Cisco Study: The Network Is the Key to Implementing Artificial Intelligence

Security, process transparency, and AI integration are just the tip of the iceberg. All these ambitious goals will remain on paper if the network infrastructure isn’t ready for the new workloads. The foundation is everything. 

This is evidenced by a new Cisco study titled “No Time to Wait: The Accelerating Impact of AI on Campus and Branch Networks.” The report is based on a survey of more than 3,400 senior executives in IT and networking from 15 countries around the world, conducted in collaboration with Foundry Research.

As companies strive to reap the technological benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), a significant gap is emerging between their ambitions and the capabilities of their outdated infrastructure, which simply cannot support such workloads.

Key findings of the study:

• 73% of organizations have already experienced (or are preparing to experience) a shortage of network bandwidth in their offices and branches within the next two years. This is due to the fact that over the past year, network traffic volumes at these companies have already increased by 34%.
• Traffic is expected to surge by another 96% over the next 12 months and by a total of 209% over the next three years.

This massive load is driven by the development of generative AI and physical AI (smart IoT devices and robotics), the adoption of which shows no signs of slowing down.

For companies to succeed with AI, absolute trust is required: in infrastructure, security, and AI management. And all these paths lead back to the network.

As Jeetu Patel, president and chief product officer at Cisco, noted, the world has entered a “network supercycle, because the network is the central element of all the AI infrastructure the world is currently building.”

More than 90% of respondents fear financial and competitive risks if their campus and branch networks are not adapted to the new requirements. At the same time, only 30% of companies (even among those most actively adopting technology) say they are prepared for this increase in AI network traffic.

Security as the Foundation of Trust

Security is a fundamental element of trust, and the network is its main pillar.

• 80% of respondents expect security risks to continue to rise as the use of AI extends beyond purely generative scenarios.
• 80% acknowledged that AI technologies have already expanded the attack surface of their systems over the past 12 months. 
• As a result, 61% of companies are holding back on scaling their AI projects until they are fully confident in the security of their infrastructure.

The main challenges are the added complexity of securing the AI models themselves and the increasing sophistication of AI-driven cyber threats. The head of a retail chain noted in the study: “From a security perspective, the main challenge is the inability to create a separate security barrier for every new AI tool the company implements.”

Cisco’s platform strategy helps overcome this complexity. By integrating networking technologies, security measures, monitoring, management, and data analytics, IT teams and security professionals can monitor and protect everything — from central data centers to the most remote devices. 

In an interview with VentureBeat, Michael Dickman, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Campus Networks business unit, discussed how the company’s platform strategy — which now includes cutting-edge solutions such as Cisco Cloud Control — opens up entirely new possibilities for ensuring security and leveraging data:

“When you have this kind of platform-based approach, you suddenly have the ability to share data in ways that were previously impossible, and that opens up new possibilities — whatever you want to do is now built on a solid foundation.”

Dickman emphasized that a robust network foundation makes the integration of trust elements simple and effective.

Eliminating “Blind Spots”

Due to the complexity of autonomous systems and highly distributed operating environments, 71% of respondents reported an increase in the number of “blind spots” in process monitoring and visibility.

However, market leaders are increasingly viewing the network as a unified platform capable of overcoming fragmentation, expanding visibility, and supporting a single security policy across the entire company.

Michael Dickman adds: “When all information flows into a single data fabric, it can be used for a wide variety of scenarios. I’m excited about many security-focused use cases, but that’s far from the whole story. It also includes optimizing business processes, reducing technology costs, and centralizing visibility. That’s why at Cisco, we place so much emphasis on the One Cisco platform, which directly unifies our entire extensive portfolio of solutions into a truly unified platform.”

Research clearly shows that building trust in AI while reducing network complexity and fragmentation is no longer a luxury but a necessity due to the high operational risks facing businesses.

As Jitu Patel of Cisco summed up: “Ultimately, there will be only two types of companies: those that are AI companies, and those that will become obsolete.”

Are you ready to adapt your business to the demands of the future? 

Contact us, and Solidity’s experts will develop a customized solution to modernize your network and protect your corporate data under the strain of AI.