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Cisco president and chief product officer Jeetu Patel has assigned Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, a 27-year-old former startup founder, to test whether a two-person team can use AI to refactor the company’s legacy code. Krishnamurthy joined Cisco in 2025 when it acquired real-time translation startup EzDubs, which he co-founded in 2023. Patel said he gave Krishnamurthy unlimited AI tokens and four weeks to demonstrate the plan, with a goal of refactoring 98% of Cisco’s legacy code within 24 months. Patel said he found Krishnamurthy five levels below him in a role he considered unstrategic. He argues that early-career employees can challenge assumptions that experienced workers may not question, and said Cisco treats interns as reverse mentors rather than assigning them only routine work. Patel cited a Stanford scholarship student named Baya, who completed monthly AI-learning updates, earned a Cisco internship, and redesigned an unspecified system that experienced employees had not solved. Patel said his team is divided roughly equally among experienced Cisco operators, outside systems thinkers, and entrepreneurial founders, CEOs, and AI-native engineers. Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner, Tastewise CEO Alon Chen, and investor Will.i.am also said they seek younger talent for fresh perspectives and familiarity with AI.