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Former Cisco CEO John Chambers, has added his thoughts on the pace of AI adoption, warning that it could decimate Fortune 500 companies by destroying roles faster than new ones can be created.
Chambers has lived through the highs and lows of technological revolutions. The former Cisco Systems CEO guided the company from a $15 billion valuation in 1995 to briefly becoming the world’s most valuable firm at $550 billion in March 2000. Then came the dotcom crash, when Cisco’s stock plunged by more than 80%, an experience Chambers still calls the worst of his career.
Now chairman emeritus at Cisco and an investor in startups, Chambers says the current wave of enthusiasm for artificial intelligence carries striking similarities to the internet boom and bust of the earlier part of the century. “There are a lot of parallels but there are also some spectacular differences,” he said. “AI is moving at five times the speed and will produce three times the outcomes of the internet age.”
Chambers believes the acceleration means startups are developing products within weeks and going to market in a matter of months, rather than years. But he warns that some companies will face an inevitable collapse. “Is there going to be train wreck? Yes, for those that aren’t able to translate the technology into a sustainable competitive advantage,” he said.
Jobs and leadership on the line
Chambers is equally blunt about the risks for workers. “If I am right about AI moving at five times the speed of the internet, we are going to destroy jobs faster than we can replace them,” he said. Entry-level roles in both white- and blue-collar sectors are likely to vanish, creating what he described as a drought before re-education and retraining can catch up.
The consequences extend to leadership too, he believes. “You are probably going to see 50% of the Fortune 500 companies disappear and 50% of the executives of the Fortune 500 disappear,” he said. Executives trained in long, siloed cycles will struggle to keep up with innovation measured in months, he warned.
He described the current period of technological change as the most uncertain global period he has witnessed. “This is the new normal,” he said, adding that business leaders must learn to reinvent themselves in order to adapt to the pace of AI.
Chambers also touched on geopolitics and technological competition from China, noting Silicon Valley’s shift toward supporting President Donald Trump’s administration as regulations tighten and China gains ground. He said: “I think China has full intention to win at the US’s expense. They intend to blow past militarily, economically, and in every other way.”
While Chambers predicted relations could stabilize within a decade, he predicted the next five years would be “really bumpy and dangerous.”
