The AI with Maribel Lopez (AI with ML)
In the AI with Maribel Lopez podcast, technology industry analyst and keynote speaker Maribel Lopez, interviews leading thinkers, experts and innovators on the latest trends in Artificial intelligence areas such as machine learning, deep learning, image recognition, natural language processing (NLP), neural networks and AI ethics. It connects you with top researchers, data scientists, engineers and business leaders in the data, analytics and AI field. Guests will share advice, strategies and techniques on how to use AI solutions such as chatbots, computer vision and automation to make businesses more efficient. New episodes are released every two weeks, on Tuesdays.
The AI with Maribel Lopez (AI with ML)
58. The AI Advantage With Liz Centoni: How Cisco is Making Customer Experience Hyper-Personal
Guest Profile
Liz Centoni brings over 25 years of experience at Cisco where she currently leads a team of 20,000+ people dedicated to helping customers maximize the value of their technology investments. She also serves on the boards of Mercedes-Benz and Workday.
Episode Highlights
Cisco's Unique Position in the AI Landscape
- Liz outlines Cisco's three-pillar approach to AI:
- Investment in back-end AI networks with hyperscalers
- Enterprise deployment of secure AI use cases
- Meeting increased capacity requirements for both private and public front-end cloud networks
- Recent partnership with NVIDIA to accelerate AI adoption and simplify building AI-ready data centers
Transforming Customer Experience
- Vision for customer experience: personalized, proactive, and predictive
- Goal: Make every customer "feel like they are our only customer"
- Leveraging data across tech stacks to break down silos and deliver proactive experiences
- Using AI to reduce cognitive load and workplace friction for employees
AI Renewals Agent: A Case Study in Predictive AI
- Jointly developed with Mistral AI and announced in February 2025
- Consolidates data from 50+ signals and sources (both structured and unstructured)
- Provides real-time sentiment analysis by incorporating customer support data
- Expected to reduce time spent on renewal proposals from 40% to less than 5%
The Future of Agentic AI
- Moving from AI as a tool to AI as a teammate
- Current focus on assisting and augmenting tasks, not replacing roles
- Human oversight remains critical for complex customer networks
- Evolution from reactive to proactive customer care
Impact on Jobs and Work
- Expectation that everyone needs baseline AI skills
- Historical pattern of rebalancing versus complete replacement
- Focus on using AI to eliminate busy work and reduce cognitive load
- Importance of emotional intelligence and empathy in areas where AI still falls short
Closing Thoughts
Liz's definition of success: "Customers walk up and say, 'You really know me better than I know myself'... and they feel they can't live without three things: Cisco's security, Cisco's networking portfolio, and Cisco services."
