees that “it all stays on your device” sounds exactly like something we’ll revisit when the apology statement drops. If you like the show, give us a click: https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/index.html

Cisco Tech Stories - ep 38 - AI, IPv6, Dataplanes and RFC

In this month episode we interview Andrew Yourtchenko, old timer from TAC Firewall, who also was a Technical Marketing Engineer for IPv6, who was also a release manager for the VPP dataplane and who now is working with standards body around AI and IPv6.

AI Insights - Ep.8 The AI Ergonomics Framework for Trustworthy LLMs

In this episode of The Cisco AI Insights Podcast, hosts Rafael Herrera and Sónia Marques are joined by Cisco’s Technical Leader in Machine Learning Engineering, Dr. Catarina Carvalho, to explore her pioneering concept of "AI Ergonomics," which frames human engagement as a fundamental design principle for AI development rather than a post-development chore. The conversation examines the complexities of human-in-the-loop validation, highlighting how moving beyond simple binary feedback like "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" is essential for mitigating bias and ensuring AI systems align with practical human needs and well-being. Dr. Carvalho explains how incorporating cognitive interviews and social motivation can improve data quality, helping developers bridge the gap between model accuracy and user trust in our increasingly non-deterministic generative AI landscape. Thank you to Dr. Catarina Carvalho for sharing her research and insights on the future of collaborative AI design. If you are interested in exploring her research and the principles behind AI ergonomics, please visit this link: https://github.com/catica/AI_ergonomics/blob/651ab17b3c8ba89d5dcc51ba2ebd1307e7262458/AI_ergonomics_.pdf

Cisco Optics Podcast Ep64: Building the Standards Behind Tomorrow’s AI Networks - John Calvin, Part 1 of 8

In the pluggable optics industry every next generation is led by countless presentations and proposals at standards bodies meetings along with lots of lab development and testing behind the scenes. Right now the industry has its sights set on 3.2 terabit transceivers with 400 Gb per electrical lane. All those meetings and all that testing are happening as we speak. Today I am joined by John Calvin, Strategic Planner and Datacom Technology Lead at Keysight. John has been bridging the measurement science gaps of emerging telecom and datacom development efforts for 20 years. He has chaired multiple physical layer interoperability working groups and is currently serving as a contributing member to IEEE 802.3, OIF-CEI, InfiniBand, and PCIe development efforts. John holds a BSEE from Washington State University, and his graduate level studies are in signal processing from Stanford University. In Episode 64 we begin a new conversation with John. We get into his path into Ethernet, how standards are built, and why they matter to AI networks. John has very generously made himself available for your follow-up questions. You can find him at IEEE 802.3 technical forums or you can email him at john.calvin@keysight.com. Please follow the Cisco Podcast Network on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! Better yet, leave a review on Apple podcasts. Remember you're listening to the Cisco Optics Podcast, which is part of the Cisco Podcast Network where you can find other great Cisco podcasts too. If you want to listen on a website, go to optics.podcastpage.io. We also have educational videos on youtube. Just go to youtube.com and search on Cisco Optics. Related links Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/ Cisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/iop Cisco Optics Product Information: https://copi.cisco.com/ Additional resources Cisco Optics Podcast: https://optics.podcastpage.io/ Blog: https://blogs.cisco.com/tag/ciscoopticsblog Cisco Optics YouTube playlist: http://cs.co/9008BlQen Cisco Optics landing page: cisco.com/go/optics Intro music Music by Sergio Prosvirini from Pixabay Outro music Dreamers by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com

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Scaling AI: The Playbook for IT Services Delivery

Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) manages 1.4 million SRs annually, and today, 97% are touched by AI. As we shift from task-based automation to Agentic AI, some of these interactions are becoming "no-touch"—driving higher customer satisfaction and faster resolution. How did Cisco transform its Support at scale, and where is the IT services industry heading? In this episode of Scaling AI in the Enterprise, we focus on IT services delivery. Our panel shares advice on how to escape "pilot purgatory" and move into production, the critical necessity of a unified data strategy, and how to maintain deterministic outcomes in a probabilistic world. We discuss why observability is the new "central nervous system" for managing autonomous agents and why the path to success requires reinventing workflows—not just automating the status quo. Host: Wes Moss, VP, CX Centers Delivery for Americas, Cisco Guests: Bhaskar Jayakrishnan, SVP of Engineering, Cisco Customer Experience (CX) Buffy Ransom, GM & SVP, CX Centers, Cisco David Jansen, Distinguished Solution Engineer, Global Solutions Engineering (GSE), Cisco Learn more about Cisco Customer Experience; read our blogs and visit Cisco.com.

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404 Script Not Found Part 2! AI Deep Dive with Annie Hardy

Back for part two of our split episode with the founder of Split Futures, Annie Hardy and jump right in where we left off...getting practical about choosing the right AI model—because apparently not every task requires the AI equivalent of a Nobel Prize winner. Annie breaks down when to use smaller models, why bigger isn’t always better, and how those choices connect to energy, water use, and building a more sustainable future. The conversation then turns to the humans behind all this technology. Annie challenges leaders to look beyond layoffs and efficiency gains and ask a much better question: what could we build if we retrained and reinvested in people instead? Along the way, we cover AI subscriptions quietly taking over everyone’s bank account, the danger of lazy AI strategy, and whether asking Gemini to help your teenager quit band counts as responsible parenting—or just very efficient parenting. Give us a click, keep us funded! https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/index.html

404 Script Not Found AI Deep Dive with Annie Hardy

Your company bought all the AI tools and now nobody knows what to do with them. Sound familiar? Kat and Ian sit down with Annie Hardy, founder and Chief AI Architect at Split Futures, to unpack why leaders aren't listening, why measuring employees by "lines of code" is quietly torching everything, and why Gen Z is somewhere between anxious, angry, and low-key sabotaging the robots. You'll learn how to actually pick the right AI model (spoiler: sometimes you need an intern, not a Nobel laureate), why every search might be gulping a water bottle, and Annie's genuinely useful Code of AI Ethics for people who just want to keep their brains intact. Also: national security plot twists, "lazy AI-augmented parenting" confessions, and more hot takes to come! If you liked this episode, as always give us a click! https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/index.html