How Cisco Scaled Global Sales Operations with Workato and AI Agents

Department

Sales, Operations, IT

Region

San Jose, California

Industry

Software & Technology

About

Cisco is a global leader in networking, security, and enterprise technology, providing the infrastructure that powers the vast majority of the world’s internet traffic and digital communication. The company delivers advanced solutions across networking, cloud, security, and collaboration, enabling organizations of every size to connect securely, operate efficiently, and scale with confidence.

Through continuous innovation in software, hardware, and AI-driven capabilities, Cisco helps enterprises modernize their operations, protect critical systems, and accelerate digital transformation. Its technology underpins mission-critical networks worldwide, ensuring performance, reliability, and secure connectivity at global scale.

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“Workato is enabling Cisco to use agents as real teammates.”
ignacio-castroverde

Ignacio Castroverde

Senior Director, SMB and Midsize Sales Acceleration Company, Cisco

Challenges

Cisco’s SMB and Mid-Market segment supports more than 157,000 customers and millions more in the broader SMB space, across 127 countries. With only 1,500 employees dedicated to this segment, including sellers and specialists, scaling meaningful customer engagement was becoming difficult.

Manual sales operations were slowing progress:

  • High customer-to-seller ratio: Some sellers managed over 200 accounts, limiting their ability to provide personalized engagement.
  • Inefficient workflows: Commerce Hub, Cisco’s central sales operations service, processed 30,000+ requests per month manually, from deal approvals to Salesforce conversions.
  • Limited scalability: Custom integrations required significant technical effort, delaying sales cycles and consuming resources better spent on customer relationships.
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“When a person has 200+ customers to handle, it’s hard to give each one the attention they deserve. We needed to find ways to scale effectively”
ignacio-castroverde

Ignacio Castroverde

Senior Director, SMB and Midsize Sales Acceleration Company, Cisco

Solutions

Cisco turned to Workato to bring orchestration and scalability to its sales operations. The platform’s low-code, API-first design allowed teams to connect disparate systems, automate repetitive workflows, and empower sellers to focus on high-value activities.

The first major initiative was automating Commerce Hub, Cisco’s “central nervous system” for sales operations. Using Workato, the team eliminated manual approval and data entry tasks, seamlessly integrating Salesforce and other key systems.

  • Faster deal velocity: Orchestration accelerates deal processing and partner response time, reducing the overall sales cycle time
  • Accelerated approvals: Shorter sales cycles through faster approvals and data flow
  • Improved data accuracy: Automated workflows reduce errors, strengthen forecasting, and enhanced accuracy
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“By automating those manual tasks, our sellers can now spend more time doing what they do best, talking to customers and partners”
ignacio-castroverde

Ignacio Castroverde

Senior Director, SMB and Midsize Sales Acceleration Company, Cisco

Results

Workato’s automation capabilities have become central to Cisco’s sales orchestration strategy, empowering teams to scale faster, serve customers better, and innovate continuously. The SMB and mid-market team can now manage millions of customer relationships more effectively.

  • 29,000 manual tasks automated across sales operations
  • 6,000 hours returned annually to sellers, increasing seller productivity

Cisco’s next frontier is agentic orchestration, turning AI into a true teammate for sellers. “We’re moving from orchestration to agentic,” said Castroverde. “Our goal is for AI agents to become teammates, taking over parts of the sales cycle so sellers can focus on building relationships and strategy.”

Building on Workato’s orchestration foundation, Cisco is developing AI agents that proactively serve insights, recommend actions, and even execute sales tasks autonomously. AI-driven workflows now push insights directly to sellers — helping them prioritize customers, manage territories, and maintain a clean pipeline, all in real time.

“It’s about augmentation, not replacement,” Castroverde emphasized. “AI helps our sellers know where to spend their time, what customers to prioritize, and how to stay ahead.”