Cisco and Salesforce implement AI agents to restructure workforces

Major technology corporations Cisco and Salesforce are undergoing significant workforce restructurings driven by the integration of autonomous AI agents.

Cisco plans to deploy personalized AI agents to all 90,000 employees by the end of July 2026. CFO Mark Patterson described the transition as a fundamental technological shift, noting that the agents are designed for cost efficiency by routing tasks to the most effective models rather than always using expensive frontier models. This follows a recent announcement of 4,000 job cuts, which the company framed as a realignment of resources toward AI, security, and silicon.

Salesforce has also shifted its human resource strategy, reducing its global customer support staff from 9,000 to approximately 5,000 as AI agents take over inquiries. CEO Marc Benioff emphasized that this is a role redefinition rather than simple downsizing. To support this, Salesforce Japan has mandated "AI licenses" for all employees to ensure proficiency with their Agentforce platform. The company is also seeing the emergence of new roles, such as Forward Deployed Engineers (FDE), who work directly alongside customers to implement AI solutions.