Cisco CEO warns workers who worry about change that ‘nothing’s going to feel good right now’ with AI

Many professionals are on edge as AI enters the workforce.

Employers are cutting jobs, restructuring teams around the technology, and raising the bar for the skills workers need to stay competitive.

Chuck Robbins, CEO of tech company Cisco, says many workers will face growing pains as they navigate this constant state of technological change.

“If you’re an employee who is uncomfortable with a lot of change and a constant dynamic environment, nothing’s going to feel good right now,” Robbins recently told Inc.

“The pace of change is too fast, too dynamic, and they’re going to have to figure out their role in this world we’re living in.” The leader of the $415 billion company says that industry leaders are the real pacemakers of the AI era—and employees “have no choice but to at least keep up.” But Robbins also added that workers aren’t the only ones trying to keep their heads above water.

An early-morning Business Roundtable meeting showed that every CEO is worried about the speed of the technology and whether they can keep up, alongside cybersecurity concerns about protecting their businesses.

Some AI leaders like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman have recently called on companies to slow down their pace of building models.

Robbins said, “When the people building the most advanced models are raising questions about the pace of development, we should listen.” Workers are feeling most exposed in the great AI transformation.

Staffers are getting culled in the name of tech efficiency, as employers boast that their AI agents can now do the work of hundreds of humans.

And while Robbins doesn’t see AI as a reason to shrink headcount, workers at many companies are still watching as employers restructure their businesses around AI—and wondering whether their jobs will be next.

Fortune reached out to Cisco for comment.

Workers are on edge as AI upends their job security AI is hailed as the productivity holy grail, taking over mundane tasks, writing code, handling customer calls, and analyzing mountains of data.

With those efficiency gains, it’s natural for employees to wonder where they’ll fit in a tech-optimized workplace.

The CEO, who oversees more than 80,000 staffers worldwide, maintains that it’s best to keep staffers in seats and boost productivity, rather than cut workers just to maintain the same level of success.