Cisco is building AI infrastructure, from networking GPU clusters to securing agents, with its hyperscaler AI business reaching $9.3 billion in orders in two years. Cisco President and Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel joins Y Combinator Managing Partner Jared Friedman to discuss bringing startup speed to 32,000 engineers, why AI should unlock new ideas rather than just cut costs, and why he expects to need more engineers, not fewer. He also explains why he doesn’t think we’re overbuilding data centers and shares career lessons on choosing learning over ego.
Chapters:
00:00 — Cisco’s Bet on AI
03:38 — Running Cisco Like a Startup
06:45 — The Infrastructure AI Agents Need
10:00 — Getting 32,000 Engineers to Embrace AI
14:07 — Bringing AI to Hardware and Silicon
17:15 — Inside the AI Data Center Buildout
21:27 — Are We Overbuilding AI Infrastructure?
25:10 — Building Trust in AI Agents
28:18 — From India to Waiting Tables at Sizzler
32:12 — Choosing Learning Over Ego
35:31 — Ambition, Teamwork, and Compounding
39:31 — Don’t Squander Your Opportunity
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply
Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
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