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Charles Robbins

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Cisco

Search every verified Charles Robbins interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Charles Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco, spoke at multiple events in India in mid-October 2026, including the CNBC-TV18 Gateway to India Leadership Corridor and the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. He discussed Cisco's expansion plans in India, stating the company intends to grow its silicon design team there and has made progress in manufacturing, with a majority of products built at its Indian plant intended for export. Robbins described India and the Middle East as Cisco's two largest growth markets outside the United States and said the company plans to bring a suite of sovereign critical technology to India in the coming months. On artificial intelligence, Robbins said he does not believe AI development will slow down, citing over a trillion dollars in capital expenditure commitments from major hyperscalers. He argued that rather than attempting to slow AI, efforts should focus on accelerating cyber defenses and hardening infrastructure. Robbins also commented on technological sovereignty, saying companies should work closely with governments and that trust between a company and a country will ultimately determine how sovereignty issues play out. He praised India's approach to making strategic decisions on key technology areas while partnering in others.

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Notable quotes

“We don't see any slowdown when you look at the capex commitments from the major hyperscalers in the United States and it's in excess of a trillion dollars in calendar 27. So if you look at our share of that, if we're just talking about Cisco, it's still relatively small. So we have a lot of upside. The bigger question I think everyone asks is is this broader spending wave sustainable? And I think if you just go back ”

“I don't see any slowing down. I think ideologically there's a lot of people who would like to see it slow down. And I'm not making a statement on whether I agree or disagree with them. I'm just making a pragmatic assessment that I don't think it's going to slow down. You would have to have everyone in the world agree that we're all going to slow down. And I just don't think that's going to happen. And so in light of ”

“I think that uh to the minister's point, I mean that you have to figure out who you trust, but build flexibility into your your capability over time. So, you and that's done how? Well, I think that it's that again there's one aspect which is what country does this partner come from? That's that's an maybe that's the an important bit to start. But then it's how does the company that you're engaging with operate? I thi”

“I think that uh depending on the country, there's different aspects of the tech stack that they can provide depending on where you are. And um so I think as you as you look at this issue, it's really important to there's an element of what country does it come from? But the reality is is that the independent trust between a company and a country is what's ultimately going to decide how this plays out over time. And s”

“I'm not sure it's 10 anymore. It probably was a year ago. I think the world's moving so fast right now. I don't know the answer to that question to be honest with you. I think it's... and I'm not saying this just because I'm here, I think the approach India is taking which is to make those strategic decisions on areas that are super important and then figure out how to partner in other areas because you can't do ever”

“I think it's really important for companies to work very closely with government. So the minister and I know each other well and we've talked a lot about this and I think that India is one of the few countries that has the scale to take on some of the things that he's describing. And I think when you talk about sovereignty in many cases we talk about software assets, cloud delivered software solutions, and that's a g”

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