By Day 3 of Cisco’s WebexOne, the caffeine was running thin, the jargon was getting thicker, and the demos were starting to blur. Then came Ryan Reynolds — Hollywood star, investor, football club co-owner, gin peddler, mobile mogul, and now… tech philosopher?
Reynolds’ luminary keynote and fireside chat wasn’t just a celebrity cameo. It was a crash course in how humour, grit, and storytelling fuel not just films, but the future of communication and collaboration.
Hollywood, Meet UC
Asked what role best prepared him for business, Reynolds didn’t hesitate: “Green Lantern. Regret builds character.” Cue laughs, but also a truth every IT leader knows: you learn more from a UC deployment gone wrong than a hundred that go right.
“Regret builds character.”
Deadpool, he explained, worked because it broke the rules: fourth-wall banter, R-rated chaos, low budgets turned into creative weapons. “Constraints are the through line in everything I do,” he said. For UC leaders, that means the same thing — it’s not about buying more toys, it’s about smarter integration, cleaner design, and giving users something they actually want to use.
AI, Nutella, and Webex
Reynolds did not miss the chance to roast AI hype:
“AI is like Nutella for breakfast — too much, and you’re going to feel sick.”
The crowd loved it. But the kicker? He admitted AI has already saved him in post-production (fixing audio disasters) and even in global dubbing.
For UC, that means using AI where it matters: intelligent notetakers, translation, compliance — but not overdoing it to the point where the customer feels like they’re talking to a Nutella jar.
Gut > Data
Reynolds reminded the audience that his most viral campaigns would’ve been killed by analytics. “Gut will never go away,” he said. In the tech world, the same holds true: dashboards and metrics are great, but if your people hate the system, no KPI will save adoption.
Community, Wrexham, and Collaboration
Wrexham AFC, Reynolds argued, wasn’t about football.
“It’s about the town.”
That’s a lesson in building community — and a perfect metaphor for UC. Collaboration platforms work best when users feel ownership, when they’re not just passengers but participants.
Unified comms isn’t about meetings and minutes. It’s about creating shared stories.
The Deadpool Playbook
By the end, Reynolds had offered more than punchlines:
- Don’t waste mistakes.
- Constraints make creativity.
- Tech is a tool, not a crutch.
- Storytelling matters more than features.
- Community is the star of every show.
Which, in Deadpool terms, translates to: stop obsessing over shiny dashboards and start giving your customers and employees something worth singing (or swearing) about.
