Cisco Live Amsterdam 2025
Building out the Future-Proof Workplaces Lounge, presenting the Smart Building Maturity Model, and a hundred selfies with people I'm genuinely glad to see.
There's a moment right before a big conference opens when the show floor is finished but the doors haven't opened yet. Everything's been built, tested, adjusted, tested again. The cables are hidden, the demo stations are powered up, and the team is standing around looking at each other with that mix of exhaustion and anticipation.
That moment at Cisco Live Amsterdam hit different this year.
The Setup
I landed in Amsterdam on Saturday, still a little jet-lagged, and went straight to the RAI convention center. Getting in early for the build-out is one of my favorite things about conference life. If all goes right, attendees show up on Monday and it seems like magic. But the magic is really two days of cable pulls, last-minute firmware updates, and a lot of "can we move this display six inches to the left?"
This year we built the Future-Proof Workplaces Lounge in Hall 1... the most technology-integrated booth on the floor. Cisco Spaces, Webex, Splunk, ThousandEyes, Meraki, and Networking all brought together to show what a converged workplace actually looks like when the portfolio works together. Not slides about convergence. Actual convergence.
My crew was dialed. Liz, Alastair, Francesco... two setup days and everything went off without a hitch. When you have a squad this good, the hard stuff looks easy.
The Sessions
Andrew Lu and I presented the Smart Building Maturity Model to a packed room on Tuesday. Every year there's more interest and excitement from customers and partners around convergence of OT systems onto a common platform powered by the network. This year the questions shifted from "why should I converge?" to "how do I specify this in my next project?" That's a meaningful transition.
We also ran lightning talks on IT/OT convergence and energy networking. Fifteen minutes, no fluff, practical takeaways. How Cisco's Energy Networking Systems help organizations gain visibility into power consumption, optimize efficiency, and bridge the gap between building operations and IT infrastructure through the network they already have.
The energy networking story is gaining real traction. Two chances to catch the lightning talk and both sessions were standing room. I think the combination of rising energy costs, sustainability mandates, and practical DC power solutions like Fault Managed Power is hitting a tipping point.
The Conversations
The sessions are great. The conversations between sessions are where the real work happens.
Countless customer conversations about transforming workspaces with data. CRE teams who are surprised how much information IT already has about their buildings. Partners who want to bring technology to the front of the design-build process instead of treating it as an afterthought.
One pattern I noticed: customers who came to the booth expecting to talk about one product left wanting to talk about the portfolio. They'd start with a question about Spaces occupancy data, then realize it connects to Meraki network infrastructure, which connects to Splunk analytics, which connects to Webex room systems. The integration story is landing because we showed it working, not because we drew it on a slide.
The People
I'm going to say something that might sound cheesy for a tech conference recap: the best part was the people.
Some of these relationships go back years. Mark, Marcel, Ian, Liz, Andrew... people I've built things with across multiple product cycles and role changes. Seeing them in person after months of video calls is a reminder of why in-person events still matter, even in a world of excellent remote collaboration tools.
And the new connections. I met Ram through a mutual LinkedIn connection earlier in the year, which led to a great in-person conversation at the conference, which led to recording a podcast episode about the future of work a couple weeks later. Online connections to in-person collaboration... that's how it works in today's world.
A hundred selfies captured genuine moments throughout the week. They might seem silly but they capture something real... the energy of being around people who are excited about the same problems you are.
The Takeaway
A week later and I'm still riding the high. Off to planning CoreNet Global in Singapore and Cisco Live San Diego now.
If there's one thing Amsterdam reinforced, it's that the smart building conversation has shifted from "should we?" to "how do we?" Customers aren't asking whether they need data-driven building operations. They're asking for the roadmap. And we have one.
That shift from curiosity to commitment... that's what made this Cisco Live feel different. The momentum is real, and it's not slowing down.