Cisco CEO Robbins Ties AI Push to Unpatchable Tech Risk

Agentic AI Cisco CEO Robbins Ties AI Push to Unpatchable Tech Risk Chuck Robbins Warns Customers Face Growing Exposure From Equipment Past Support Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) , Tiffany Wang • May 13, 2026     Credit Eligible Get Permission Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview is driving security modernization and operational efficiency as the company embeds the technology into internal operations. See Also: Agentic Agents Redefine SASE Security Models Mythos is helping the networking giant test its own code and accelerate patches while incentivizing the company and its customers to upgrade technology and infrastructure that have become unpatchable, Robbins said. Cisco has taken in $5.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers over the past three quarters and now expects $9 billion for the full fiscal year, nearly double its previous forecast. "There’s a lot of concern about unpatched technology and their infrastructure, not just ours," Robbins told investors in an earnings call Wednesday. "And there’s a particular focus on last-day-of-support equipment or equipment that's passed the last day of support and technology that can’t be patched." Cisco's participation in both Anthropic's Project Glasswing and OpenAI's Trusted Access for Cyber program positions the company at the center of how AI is being integrated into enterprise security and infrastructure. Robbins told investors Cisco didn't have any meaningful orders in the fiscal quarter ended April 25 as a result of Mythos, but he said that could change in the future as Cisco works with clients. Cisco to Lay Off 4,000 Workers Amid AI-Driven Resource Shift The company also announced plans to lay off 4,000 people - or nearly 5% of its workforce - as Cisco shifts investment toward areas of higher demand. Cisco CFO Mark Patterson told investors the layoffs were about dedicating more resources to silicon, optics, security and AI rather than trying to save money. Cisco employed 86,200 people globally as of July 26, 2025, according to regulatory filings. "The companies that will win in the AI era will be those with focus, urgency and the discipline to continuously shift investment toward the areas where demand and long-term value creation are strongest," Robbins wrote in an email to Cisco employees. Cisco's layoffs come just days after cloud connectivity vendor Cloudflare cut more than 1,100 workers - representing 20% of its staff - and security operations firm Arctic Wolf laid off 250 employees - or 7% of its workforce - to invest more around AI. Cisco expects to spend up to $1 billion on severance and other one-time termination benefits through mid-2027 as a result of the layoffs. Despite the layoffs, Cisco carried out two acquisitions last quarter, scooping up non-human identity security firm Astrix and AI observability company Galileo. Cisco hopes to secure agentic technology through Astrix's capabilities in governance for AI agents and threat detection and response. It also plans to adopt real-time observability and guardrails for multi-agent systems with Gailieo's capabilities. Cisco Stock Surges to All-Time High Amid Hyperscaler Demand Category Quarter Ended April 25, 2026 Quarter Ended April 26, 2025 % Change Total Revenue $15.84B $14.15B 12% Security Revenue $2.01B $2.01B 0% Net Income $3.37B $2.49B 35.4% Earnings Per Diluted Share $0.85 $0.62 37.1% Non-GAAP Net Income $4.23B $3.83B 10.3% Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share $1.06 $0.96 10.4% Source: Cisco Cisco's revenue of $15.84 billion in the quarter ended April 25 beat Seeking Alpha's sales estimate of $15.56 billion. Meanwhile, the company's non-GAAP earnings of $1.06 per share edged out Seeking Alpha's non-GAAP estimate of $1.04 per share. The company's stock skyrocketed $20.13 - or 19.76% - to $122 per share in after-hours trading Tuesday, which is the highest Cisco's stock has ever traded since the company went public in February 1990. For the fiscal quarter ending July 25, Cisco expects non-GAAP net income of $1.16 to $1.18 per share on revenue of between $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion. That compares to analyst expectations of earnings of $1.07 per share on revenue on $15.82 billion, according to Seeking Alpha.