Scaling Innovation: From Rural Roots to Silicon Valley Giants w/ Michel Langlois
The Innovators of Things · Hologram
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Show Notes
In this inspiring episode, Jillian Kaplan speaks with Michel Langlois, a trailblazer whose journey began on a chicken farm in rural Quebec and led to shaping some of the world’s most influential telecom companies. Michel shares his insights from building and scaling Cisco during its explosive growth, transforming Juniper from the inside out, and rethinking innovation not as invention, but integration.
We discuss:
- Why innovation isn’t just invention—and how “Lego-thinking” builds breakthroughs
- Surviving Cisco’s hypergrowth and dot-com crash
- Building trust-driven teams and infrastructure without slowing business
- The power of mentorship (formal and informal) in leadership development
- Lessons from the farm that shaped a Fortune 500 career
Plus, Michel shares how chickens, fiber broadband, and kitchen management all tie into successful innovation at scale.
Visit https://michellanglois.us/ to get his book, Beyond The Code.