From Waiting Tables To Leading Cisco: Indian-American Executive's Inspiring Journey

Jeetu Patel, Chief Product Officer at Cisco, says his career success stems from an unexpected beginning in the service industry. Before leading product development at Cisco, a tech giant with a $270 billion market cap, Jeetu Patel spent his early 20s waiting tables at Sizzler, a steakhouse chain, earning just $4 an hour.

He believes that experience gave him important skills that proved more useful than anything he could have learned in a classroom or corporate internship. From dealing with pressure to understanding people, Patel feels those early lessons shaped his path as a leader.

"I think everyone in the early part of their career should work in the service industry somewhere. I think it's so great to really get, you know, like, a level of appreciation for hospitality and customer service, and it just wires you differently," Patel told Fortune. 

He deliberately chose a customer-facing job to push himself out of his comfort zone, opting for a challenging role that would help him grow. Waiting tables forced him to interact with people and provide a good experience, as his tips depended on it. This experience helped him develop essential skills and understand the importance of self-belief.

He went on to lead roles at tech firms like Doculabs, EMC, and Box before joining Cisco. Patel attributes his success to recognising that self-belief matters more than external validation, and that grounded confidence can be a powerful asset. "If you put your mind to something, you can basically figure out whatever you want to figure out," he said.

Patel also believes young professionals often mistake thinking they can succeed alone. He emphasises that no one is self-made, and seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.,Patel advises Gen Z to balance confidence with humility, recognising the privilege behind their opportunities and the hard work others may have faced.

Patel isn't the only business leader to rise from the service floor to the C-suite. Several prominent leaders, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, started out in customer-facing roles. Bezos worked at a McDonald's outside Miami, flipping burgers and cooking Egg McMuffins. He credits this experience with teaching him responsibility, teamwork, and how to handle pressure.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also started his career washing dishes at Denny's, crediting the job with instilling discipline and humility. ''To me, no task is beneath me because, remember, I used to be a dishwasher. I used to clean toilets. I cleaned a lot of toilets. I've cleaned more toilets than all of you combined,'' Mr Huang said in an interview in 2024.