Case Study: Cisco achieves self-directed career advancement and higher retention with Ascendify Aspire

Cisco uses ascendify aspire to help employees navigate their careers

Cisco, a global leader in IT and networking with 70,000+ employees, wanted to create a career-focused culture but had struggled to help people reach their full potential and prioritize career experiences over mere promotions. To solve this, Cisco partnered with Ascendify and co-developed the Ascendify Aspire app (launched internally as My Development Space) to give employees better visibility and control over career growth across the company.

Ascendify’s Aspire virtual career coach uses AI to build employee profiles, surface internal roles, and recommend short-term projects and stretch assignments. The My Development Space rollout drove tangible results: 79% of Cisco’s assignments became cross-functional, employees gained direct access to development offerings and career guidance, and Cisco saw increases in engagement, employee satisfaction, productivity and retention thanks to Ascendify’s solution.

Cisco

Elaine Mason

Vice President of People Planning Design and Analytics