Cisco Introduces New Data Centre Innovations for AI Infrastructure Growth

Cisco has announced a series of data centre innovations designed to streamline operations, enhance security, and support the scalability required for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The updates aim to help enterprises and service providers prepare their infrastructure for evolving demands while maintaining operational efficiency and resilience.

In the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, Cisco exceeded its annual goal of securing $1 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscale customers—achieving this milestone one quarter ahead of schedule. This reflects strong demand across the hyperscale and infrastructure-as-a-service markets, where secure and scalable networking remains critical.

Enabling Infrastructure Transformation for the AI Era

Cisco’s latest advancements are focused on helping enterprises, hyperscale builders, neocloud providers, and service providers modernise their data centres to support AI-driven applications. The innovations are designed to simplify infrastructure management, provide robust security capabilities, and deliver high availability for AI workloads at scale.

By addressing the specific performance and security needs of AI environments, Cisco reinforces its role as a strategic technology partner across the cloud and data center ecosystem.

"We are building the most valuable database in professional sports, and this partnership with Salesforce is a significant step in that direction,” said Joey Graziano, EVP, Strategy & New Business Ventures, Pacers Sports & Entertainment. “Agentforce will help us enhance how we engage with our fanbase by offering personalised recommendations at scale, unlocking new opportunities for the Indiana Fever and the entire PS&E ecosystem."

“The Indiana Fever and PS&E are seizing a pivotal moment, and Salesforce is the ideal partner to help them forge deeper, more meaningful connections with its rapidly expanding fanbase," said Adam Evans, SVP Product, Salesforce. "By harnessing the power of the deeply unified Salesforce Platform, the Fever is setting a new standard for understanding and nurturing fans in the WNBA and in sports writ-large." 

As PS&E’s database continues to grow, Data Cloud will help the organisation to unify customer data across all properties — including the Indiana Fever, the Indiana Pacers, the Gainbridge Fieldhouse event venue, online stores, multiple POS systems and ticketing platforms, and more. In the future, PS&E also anticipates using Agentforce to help power its fan-centric “ONE loyalty program,” with the aim of creating a unified app where fans can view, manage, track, and interact with every touch point across all PS&E properties and channels. 

Cisco Expands AI Infrastructure Solutions to Support Enterprise and Service Provider Needs

Cisco has introduced new innovations aimed at simplifying and securing AI infrastructure for enterprises and service providers. The updates are focused on enhancing data centre efficiency, optimising AI networking performance, and supporting the development of new markets like GPU-as-a-Service through strategic partnerships.

As AI adoption grows, enterprises face the challenge of scaling infrastructure without increasing complexity or compromising security. Cisco has unveiled new capabilities to support enterprise AI workloads, including hardware improvements and simplified network management tools.

Key developments include:

• Unified Fabric Experience with Nexus:
   Cisco is converging ACI and NX-OS VXLAN EVPN fabrics through a Unified Nexus Dashboard. This centralised interface simplifies operations across LAN, SAN, IPFM, and AI/ML fabrics. Available in July 2025, this release is designed to streamline control, policy enforcement, and management.

• AI Traffic Optimisation:
  The Cisco Intelligent Packet Flow solution, now available, uses telemetry and congestion-aware routing to manage traffic across AI networks dynamically. It also offers visibility across networks, GPUs, and distributed AI tasks to proactively identify potential issues.

• Cisco–NVIDIA Integration:
  Cisco and NVIDIA demonstrated technical integration between Cisco G200-based switches and NVIDIA NICs using Spectrum-X Ethernet networking. The setup supports NX-OS, Nexus Hyperfabric AI, and SONiC environments.

• Expanded AI PODs:
   New AI POD configurations provide flexibility for different AI workloads. The Cisco UCS C845A M8 server is now available with the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPU, supporting AI training and fine-tuning needs as part of the Secure AI Factory initiative.

• Secure AI Implementation:
  Cisco AI Defense and Hypershield are now part of the NVIDIA Enterprise AI Factory-validated architecture. These tools provide visibility, validation, and runtime protection for enterprise AI workflows using open models and NVIDIA microservices.

• 400G BiDi Optics for Easy Upgrades:
  Cisco’s new 400G bidirectional optics, which will be available in the second half of 2025, enable migration to higher network speeds while using existing fiber infrastructure.

Supporting the Emerging Neocloud Market

As AI demand accelerates, a new class of infrastructure and GPU-as-a-service providers—termed Neocloud—has emerged. Cisco is supporting this segment through strategic engagements that leverage its networking and security portfolio.

Partnership announcements include:

• HUMAIN (Saudi Arabia):
  Collaborating with Cisco to develop scalable and secure AI infrastructure using Cisco Nexus, UCS, Hypershield, and Splunk.

• G42 (UAE):
  Partnering to strengthen AI innovation and infrastructure across multiple sectors.

• Stargate UAE:
  Cisco has joined the Stargate UAE consortium as a technology partner, contributing solutions in networking, security, and observability for next-generation AI cluster deployment.

Advancing AI-Capable Networks for Service Providers

Cisco is enabling service providers to modernise their network architecture to handle AI-specific traffic demands and create new service opportunities.

Recent innovations include:

• New Router Devices:
   Additions to the Cisco 8000 series, powered by Cisco Silicon One, expand edge and access routing capabilities to support AI-era traffic growth and efficiency.

• Multi-Agentic AI Framework:
   Cisco’s Crosswork Network Automation now features a multi-agentic AI architecture, enabling service providers to leverage custom and Cisco-built AI agents for accelerated decision-making and autonomous network operations.

• Satellite Network Integration:
  A unified architecture connecting terrestrial and satellite networks allows service assurance and dynamic resource allocation in hard-to-reach areas such as maritime, aviation, and remote IoT deployments.
  
  

Read More:

Challenges of Indian System Integrators: Adapting to Survive and Thrive

Navigating the Challenges of System Integration: Growth and Innovation

Navigating System Integration in the Digital Era: Overcoming the Challenges

Check Point's India Channel Strategy for Cybersecurity Growth