Flat Whites and Forgotten Brilliance
Picture this. You’ve just slumped into a chair at some half-decent coffee shop with a colleague. The conversation isn’t planned. There’s no agenda. You’re not even sure if the coffee is any good. But before you know it, you’re thrashing out ideas that could save the company millions, reinvent your customer strategy, or at the very least stop Gary in Accounts from messing up the budgets again.
And then what happens? You finish your flat white, mutter “brilliant chat, let’s follow up,” and promptly forget every single detail the moment you walk out the door. Gone. Evaporated. Just like that.
Enter the Notetaker Agent
This week in San Diego at WebexOne 2025, Cisco unveiled an innovation that addresses exactly that problem. It’s called the Notetaker Agent, and frankly, it might be one of the most useful AI features I’ve seen in years.
Here’s the gist: you can now flick on this thing during those fleeting corridor chats, coffee huddles, or random brainstorms, and it will transcribe everything in real time, then push the whole lot into your corporate Webex environment — safely tucked in with all the usual Cisco bells and whistles around security and compliance.
“No more walking away from a brilliant chat only to forget everything you said ten minutes later.”
Goodbye, Meeting Amnesia
This isn’t your average meeting bot that churns out a transcript nobody reads. This is AI that turns every casual conversation into something you can actually use. Tangible outcomes. Action items.
“The best ideas don’t happen in the boardroom — they happen between the boardroom and the coffee machine.”
No more relying on your memory (which, let’s face it, is about as reliable as a 1970s Italian sports car on a wet Monday morning).
Why This Actually Matters
Now, you might be thinking: “Hang on, haven’t apps like Otter.ai already solved this?” Well, yes and no. They’re fine if you’re jotting down your own thoughts or recording the odd meeting on your mobile. But when you’re part of an enterprise, you’re up against corporate security, compliance regulations, and the ever-present risk of leaks.
This is where the Webex solution stands out. By baking the Notetaker Agent directly into the Webex App and Cisco Collaboration Devices running RoomOS 26, it ensures every conversation sits safely inside your corporate environment. No dodgy exports, no shadow IT, no shadow AI. Just a secure, compliant, all-in-one solution that IT leaders can actually sleep at night with.
“With Notetaker Agent, even your throwaway comments can become tomorrow’s business strategy — without breaking compliance.”
Connected Intelligence, Actually Useful
Sure, it sounds like a small step. Another AI feature among the hundreds we’ve all seen presented on product slides. But in the theme of Connected Intelligence, Cisco has nailed something that could genuinely transform productivity.
Because this isn’t about big speeches or scripted boardroom sessions. It’s about the moments in between — the ideas that usually die before they ever make it into a PowerPoint deck.
The Big Picture
The Notetaker Agent: coming to the Webex App and Cisco devices running RoomOS 26, generally available Q1 CY26. Finally, you might never have to say “what did we decide again?” ever, ever again.
Read more on how Cisco is betting big on agentic collaboration at WebexOne 2025: WebexOne 2025: Cisco Bets Big on Agentic Collaboration
The Kicker
So here’s the thing: you could keep muddling along with half-baked note apps and rogue AI tools that make your compliance team break out in hives. Or you could let Cisco’s Notetaker Agent do the job properly — securely, intelligently, and in a way that stops your “genius” ideas from disappearing faster than a doughnut at a sales kick-off. And honestly? For once, AI isn’t just a shiny gimmick. It’s actually useful.
