The 2025 edition of Cisco Live, held in San Diego, showcased significant advancements in AI-related infrastructure. Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s president and chief product officer, described this year’s event as "the most consequential Cisco Live in the past decade," emphasizing the integration of AI with Cisco innovations to assist customers in adopting this technology.
During the previous year’s event, Cisco affirmed its commitment to AI, driving ongoing developments aimed at helping organizations navigate the transition to AI. This year’s agenda prominently featured two themes: using AI to enhance Cisco technology and innovations that facilitate customer AI adoption, encapsulated in the phrases "AI for Cisco" and "Cisco for AI."
Key Announcements
Focus on AgenticOps
Cisco introduced its new strategy, AgenticOps, designed to evolve beyond traditional AIOps. This approach anticipates a blended workforce of humans and AI agents, potentially transforming many industries through the introduction of robots and automated systems. To support this shift, the Cisco Deep Network Model was unveiled, described as "the most advanced networking LLM on the market." Patel emphasized its role in assisting, rather than replacing, human engineers, encouraging professionals to harness AI to enhance productivity.
Key features of the Cisco Deep Network Model include:
- Purpose-built for networking: Enhanced precision for troubleshooting and automation.
- Trusted training: Backed by four decades of expertise.
- Continuous learning: Adapts with real-time data and feedback.
Additionally, Cisco introduced AI Canvas, allowing users to create generative dashboards. This capability fosters problem-solving across multiple domains, facilitating collaboration among NetOps and SecOps teams.
Secure Global Connectivity
Cisco has long supported service providers, contributing to the growth of the Internet and cloud services. This year, the introduction of two new routers in the 8000 series emphasizes this partnership by leveraging Cisco’s custom Silicon One technology. The Cisco 8011 and 8711 routers are engineered for enhanced performance and will be available soon, offering scalable network solutions.
Furthermore, Cisco announced a new optical network product aimed at facilitating transitions to 400G networks, underpinning its goal of autonomous networking solutions for service providers.
The AI-Ready Data Center
A unified Nexus dashboard will converge Cisco’s management tools across various infrastructures, promoting streamlined operations and integration with modern development pipelines.
Simplified Full-Stack AI
Cisco is also preparing to launch the RTX 6000 Pro GPU across its server offerings, allowing customers to tailor their configurations specifically for AI workloads, promoting flexibility from small initial setups to scalable solutions.
New Secure Firewalls
In response to emerging security challenges, Cisco revealed the Secure Firewall 200 series and the high-performance 6100 series. These additions represent a comprehensive refresh of the company’s firewall offerings, equipping them to manage AI-driven threats effectively. For the first time, Cisco can push policies into third-party firewalls, easing management complexities for customers transitioning between different vendor products.
Industrial Ethernet
With the introduction of 19 new industrial Ethernet products, Cisco enhances its offerings for AI-enabled applications. This includes improvements in power over Ethernet capabilities to support advanced AI functionalities across various operational settings.
Conclusion
Cisco’s announcements during this Cisco Live event illustrate a comprehensive strategy aimed at advancing AI adoption while addressing infrastructure readiness. As emphasized by CEO Chuck Robbins, this moment parallels the early days of the Internet, marked by rapid technological evolution and significant opportunities. Cisco’s innovations are set to aid organizations in leveraging AI effectively, ensuring they keep pace with evolving demands.
