Cisco EVP & Chief Customer Experience Officer Liz Centoni From Semafor World Economy

Why It Matters

Embedding AI as a core resident, rather than a superficial add‑on, determines which companies will lead in productivity and market share as automation matures.

Key Takeaways

• AI residents redesign work, tourists merely add AI superficially.
• Competitive edge lies in organizational muscle, not just technology.
• Questioning task existence drives deeper AI integration within organizations.
• Companies must shift mindset from AI as tool to AI as co‑creator.
• Future leaders will outperform by embedding AI into core processes.

Summary

Liz Centoni, Cisco’s EVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer, framed the AI debate as a choice between "AI tourists" and "AI residents." She argued that the future isn’t about merely attaching artificial intelligence to existing tasks, but about rethinking whether those tasks should exist at all and redesigning work accordingly.

The core insight is that competitive advantage stems from building organizational muscle—cultivating the structures, culture, and processes that allow AI to be a resident, not a visitor. AI tourists ask, "Can AI do this?" and bolt solutions onto legacy workflows, while AI residents question the necessity of the workflow itself, leading to deeper, more sustainable integration.

Centoni emphasized, "Should this task even exist?" and warned that "AI residents will vastly outperform the AI tourist." She illustrated this with examples of firms that eliminated redundant processes before automating, versus those that layered AI on top of outdated procedures, often with limited ROI.

The implication for businesses is clear: to stay competitive, leaders must shift from a tool‑centric view of AI to a co‑creator mindset, investing in change management, talent upskilling, and process redesign. Those that embed AI into the core of their operations will outpace rivals and capture greater value.

Original Description

Cisco Executive Vice President & Chief Customer Experience Officer Liz Centoni from Semafor World Economy answering the question “What is the most surprising impact of the AI revolution, and how will that impact redefine how companies compete?": “When I think about who’s going to be competitive, it’s not about ‘Is the technology available? Is the technology ready?' It’s building that organizational muscle to be able to redesign how you do work."