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Indian-origin Cisco executive works 18 hours, 7 days a week but has ‘two non-negotiable’ work-life balance rules

Jeetu Patel has carved out two firm boundaries that help him stay grounded. The first revolves around his daughter.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Dec 3, 2025 08:51 AM IST

Indian-origin Cisco executive two work-life balance rules

Patel's mornings begin around 6 am, and it is not unusual for him to still be working close to midnight

Climbing the corporate ladder comes with its rewards, bigger paychecks, and bigger responsibilities, but it also demands sacrifices. For Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s chief product officer, reaching the top has meant trading free time for longer days and a schedule that rarely lets up.

As reported by Fortune, Patel works every single day of the week. His mornings begin around 6 am, and it is not unusual for him to still be working close to midnight. Even so, he follows one strict rule: no meetings before 9 am, unless they come directly from Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins or the company’s board. Those early hours are reserved for deep work and mapping out priorities.

“Picking the highest quality problems that you want to spend your time solving is 90% of the battle,” he told Fortune. “Because the quality of the problem that you pick to solve is actually directly proportional to the outcome that you’re going to have.”

Despite the relentless schedule, Patel has carved out two firm boundaries that help him stay grounded. The first revolves around his daughter. No matter what meeting he’s in, she has full access. “My daughter is allowed to come into any meeting and ask me for anything; she can just walk in,” he said. “She doesn’t have to knock on the door.”

The second rule emerged from a deeply personal experience. In 2023, during his mother’s final weeks, Patel stepped away from nearly all work to be with her in the hospital for eight uninterrupted weeks. That period reminded him that life doesn’t move in perfect balance; sometimes, family must come first. “You have to figure out a way to make sure that it works for you,” he said, adding that no one else can design that system for you.

Health is another non-negotiable for him. Patel admits he’s not obsessed with fitness, but he makes sure to exercise at least 20–30 minutes a day. What matters, he says, is consistency, especially when every day in tech looks different from the last. “I’m not in great shape, but I’m not in terrible shape,” he joked, acknowledging that he often has to recalibrate and start again.

Patel’s reality is common among top tech leaders. With fierce competition and rapid innovation cycles, downtime becomes a luxury. The traditional idea of “balance” doesn’t quite fit anymore. As Cisco’s chief people, policy, and purpose officer Francine Katsoudas wrote back in 2021: “There’s not a delineation between work and life. ‘Balance’ went away years ago.”

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For executives like Patel, the goal isn’t a perfect equilibrium; it’s finding a rhythm that keeps work moving without losing touch with what matters most.