In Conversation with (November 2022) - Elizabeth Bieniek, Director of Innovation at Cisco (People and emerging technology)

In the tenth episode of our ‘In Conversation with…’ podcast series for 2022, Partner Lucy Lewis speaks to Elizabeth Bieniek, Director of Innovation at Cisco and an internal start-up founder. Elizabeth’s particular focus is on the interface between people and emerging technology, developing technologies that will help build a bridge between our experiences today and the experiences that might be possible as technology advances. In this fascinating discussion, Elizabeth and Lucy consider how technology can be used to build trust and a sense of belonging to make hybrid and remote working more ‘human’. Elizabeth explains the important focus that is needed on the underlying human motivations driving societal trends when anticipating future technology that will successfully enable human interaction when people can’t be together physically.  Finally, with growing discussion on the impact of the metaverse and other emerging technologies on work, Elizabeth lays to rest any confusion we might have had about the differences between augmented and virtual reality and their role in the future world of work.