TL;DR:
- Cisco announced a new $1 billion global investment fund to fuel the development of innovative AI systems and technologies.
- The company unveiled a range of AI-infused networking, observability, productivity, and security offerings across its product portfolio.
- Cisco is partnering with Nvidia to deliver the Cisco Nexus HyperFabric AI clusters, a new “AI cluster solution” for designing, deploying, monitoring, and assuring AI workloads.
- The company is enhancing its Cisco Security Cloud with dozens of new AI features to improve network visibility and management.
- Cisco is also investing in AI training programs for its partners and customers to help them optimize their infrastructure and workforce for AI implementation.
- The initiatives demonstrate Cisco’s commitment to making AI-powered technologies more accessible and impactful for its customers as they seek to infuse AI into every aspect of their businesses.
Cisco Systems Inc. is making a major push into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), unveiling a host of new AI-powered products and services, as well as a $1 billion global investment fund to fuel the development of innovative AI systems.
At its annual Cisco Live 2024 conference, the networking and security giant showcased a range of AI-infused offerings that span its entire portfolio, from networking and observability to productivity and security. Alongside these new solutions, Cisco also announced the creation of a $1 billion investment fund to support AI startups and help them expand their groundbreaking technologies.
“Cisco is committed to making the deployment and operation of AI infrastructure simpler,” said Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager of Cisco Networking. To that end, the company has partnered with Nvidia to deliver the Cisco Nexus HyperFabric AI clusters, a new “AI cluster solution” that provides customers with a single platform to design, deploy, monitor, and assure their AI workloads.
The AI-powered networking infrastructure is just one piece of Cisco’s broader AI strategy. The company is also enhancing its Cisco Security Cloud with dozens of new AI features, leveraging the technology to improve network visibility, threat detection, and management capabilities.
“Networks, data centers, cloud services, security mechanisms, endpoints and an ever-growing set of data and applications must all work in concert,” said IDC analyst Mark Leary. “The industry needs simpler and smarter solutions, and the comprehensive data collection and cross-domain data correlation, driven by applied intelligence and embedded automation, stands to have a dramatic impact on IT engineering and operations as well as business execution and outcomes.”
Cisco’s AI push extends beyond its core networking and security offerings. The company is also integrating AI into its collaboration tools, such as Webex Contact Center, which will feature new AI-powered assistants to help customer service teams resolve issues more efficiently. Additionally, Cisco is rolling out an AI Assistant for its Webex Suite, empowering IT administrators to manage remote device access more effectively.
But Cisco’s AI ambitions go beyond just product development. The company is also investing heavily in the broader AI ecosystem, with its new $1 billion global investment fund. Cisco has already made strategic investments in several prominent AI startups, including Cohere Inc., Mistral AI, and Scale AI Inc., with the goal of supporting their continued advancements in areas like customer readiness, compute infrastructure, and AI model development.
“In addition to building the essential technology to connect, secure and advanced AI, Cisco is committed to investing in the broader AI ecosystem to more effectively meet our customers’ needs,” said Cisco Chief Strategy Officer Mark Patterson.
To ensure that its partners and customers are equipped to make the most of these AI-powered solutions, Cisco is also launching new training initiatives. The AI Fundamentals for Partners program will provide Cisco’s partners with the expertise needed to optimize their infrastructure for AI workloads, while the Cisco Certification in AI program aims to help organizations build an “AI-ready workforce” that understands modern, AI-based networking architectures.
Cisco’s comprehensive approach to AI, encompassing product innovation, strategic investments, and skills development, underscores the company’s commitment to making this transformative technology more accessible and impactful for its customers as they seek to infuse AI into every aspect of their businesses.