Cisco redefines hybrid collaboration experiences with ‘AI director’ and smart mobile integrations

In today’s fast-paced, digitally dominated era, the power of collaboration technology has never been more pivotal.

As global businesses and individuals alike adjust to the new hybrid paradigm, the journey of “going remote” has transformed from an experimental trend to a necessity.

“This is an exciting time for collaboration — it actually has been for the last three years,” said Javed Kahn (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of collaboration at Cisco Systems Inc. “We’ve figured out how to work when everybody is remote. But as we get used to this new [hybrid] world … the experiences are changing again. Every interaction now has remote people. Some of us are back in the conference rooms; some of us not so much. We are very focused on building these hybrid experiences.”

Khan spoke with theCUBE industry analysts John Furrier and Dave Vellante at Cisco Live, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the future of collaboration technology and the company’s new platform announcements.

The global workforce’s shift to remote work has indeed been a challenging time. But it has also ushered in innovative opportunities for advancements in collaboration technology. Cisco aims to bridge the gap between in-person and remote participants in conference room meetings. By introducing “cinematic meetings,” the company aims to enhance the experience for remote participants using artificial intelligence.

“Imagine if they were directing a meeting. If I’m walking around, they’d cut to a better shot,” Khan said. “Or if I get too close to you, it would actually include both of us in the same shot. Think of it as an AI director that’s coming to our conference room meetings, because that will allow the remote participants to follow along much better.”

Cisco’s partnerships are also aimed at making remote work more accessible. Following partnerships with Mercedes and Ford, the company is integrating its technology with Harman International Industries Inc. to enable video experiences from within cars. Harman’s Media Suite integration with Cisco Meeting Server and Webex will provide video content management features for cloud and on-premises collaborations. Webex will be the first app for hybrid work available in select 2024 model-year Audis.

“What we’ve done is taken the pain of joining a meeting out,” Khan said. “When you are moving, video is a distraction, so it’s going to be off. You’re just on audio. But if you are stationary … you can switch to video and see the presentation if you want.”

This approach ensures users can continue their collaboration safely and seamlessly, whether in a stationary or moving vehicle.

The future of collaboration platforms depends, in large part, on the extensibility of the technology used. Khan envisions new platforms as being increasingly innovative and immersive, with a focus on delivering a seamless hybrid experience.

These platforms are not just about enabling video and audio communication anymore, but about creating environments for intuitive collaboration, regardless of where participants are located. Collaboration platforms must go beyond the bounds of video and audio capabilities, incorporating a plethora of services, such as transcription, translation and noise cancellation, according to Khan, who underscored Cisco’s commitment to continually adapt and evolve its platform, ensuring it can cater to various form factors and diverse verticals, from hospitals to entertainment venues to cars.

This platform “expansiveness” will allow new applications and experiences to be built, ultimately redefining the collaboration landscape.

“The primary value of building out a platform … is about enabling others to build,” he said. “Our platform enables that through APIs, and we have lots of applications that are already on the platform today.”

This open platform strategy underlines Cisco’s commitment to fostering a diverse ecosystem of applications and solutions, Khan added.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Cisco Live:

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

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Cisco CEO is rebranding the office as a 'collaboration centers' to coax workers back

Employers and their workers are at loggerheads over returning to the office.

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On the one hand, many businesses are still paying to lease a large office space and understandably want their workers to use the money pit. 

Plus, many CEOs Fortune has spoken to feel that staff work harder in the office where they can be seen—even if research consistently shows that staff can be just as productive from home. 

But employees simply don’t see the point of wasting money and spending hours commuting to do the very same tasks that they’ve been proving for the last three years they can do efficiently from home.

Cisco’s CEO Chuck Robbins gets that.

“You’re going to tell somebody to go to the office and get on video and talk to people in another office all day long?” he said in an interview with Forbes. “They could do that from home.”

That’s why the tech giant is giving the traditional office an overhaul and building workspaces fit for the future of hybrid working—called “collaboration centers”—with just 10% of the space reserved for working alone. 

Just last month Cisco unveiled its latest hub in Atlanta, exactly a year after opening its similarly smart New York space (which Robbins unveiled to Fortune at the time) with further plans to refurbish some of its other offices and relocate several of its underutilized offices to areas where they’ll get more employee foot traffic.

In the year since opening its 58,000-square-foot space in Manhattan, Robbins learned that workers don’t want to go into the office to then work on their own. 

“When employees were showing up, they weren't going in private rooms. They were just sitting at tables,” he said. “They wanted to spend time [with coworkers] and they wanted those interactions.”

So Cisco decreased the amount of space for individual work from 30% in its New York office to 10% in its new Atlanta space. The majority of the hub’s square footage is dedicated for meetings, communal gatherings, and team-based work.

Plus, as Cisco’s own research found that up to 98% of all meetings will include at least one participant attending remotely, hybrid collaboration hasn’t been forgotten. 

For example, the meeting rooms in its new Atlanta office have been decked out with the latest video conference system that follows each speaker's voice and points the camera to whoever is talking. 

Meanwhile, even the furniture is aimed to help workers collaborate, whether they are in-person or dialing in remotely, with slightly curved conference room tables to maximize each person’s visibility on screen. 

After having splashed out the cash on such a lavish space, you’d assume that Cisco is now mandating workers make full use of it.

But actually, employees are “not going to come five days a week,” Robbins told Forbes, while adding that even pre-pandemic some 15% of Cisco employees already worked remotely full-time. 

Instead, the company is hoping it will get its return on investment just simply by making the office worthy of its workers' commute.

“We're trying to create a series of events in offices” to get people on-site, he adds, including all-hands meetings and a leadership summit for Black employees. 

It all comes down to “What’s your return on commute?,” according to Robbins—and that’s a worthy question for employers trying to entice their workers back into the office.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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