# Cisco CEO: AI change will hurt, workers must adapt

> Chuck Robbins tells employees uncomfortable with rapid technological change that the pace is only accelerating, as companies restructure around AI.
- Title: Cisco CEO: AI change will hurt, workers must adapt · Fortune
- Summary: Chuck Robbins tells employees uncomfortable with rapid technological change that the pace is only accelerating, as companies restructure around AI. Cisco CEO…
- Keywords: chuck robbins, cisco, artificial intelligence, job cuts, workforce restructuring, ai adoption, tech industry, employment, CEO, change, hurt, workers
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/09/24/cisco-ceo-chuck-robbins-warns-workers-worry-about-change-nothings-going-to-feel-good-right-now-with-ai
- Author: Emma Burleigh
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: chuck robbins, cisco, artificial intelligence, job cuts, workforce restructuring, ai adoption, tech industry, employment
## Workers face growing pains
As AI enters the workforce, employers are cutting jobs and restructuring teams around the technology. Workers must develop new skills to stay competitive in this rapidly changing environment.
## Robbins: change will feel bad
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told Inc magazine that employees uncomfortable with constant change will struggle. The pace of technological change is too fast and too dynamic for many workers.

> If you're an employee who is uncomfortable with a lot of change and a constant dynamic environment, nothing's going to feel good right now.
## CEOs also worried about pace
Robbins, who leads the four hundred fifteen billion dollar company, says industry leaders set the pace of AI change. At a Business Roundtable meeting, every CEO expressed worry about keeping up with technology speed and cybersecurity threats.
## AI leaders urge slowdown
Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman have called on companies to slow their pace of building models. Robbins said when the people building the most advanced models raise questions about development pace, we should listen.

> When the people building the most advanced models are raising questions about the pace of development, we should listen.
## Robbins: boost productivity, not cuts
Robbins oversees more than eighty thousand staffers worldwide. He argues companies should use AI to enhance innovation with existing staff, not cut workers for cost reduction. You can deliver twenty percent more innovation with the same number of people.

> You should view this as an innovation enhancement play.
## Cisco cut four thousand jobs
Despite his stated preference for keeping staff, Cisco cut around four thousand jobs earlier this year as part of restructuring toward AI and growth areas. The company said winning in the AI era requires focus, urgency, and shifting investment toward strongest demand.
## Widespread layoffs across tech
Block cut around forty percent of its ten thousand employees after questioning how many humans would be needed with latest AI tools. Microsoft laid off about four thousand eight hundred employees in July, with its Xbox division hit hardest. Goldman Sachs economists predict AI erased around sixteen thousand net jobs per month over the past year.
## Key takeaway

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins warns workers that AI-driven workplace transformation will be painful, but companies must keep pace or fall behind competitors.