Aruna Ravichandran is an SVP and Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Cisco, where she leverages modern B2B marketing tools and strategies to deliver quantifiable outcomes and drive global consistency while fostering innovation and collaboration. At Cisco, Ravichandran led the biggest rebrand in Webex’s 25-year history centered around inclusivity and repositioned it from a legacy meetings product to a leader in collaboration.
Ravichandran built and ran the Webex annual conference called WebexOne, which resulted in over 76K global registrants and over 5.2 million keynote views in 2022. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Ravichandran to learn more about her role at the company.
Aruna Ravichandran’s Background
What is Ravichandran’s background? Ravichandran said:
“I started as a computer engineer and, throughout my career, have led DevOps marketing. Before joining Cisco, I was with Hewlett-Packard for 17 years and held leadership roles in Engineering, Product Development, and Marketing.”
“I decided to make a big career pivot into marketing, knowing I could make a far bigger impact. I believed that the marriage of technology and marketing was a supercharger for innovation and growth, not just for my career but for business in general.”
“Now that I see the world through the lens of an SVP & Chief Marketing & Customer Officer of Webex by Cisco, I believe even more that technology can change the world and connect us in new ways – to create a more equitable and inclusive playing field where no one is left behind.”
“Starting in tech at a time when so few women were in the space taught me a lot about the importance of representation and supporting other women. I take every opportunity to empower women through my work as a public speaker, presenting at colleges, universities, and conferences to encourage women to embrace STEM careers.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Ravichandran shared:
“There have been so many incredible opportunities and initiatives I’ve had the pleasure of leading since I joined Cisco five and a half years ago. A few highlights include:
— Leading the first Webex rebrand efforts in 25 years. Working with my small and mighty team to own the conversation around hybrid work and gain mindshare in the market, transforming us into a powerful contender in Collaboration was a career highlight.
— Establishing the WebexOne customer and partner conference. The virtual event started in 2020 to bring customers together when physical gatherings were impossible.
— Most recently, hosting the first ever truly hybrid WebexOne event was a dream come true. Since establishing WebexOne, we’ve always dreamt of turning it into a hybrid event. This past October, we made that dream a reality, hosting more than 26,000 people worldwide, including both in-person and virtual attendees. The biggest highlight was watching my team bring it together. We are a small team. But we are an innovative, creative team full of big dreams and tenacity.”
“Other notable highlights from the first-ever hybrid WebexOne were hearing directly from customers about their successes using our solutions and seeing iconic speakers on the Webex mainstage – Neil deGrasse Tyson, Robert De Niro, and Jane Rosenthal – and sharing the stage with Arianna Huffington and Jeetu Patel to announce a partnership between Webex Contact Center and Thrive Reset.”
“Perhaps the most gratifying part of the experience was honoring customers in an Oscars-style ceremony. Since I came to Webex, this has been one of my dreams—and it has come true. We rolled out a literal red carpet, and customers showed up in their sleekest Hollywood fashion to receive awards. We recognized 15 customers across 13 categories.”
Future Of Hybrid Work
What are your thoughts about the future of hybrid work? Ravichandran reflected:
“Hybrid work isn’t going anywhere, especially because it’s a perk and benefit that employees have come to count on. It’s not just that businesses have seen the potential of the hybrid work model, but the humans behind the work value the flexibility it gives them to fulfill their many obligations—with work being just one of them. But, we have to make hybrid work, work. From my perspective, that means a few things:
— Putting people first and listening to what they’re saying about what they need from their employers and then building policies around that.
— Shifting the mindset around work. Some people will prefer to work in the office, some from home, some from places in between. We must embrace that work isn’t a location.
— Intentional investments in collaboration technology will be essential to creating hybrid work harmony within teams. You can’t buy culture—but investments in top-tier technology can support and strengthen culture.
Ultimately, hybrid work is still evolving, as are the capabilities supporting hybrid work cultures. We have to rethink and reimagine what’s possible.”
Innovations Around Webex
What are some of the innovations around Webex that you are excited about? Ravichandran replied:
“We just launched so many incredible innovations at WebexOne, and we showcased how we are using generative artificial intelligence across our portfolio to help people work better and more easily.”
“I mentioned earlier that we would have to rethink and reimagine what’s possible to create stronger hybrid work environments in the future. Our AI announcements do precisely that.”
“The Webex AI Assistant has new capabilities that bolster productivity. It will be applied across the entire Webex portfolio: Webex Suite, Contact Center, Collaboration Devices, Connect, and Control Hub. The AI Assistant will help with recommending changes to tone, format, and phrasing in Webex Messaging and Slido, turning a blunt response into a more professional, kinder interaction. This goes a long way to ensuring teams and individuals feel valued and respected — cornerstones of belonging and inclusion.”
“We introduced real-time media models (RMMs) to enhance audio and video quality. Communication is more than verbal – gestures, body language, and facial expressions add context and meaning to interactions. One of the fantastic things about this is that adding our RMM with traditional text-based capabilities like meeting summaries and highlights will give users rich real-time insights. In the future, Webex may be able to recognize when meeting participants step away and capture notes to bring them up to speed on what they missed when they return.”
“The Webex AI Codec aims to deliver crystal-clear audio regardless of network conditions—even in areas with spotty connections.”
Evolution Of Webex
How has Webex’s technology evolved since launching? Ravichandran noted:
“Since Cisco acquired Webex in 2007, enabling secure communications and collaboration inside and outside of organizations has been a clear goal. As we enter a new year, I’m reflecting on Webex’s growth since then and how we’ve become a true leader in collaboration.”
“Webex offers a comprehensive set of features that cater to the diverse needs of individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises. From video conferencing and screen sharing to file sharing and real-time collaboration, Webex provides a seamless and integrated experience for teams to work together effectively regardless of location.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Ravichandran about customer success stories, she cited:
“There’s a recent success that I’m proud of, which comes from a trial we did with First Horizon Bank and the Webex Contact Center.”
“We performed a trial of our agent wellness solution with First Horizon Bank. In just 60 days, they saw a 13% reduction in burnout in their agent population that received burnout reduction suggestions, including Thrive Resets. This, in turn, resulted in a 4x improvement in call handle time and significantly impacted their customer satisfaction scores. Isn’t that phenomenal!?”
“This tells us that agents are more efficient after these breaks and have improved mental and emotional capacity.”
“And we’re just getting started. If we can achieve results like this in just 60 days, imagine what we can do over a longer period.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Webex from its competition? Ravichandran affirmed:
“For a collaboration technology to be truly inclusive, it must support various workstreams so that the technology meets existing needs rather than forcing users to change how they work. To do so, Webex integrates with the world’s leading business and productivity apps for complete interoperability across a business’s technology ecosystem. Webex’s competitive advantage is that our suite of software and hardware solutions do not require third-party integrations to provide a complete experience. At the same time, Webex also provides the ability to natively integrate with a large array of third-party solutions when needed or desired by customers.”
“Webex also excels at addressing customers’ security requirements and concerns. Collaboration interactions remain secure and confidential by employing end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive information, password-protected meetings, host controls, and data loss prevention.”
“Furthermore, Webex offers an intuitive user experience known for its user-friendly design, making it easy for both technical and non-technical users to navigate and utilize its features. With features like one-click meeting join, customizable layouts, and integrated chat functionality, Webex streamlines the collaboration process and enhances productivity.”
“Webex delivers both its collaboration and customer experience solutions through a globally available platform that is secure and private by design, managed centrally, and AI-powered.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Ravichandran concluded:
“With people increasingly working remotely or in a hybrid environment, it’s more important than ever for everyone to have equal access in every workplace. The hybrid work technologies that people interact with daily should be designed to remove the barriers of geography, language, personality, and familiarity with technology.”
“Webex has made it its mission to expand human potential by removing barriers to hybrid collaboration. This gives everyone, regardless of their disposition, setting, or expertise, the ability to contribute in their best, most authentic, and meaningful way.”
“Just as we all have different learning styles that help us thrive in the workplace, everyone has unique needs that Webex celebrates. Regardless of geographic location, language, technical proficiency, and personality, anyone can work in a way that empowers them and their needs. Webex is the only collaboration technology that features the depth of capabilities for accessibility and inclusivity.”
