On this episode of Direct from the Expo, the Collab Collective’s Craig Durr sits down with four Cisco leaders at WebexOne 2026 in Austin, Texas: Espen Loberg, VP and GM of Collaboration Devices; Vinod Muthukrishnan, VP and GM of Customer Experience; Amit Barave, VP and GM of Webex Suite and AI; and Snorre Kjesbu, Senior VP and GM of Collaboration. Through five lighthearted questions, Craig explores how these leaders would make Austin their own, revealing their personalities, interests, and perspectives beyond their roles at Cisco.
Craig Durr: Hey, welcome to Austin, Texas. This is a great week because I get to welcome some wonderful friends to my home city of Austin, Texas, for WebexOne.
Now, the thing I like about Austin is that you really get to make it your own. You know, there's no single way to do Austin. In fact, you get to customize the experience for what works for you. It's a lot like WebexOne.
So in the spirit of customizing this experience and understanding Austin how you want to do it, I'm going to ask some friends five questions about how they would make Austin their own.
Vinod Muthukrishnan, how are you doing?
Vinod Muthukrishnan: I'm nervous about the questions that are coming, but let's go.
Craig Durr: That's okay. I just got five questions for you. This is an insight into how you think about Austin, Texas. Are you ready for the first one?
Vinod Muthukrishnan: I'm ready, sir.
Craig Durr: Okay. In Texas, barbecue is a religion. People will wait in line for two hours for a barbecue. What is something that you would wait two hours for in line?
Vinod Muthukrishnan: See, I'm vegetarian, and you can only do that much with potatoes and corn.
Espen Loberg: Probably some Norwegian, certain types of Norwegian seafood.
Craig Durr: He’s bringing Oslo to us here, as well.
Espen Loberg: I could wait in line for that.
Craig Durr: That's good.
Amit Barave: My go-to food is vegetarian, but I will tell you that… the vibe at the barbecues, I will wait for a couple of hours for that.
Snorre Kjesbu: You know what? Some of the funkiest things I've ever eaten were sliced hearts dipped in egg yolk with a sprinkle of ants. And I can tell you one thing, Craig, I'm not waiting three hours in line for that. I think I'll line up for the Texas barbecue, too.
Craig Durr: Austin is known as the live music capital of the world. You actually went to ACL last night.
Espen Loberg: I did. It was amazing. It was muddy but amazing.
Craig Durr: It was muddy but amazing. But you experienced some of our live music magic. If you and I were to get on a stage tonight, what song would you be playing?
Espen Loberg: It's kind of obvious, I think. I mean, you and me, “We Are the World.”
Vinod Muthukrishnan: Oh my god. I think it'd be "Take It Easy” by Eagles.
Craig Durr: I like that.
Vinod Muthukrishnan: There's a second choice. There's “Annie's Song” by John Denver.
Amit Barave: “We Didn't Start the Fire”
Snorre Kjesbu: You know, the idea of you on stage, this is really good. But I think that, in the spirit of Cisco collaboration and everything, it must be unstoppable.
Craig Durr: Ooh
Snorre Kjesbu: Yeah, the SIA song "Unstoppable.”
Craig Durr: I love that.
Snorre Kjesbu: Yeah, totally, and it's like running with a Porsche without brakes.
Craig Durr: I love that fast, beautiful car, all out going forward.
Austin is known for its food trucks, and some of the most phenomenal food comes out of these trailers, right? If Amit opened his first food truck, and you were going to feature something that you made at home. What would be that dish coming out of your food truck?
Amit Barave: I would go with a coffee stand and pastries that I would not make, but I would source from everywhere.
Craig Durr: Okay, so coffee and pastries, right? I love it. Okay, you're a morning person, so I'll take that.
Snorre Kjesbu: I'm big on seafood, and obviously coming from Northern Europe originally, some high quality, great seafood have that meat, you know, South and Latin America. So I would probably open a ceviche truck.
Craig Durr: Oh really? So we're going to bring a little bit of lime, tomato, and zest to this.
Snorre Kjesbu: So we'll have, you know, Norwegian high quality seafood, meat, and some citrus.
Craig Durr: I hear a business idea here. I like this one.
Vinod Muthukrishnan: It would be a very short lived business if I cooked. But, I do believe Austin is just a blend of such great cultures coming together, and food is the greatest blender of cultures. I definitely pick two power pack cuisines, and I'll just mix them up. I don't know, maybe Indian and Mexican.
Craig Durr: You're a fusion. You're a fusion guy. I'm a fusion. I love it. There's actually some that are here. I'll have to introduce you to some.
Vinod Muthukrishnan: I had the best tacos of my life last night. So there you go.
Espen Loberg: Scallop tacos
Craig Durr: Scallop tacos, that fits in perfectly here. We're at Taco Town. That's perfect. I love that.
All right, Austin has produced some really unforgettable characters, and a lot of them come with a very descriptive catchphrase. We've got Matthew McConaughey with "All right, all right, all right.” We've got Willie Nelson. He starts every single concert with "Whiskey River, Take My Mind.” If you had a catchphrase, what would that be?
Snorre Kjesbu: You know, I have a catchphrase, and I think here in Texas, it will fit perfectly. I say this to our sellers every single quarter before we get to the end of the quarter. I say, “Never sell the fur before you shoot the bear.”
Craig Durr: Don't count it before it’s bagged.
Snorre Kjesbu: It is true.
Craig Durr: I love it.
Amit Barave: I have a gazillion second halves to the first half, which is “Life is too short.” So anything I do, I essentially go, “Life's too short,” and then, “Pick your poison” in the second half.
Espen Loberg: “Foster better,” or “Better foster.”
Craig Durr: You sound like the DJ. Who is that again? Daft Punk.
Espen Loberg: Yeah, there you go. Another favorite band.
Amit Barave: Right now, what I think of is, “So much is changing and nothing's changing.”
Craig Durr: Okay, there you go. We're just in a circle.
Amit Barave: Yes, it feels like so much is changing and you're not keeping up, and you feel like nothing's changing the way you want it to, or as fast as you want it.
Craig Durr: Is there an AI tool that can fix that? You think?
Amit Barave: I'm sure there will be.
Craig Durr: There's a prompt somewhere along the way. That's physical AI coming into the real world there.
All right, here's the last question. Austin is a city that runs on breakfast tacos and strong coffee. That is how we fuel our creative culture. When you want to get creative, what is your go-to coffee drink?
Vinod Muthukrishnan: Funny enough, my first meal is always lunch, so my cappuccino is my morning fuel, and unless an incredible breakfast floats in front of me, I eat whatever. But it's usually cappuccino till noon.
Amit Barave: Flat white
Craig Durr: Flat white. Yes, I love it. Fantastic.
Espen Loberg: There's just one go-to coffee drink to get me going, and that's a double americano.
Craig Durr: Double americano. I love it. Okay.
Snorre Kjesbu: So every single morning, no exceptions, I would actually start with a small shot of espresso- strong, good espresso, and I'll take two to three minutes, and I'll think about my daughters.
Craig Durr: Oh, that is sweet. I like that. That is creative juice right there.
Well, I've got a parting gift for you for this. You weren't expecting this, but because you answered all these Austin questions, I've got some of my favorite Austin coffee. This is from my friends at Medici Coffee.
Vinod Muthukrishnan: I love it.
Craig Durr: There is some barbecue sauce that you could put on vegetables if you need to.
Vinod Muthukrishnan: Could do with some spicing.
Craig Durr: I've got praline in here. I've got some hot sauce. Everything for you to take Austin back home.
Espen Loberg: Very very kind of you, Craig. Appreciate you as always.
Amit Barave: All of this will be put to good use. Thank you so much.
Craig Durr: Make it your own. Thank you so much.
Everyone, this is how we're going to customize Austin and WebexOne for yourself. Take care.