Massive Corporate Collapse Coming? Cisco Ex-CEO Issues Grim Warning For Global Giants

<p>As global debates around artificial intelligence (AI) intensify, former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers has issued a stark warning about the technology&rsquo;s disruptive potential. Chambers predicts that in the coming years, AI will not only eliminate millions of jobs but also lead to the collapse of half of the world&rsquo;s largest corporations and their senior leadership.</p>
<h2><strong>’50% Of Fortune 500 Firms Will Disappear'</strong></h2>
<p>In a recent interview, Chambers said, &ldquo;You’ll soon see 50 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies and 50 per cent of their top executives disappear.&rdquo; Drawing parallels to the internet boom of the late 1990s, he noted that the scale and speed of AI-driven change will be far greater.</p>
<p>Chambers, who led Cisco through the internet&rsquo;s rise and the subsequent market downturn, believes the current transformation is unfolding much faster. &ldquo;AI is moving five times faster than that era, and its consequences will be three times greater,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<h2><strong>Surviving In The AI Era</strong></h2>
<p>According to Chambers, every organisation now faces a defining challenge, which is either to adapt or perish. The rapid advancement of AI has triggered a fierce race among businesses to maintain competitiveness.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes, there will be disasters for those who fail to turn technology into a competitive advantage,&rdquo; he cautioned. Companies that cannot learn, innovate, and evolve quickly enough will, he warned, &ldquo;gradually disappear from the market.&rdquo;</p>
<h2><strong>AI Advancing Faster Than The Internet</strong></h2>
<p>Chambers also raised concerns about AI&rsquo;s impact on employment. &ldquo;If I’m right and AI is growing five times faster than the internet, we will eliminate jobs faster than we can create new ones,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>He added that this rapid technological shift will usher in a challenging transition period. &ldquo;There will be a period of scarcity when we will need to reskill millions of people,&rdquo; Chambers warned, emphasising that retraining the workforce will take time as industries adjust to automation and AI-led innovation.</p>