Cisco is getting behind AI in a big way.
For the networking leader, AI forms the crux of a multi-pronged strategy to steer away from pure hardware toward services and software, which offer expanded revenue streams. Cisco is investing in pure-play AI infrastructure startups, forming AI partnerships, and embedding AI in its products.
Yet Cisco is going one step further by embracing an approach to AI computing centered on Ethernet and networking fabrics. These technologies could help handle the scale the speed demanded by data- and compute-intensive AI workloads. To this end, Cisco has partnered with chip leaders like Nvidia to help businesses manage AI clusters and deployments more easily.
Cisco is also tackling the security element of AI workloads by investing heavily in cybersecurity solutions. Cisco has funded cyber players spanning use cases like threat detection, genAI-enhanced security awareness, cloud security, and even quantum networking.
Beyond investments, M&A is a cornerstone of Cisco’s growth strategy. Acquisitions make up more than a quarter of its investment transactions since Q3’22, with cybersecurity and telecom as the dominant targets. Acquisitions help it cover more ground as it broadens its software and service offerings across these areas.
Using CB Insights data, we uncovered the 3 most important strategic priorities highlighted by Cisco’s investments, acquisitions, and partnerships since Q3’22. We then categorized companies by their business relationships with Cisco across these priorities:
- Pure-play AI
- Cybersecurity
- Telecom and networking
