Cisco Targets Critical Infrastructure Needs for AI Era

Cisco today announced a series of product updates and enhancements targeting the growing market for AI-ready infrastructure, networking, and other technologies.

Product announcements emphasize the need for AI-ready solutions that scale

Across all announcements today, one thing is clear: Cisco is all-in on addressing challenges related to AI demand. While part of that approach involves building infrastructure that can handle AI-related use cases, Cisco has also integrated agentic AI into several of its product lines and platforms.

Key advancements include:

• Unified network visibility. The new Global Overview in Meraki Dashboard provides direct visibility and access to Catalyst Center-managed networks for a single cloud dashboard experience. It radically simplifies network management across campus and branch, cloud-based and on-premises. Now in Beta; generally available in Q4 2025.
• Simplified campus management. Introducing cloud-managed fabric, a scalable and secure architecture to simplify network management. Cloud-managed fabrics reduce the steps required to provision, manage, and troubleshoot large sites, while enabling adaptive segmentation policies. Available in Q4 2025.
• Agentic workflow automation. Available today, workflows spanning Meraki, Catalyst Center, Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, ISE, Nexus and more can be automated and orchestrated with AI Assistant. With a simple prompt, AI Assistant can automate previously manual tasks, such as switch migration, Wi-Fi setup, and device onboarding.
• Collaborative AI-powered troubleshooting. Built to enable AgenticOps, AI Canvas expedites the speed at which NetOps, SecOps, and app teams can collaborate with AI Agents to solve cross-domain problems. Teams can use the AI Assistant within AI Canvas to troubleshoot a network issue using natural language in seconds by unifying real-time telemetry, AI insights, and collaboration into one intelligent workspace. Now in Alpha.

Cisco Unified Edge promises to meet market demand for performance at the edge

The tech giant also announced a series of updates to its Cisco Unified Edge platform. The company highlights the following as important updates: 

• Performance and Modularity to Power Real-time AI: Full-stack, converged architecture unifies compute, networking, and storage into a single platform, supported by an extensive partner ecosystem. The modular, high-performance networks and pre-validated designs support fast, agile and uninterrupted AI operations.
• Operational Simplicity from Edge to Core: Zero-touch deployment and pre-validated blueprints deliver accelerated and predictable AI rollouts. Centralized management via Cisco Intersight and automated operations simplify scaling, troubleshooting, and upgrades without needing on-site specialist skills. Democratized edge management at scale.
• Built-in Security for Edge AI: Multi-layered, zero-trust security protects AI environments from device to data center. Tamper-proof features, deep telemetry, consistent policies, and drift-free configurations help ensure resilience, while audit trails safeguard compliance as operations scale. Security is embedded into the hardware and software, providing comprehensive protection for data, models, applications, and devices across the enterprise. This approach addresses the expanded attack surface at the edge, helping secure AI operations from physical and cyber threats.

“The true power of AI will be unlocked when we can move the inferencing and analysis closer to

where the data originates, making the edge the new frontier for the next wave of AI. Agentic and

Physical AI will require compute at the edge to handle the substantial increase in network traffic

and real-time analysis. Cisco Unified Edge simplifies adoption and operations for those enterprises that have struggled with how to implement AI to deliver true business impact,” said  Bob Laliberte, a principal analyst at theCUBE Research.

Cisco emphasizes role of channel ecosystem in driving success

The announcements today also highlighted the importance of security within every layer of deployment. One of those announcements included the release of Security Cloud Control for MSPs, a channel-centric version of its already popular security platform.

Embedded in every product release today is a general sentiment: Cisco knows how crucial its partners are to long-term success in the AI era. The company has emphasized throughout its 2025 Partner Summit that its partner ecosystem will bring its solutions forward to costumers worldwide in ways Cisco cannot do alone.

For partners, this offers an opportunity to double down on AI-enabled solutions across customers’ environments and work with clients to build lasting relationships and address business needs.

“As AI and data processing shift from centralized data centers to the on-premises edge, our customers will need solutions that deliver both agility and security right at the source. With Cisco Unified Edge we can seamlessly extend powerful secure cloud and AI infrastructure to wherever data is generated, empowering customers and their models to inference at the edge to make decisions faster than ever before. Offering this solution not only strengthens our customer relationships but also positions us at the forefront of future-ready technology adoption,” said Brian Ortbals, SVP of global solutions and architecture at World Wide Technology.