Cisco’s AIOps journey to simplify and secure IT operations

By making AI the backbone of its IT operations, Cisco isn’t just automating networks—it’s rewriting the playbook on how enterprises predict, secure, and optimise their digital infrastructure

The shift to AIOps represents a fundamental change in how organisations manage IT operations, which promises to radically reduce cost and increase agility, as we covered previously in Exploring a New Age of AIOps to Increase IT Agility. AI-driven insights and automation are transforming network monitoring from a reactive, people-intensive process into an intelligent, proactive system that reduces operational burden, prevents outages, and enhances overall resilience.

Cisco is at the forefront of this movement, embedding AI and machine learning across its networking and security portfolio to deliver self-healing networks that require minimal human intervention. So, we thought it would be instructive to share a deep-dive case study in what they are doing and how they are doing it.

Over the past decade, Cisco has been at the forefront of networking innovation, evolving its technology to meet the growing complexity of enterprise IT environments. Recently, the company has embraced Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) as a key strategy to streamline network management and deliver predictive analytics that address performance issues before they impact business operations.

Founded in 1984, Cisco initially gained prominence as a networking hardware provider, building the infrastructure that powered the early internet. As enterprise networks expanded in scale and complexity, the demand for real-time visibility, automation, and intelligent problem resolution surged. Cisco recognised that traditional IT operations were struggling to keep pace with this rapid evolution, leading to inefficiencies, security vulnerabilities, and costly downtime.

By integrating AIOps into its core IT strategy, Cisco hopes to optimise network performance, but also redefine the future of IT operations. This case study explores Cisco’s AIOps journey, the impact on network management, and the broader implications for IT teams navigating the AI-driven future.

Lower downtime, Greater Security & Agility

Cisco isn’t just adapting to the rise of AI-driven IT operations—it’s setting the benchmark for what AIOps can achieve in enterprise networking. Powering a substantial amount of global internet traffic (some estimate as much as 80%), securing hundreds of thousands of businesses, and supporting millions of connected devices, Cisco is redefining how organisations manage and secure their networks.

Here’s how:

• Proactive network troubleshooting: Cisco’s AI-driven ThousandEyes platform detects and diagnoses network issues before users even notice them, slashing downtime and enhancing performance across complex enterprise environments.

• Security, strengthened by AI: With its AI-powered SecureX platform, Cisco is reducing threat response times by up to 95%, giving security teams the ability to neutralise threats in real-time.

• Automated IT operations: Cisco’s Catalyst Center and Meraki AIOps automate routine network management tasks, reducing manual workloads for IT teams by up to 40%.

• Predictive insights for better decision-making: Cisco’s AI/ML models continuously analyse network behaviour, anticipating outages before they happen and ensuring seamless connectivity for businesses worldwide.

AI-driven IT operations are no longer a luxury—they are a necessity for organisations looking to stay competitive. Cisco’s approach to AIOps isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about resilience, security, and unlocking new levels of agility in an increasingly complex digital world.

Cisco AI Defense from Techzine article January 2025

Cisco’s approach blends AI-driven intelligence with decades of networking expertise to create what could become the foundation of a new era in IT operations, where networks can predict, adapt, and secure themselves with minimal human intervention.

The Key Building Blocks of Cisco’s AIOps Leadership

Cisco’s dominance in AIOps is the result of a carefully engineered ecosystem. Beyond the advanced AI-powered tools, Cisco has built a structure, culture, and way of working that allows it to continually innovate, adapt, and stay ahead in the enterprise IT landscape.

Here’s what sets Cisco apart:

Unified AI & Data Infrastructure

Cisco’s ability to lead in AIOps starts with its deep integration of AI and data across its portfolio. By leveraging vast datasets from millions of connected devices, global network traffic patterns, and cybersecurity threat intelligence, Cisco trains AI models that drive predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and automated problem resolution.

This infrastructure underpins solutions such as:

• ThousandEyes for real-time visibility across cloud and on-prem environments.

• SecureX AI for intelligent threat detection and automated remediation.

• Meraki AIOps for self-optimising, self-healing networks.

By centralising AI-driven insights and automation capabilities, Cisco ensures that its customers benefit from a seamless, intelligent, and secure IT environment.

A Culture of Continuous Experimentation

Cisco’s culture thrives on agility, innovation, and a willingness to disrupt itself. While traditional IT operations have relied on manual, reactive problem-solving, Cisco has embraced an iterative, AI-first mindset. Internally, its engineering and product teams work in cross-functional squads, constantly testing, refining, and deploying AI-powered enhancements across its platforms.

• The company’s “Fail Fast, Learn Faster” approach allows teams to rapidly prototype and deploy AI models across their solutions.

• Cisco DevNet, its developer program, fosters collaboration with external AI and automation experts to co-create new capabilities.

• Teams are incentivised to automate themselves out of repetitive tasks, focusing on high-value innovation instead.

By embedding AI-driven decision-making into its culture, Cisco ensures that experimentation and automation are not just features—they’re a way of working.

Visionary Leadership Driving AI Innovation

Cisco’s AI transformation is not just a technology play—it’s a leadership strategy. CEO Chuck Robbins and Cisco’s executive team have made AIOps a core pillar of the company’s long-term strategy.

This leadership commitment is reflected in:

• Strategic AI acquisitions, such as AppDynamics, ThousandEyes, and Splunk, to accelerate AI-powered monitoring and analytics.

• Investment in AI talent, with dedicated AI and machine learning teams driving innovation in networking and security.

• Industry-wide AI advocacy, with Cisco shaping the future of AI-driven IT through collaborations with global enterprises and research institutions.

Cisco’s leadership isn’t just adopting AI—it’s steering the entire industry toward a new paradigm of AI-powered IT operations.

Strategic Ecosystem & Partnerships

Cisco doesn’t operate in isolation. Instead, it leverages a vast ecosystem of partners to advance its AIOps strategy. Through collaborations with cloud providers, AI research institutions, and cybersecurity firms, Cisco ensures that its AI innovations stay ahead of the curve. Key partnerships include:

• Cloud AI Integrations with AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure for seamless AI-powered infrastructure management.

• AI Security Collaborations with major cybersecurity firms to improve threat intelligence and automated response capabilities.

• Industry Consortia & Research Labs, where Cisco contributes to shaping the future of AI-driven networking and security.

By fostering an interconnected, AI-powered IT ecosystem, Cisco is influencing how AI transforms the enterprise IT landscape globally.

But the key to success for Cisco is not only the technology, but the cultural, structural and leadership principles they have adopted to create the kind of organisational agility that AIOps requires. Below we will summarise the evolution of their strategy; its key benefits; how they overcame challenges along the way; and, importantly, the organisational attributes that make this strategy work.