Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins understands the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Robbins currently serves as chair of the Business Roundtable, a group of more than 200 CEOs representing top companies across various sectors nationwide, its website mentions. The organization is focused on developing solutions to strengthen the economy and expand opportunities.

Furthermore, Robbins brings two decades of experience at Cisco, where he has been promoted 12 times. He started as an account manager and advanced through roles such as operations director of U.S. channels sales and several senior vice president positions. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has served as Cisco’s chairman and CEO since 2015.

Two years later, he was elected chair of Cisco’s board.

Robbins’ current responsibilities involve positioning Cisco as a key player in helping companies worldwide embrace digital innovation to drive connectivity, security, and automation. Most recently, Cisco AI Defense was launched, and it is described as a tool that will create “end-to-end safety and security protections.”

“Organizations that are slow to embrace AI will struggle to stay relevant, and the hashtag #AI landscape is growing increasingly difficult to manage. That’s why it’s critical for organizations to have a common framework for AI security, to move faster and unlock the value of AI without sacrificing security or overspending,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “AI Defense is solving two major vulnerabilities for AI: AI application development, protecting AI systems from attacks, and AI access, preventing data leakage and poisoning of proprietary data…Thank you, Jeetu Patel, DJ Sampath, and the team, for your dedication to building such an important product and bringing it to market for our customers!”

Diversity is essential for addressing a broader range of challenges and uncovering more inclusive, effective solutions when developing and launching technologies such as AI. Yet, the DEI landscape faces significant setbacks, with major companies like McDonald’s, Meta, and Walmart scaling back their DEI policies. Adding to these challenges, CBS News reports that President Donald Trump’s first executive order upon returning to the Oval Office was an initiative to dismantle DEI programs across the federal government.

In contrast, Robbins remains steadfast in his commitment to advancing DEI efforts.

“I think the pendulum swings a little wide in both directions. And for us, it’s about finding the equilibrium…You cannot argue with the fact that a diverse workforce is better. There’s too much business value,” Robbins said in an interview with Axios. “It’s being discussed like it’s a single-issue discussion, and you either believe it or you don’t. And in reality, it’s made up of 150 different things, and maybe seven of them got a little out of hand. I think those six or seven things are going to get solved and then you’re going to be left with common sense. But the core reasons that you have a diverse workforce are still there from a business perspective.”