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Lions boss Richard Gough fielded four debutants - Jamie Hand on load from Watford and three Hungarians, Attila Kriston, Gabor Vincze and Ferenc Horvath.
Whatever Gough's game plan may have been it took an almightily jolt after only eight minutes.
A deep cross from Stuart McCaffrey found an unmarked Richard Hart whose looping header sailed over the head of the keeper and into the net.
The early stages were dangerous for Livingston as they struggled to pull themselves into the game and cope with a well disciplined Caley side.
However, to their credit Livi managed to halt the onslaught and push the visitors back into their own half.
Towards half-time the home side came close to an equaliser when a Gustavo Bahoken effort looked net bound until Russell Duncan stuck out a foot and deflected the shot past the post.
Perhaps then Gough knew that it was not going to be his day.
However, before the memory of that miss faded Inverness extended their lead.
Juanjo created the opportunity when he slipped the ball beyond the home defence. Graham Bayne was on to it in a flash and only a fantastic block by Colin Meldrum denied the striker.
However, the loose ball bounced beyond the reach of Meldrum and as Duncan fired home from close range, manager Gough must have asked where his defence was.
Gough's side gave themselves hope when a Horvarth header halved the deficit two minutes before the interval.
At the restart Livi made one change when Robert Snodgrass came on for Goran Stanic. However, before he make any impact the home side fell further behind.
A seemingly harmless cross into the box bounced in front Bayne. While his presence blocked the sight of the keeper no one could have imagined that his overhead kick would clear Meldrum and drop lazily into the net.
Caley capped a truly enjoyable afternoon when their man of the match Juanjo scored number four. The striker collected a long pass from deep and as he burst into the box, he unleashed a low shot past the helpless keeper.