‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Few people sit at the nexus of business and politics like Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. As head of a company that makes much of the infrastructure underlying the internet and artificial intelligence systems, and as chairman of the lobbying group Business Roundtable, Robbins has a unique perspective on the rapid changes facing both Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. How is he navigating this moment? And what lessons did he learn from playing basketball with an all-time legend? Robbins speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the Bold Names podcast. Check Out Past Episodes: Could Amazon’s Zoox Beat Tesla and Waymo in the Robotaxi Race? Palmer Luckey's 'I Told You So' Tour: AI Weapons and Vindication Humanoid Robot Startups Are Hot. This AI Expert Cuts Through the Hype. Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected] Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, Tim, what do you know about the tech that powers the guts of the internet?
0:03.9	It's a series of tubes, right?
0:06.0	So many tubes.
0:07.8	At least if by tubes, you mean data centers, servers, routers, networking cables, fiber optics, and silicon chips.
0:14.1	One of the most important companies behind all these components is Cisco, and we'll hear from its CEO on how he's tackling the rise of artificial intelligence.
0:22.7	That's next.
0:27.9	Last week for the first time, since his return to the White House, President Trump sat down with
0:32.9	the influential lobbying group, The Business Roundtable, for a Q&A.
0:36.9	I have a lot of friends in the audience.
0:39.3	A couple that I don't like particularly much.
0:42.3	But for the most part, very good.
0:44.3	The Business Roundtable is made up of the CEOs of some of the biggest and most influential companies in the United States.
0:51.3	Those include Walmart, Apple, and J.P. Morgan Chase. And one thing a lot of
0:56.9	them wanted to hear about was Trump's plan for tariffs. A lot of activity is happening. They're
1:02.0	looking all over the place for places. And that's because there is a good spirit. There's a new, a
1:07.4	renewed spirit. And also very importantly, the tariffs are, they don't want to pay
1:12.5	25% or whatever it may be. It may go up higher. Maybe go up higher. Look, the higher it goes,
1:18.5	the more likely it is they're going to build. And up on the stage asking questions was our
1:23.0	guest today, the chairman of the Business Roundtable, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins.
1:28.3	The people in this room, we're going to tie us back together, the people in this room obviously are very interested in all the conversations going on around trade and tariffs that are important here.
1:37.3	And then you've also had a large-scale effort to root out wasteful spending in the federal government.
1:42.3	And I believe there's a thread that kind of ties all that
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.