Cisco's Swagger is Back: WWT's Key Takeaways from Cisco Live 2025

WWT was on the ground in San Diego as Cisco rolled out a series of announcements signaling a bold shift: from traditional networking leader to full-stack AI infrastructure partner. Our leadership met with Cisco executives, explored cutting-edge demos and came away with one clear takeaway: WWT and Cisco are leading the pack, shaping the future of AI.

From foundational building blocks to advanced security and automation, here's what stood out most, and how we're bringing innovation to life for our clients:

• AI-ready data centers enabled by Secure AI Factory: Cisco is designing for AI at every layer — from compute to inference — with lifecycle protection, compliance and observability baked in.
• Future-proof workplaces, wherever work happens: Automated, intelligent and scalable for the hybrid world, powered by AI assistants (like Meraki's) and underpinned by infrastructure that's built to evolve.
• Security woven into the fabric: Cisco's new Nexus HyperFabric smart switches combine high-performance AI networking with embedded security via HyperShield, turning the network into an intelligent, adaptive layer of protection.
• Digital Resilience for IT Operations: Cisco is simplifying visibility across networks, apps and users. ThousandEyes delivers end-to-end experience assurance, while Splunk correlates telemetry across hybrid environments for actionable insights.

AI Canvas: A practical path to AI at scale

Cisco's live demo of AI Canvas was one of the most compelling launches from Cisco Live, offering a guided, visual interface to plan, design and operationalize AI environments from edge to core to cloud.

AI Canvas is more than just a planning tool. It represents the unification of Cisco's portfolio, bringing together compute, networking, security, observability and operations into a single interface where value is realized. For WWT, this convergence is critical. It gives clients a centralized way to align teams and technologies around a common AI strategy, without toggling between disparate systems.

Under the hood, AI Canvas is powered by Cisco's Deep Network Model (DNM), a foundational engine that leverages telemetry, topology and intent to drive predictive insights and closed-loop automation across domains. With DNM informing the Canvas experience, clients get context-aware design recommendations that optimize infrastructure for performance, security and scale.

We have plans to integrate AI Canvas into workshops and pilot briefings in the ATC, helping clients map their AI ambitions to real, scalable infrastructure. Paired with Nexus HyperFabric, Hypershield and Full-Stack Observability, AI Canvas empowers IT teams to move faster, reduce complexity and build with confidence.

Cisco's game-changing differentiators

Cisco Live wasn't just about new gear, it marked a turning point in how Cisco shows up as a partner. We couldn't be more excited about Cisco's position in the market, and the competitive differentiators we see across the solutions portfolio for our clients. 

1. Trusted data center technology

As the network and compute provider our clients know and love, leveraging Cisco's innovative AI capabilities will help you integrate existing environments with to achieve AI outcomes. 

2. Built in AI security

Cisco's AI Defense leverages Hypershield, Mesh Firewall and secure networking baked in. Secure AI Factory embeds security natively across AI infrastructure, not just as an add-on. This proactive, built-in protection is essential for safe AI adoption and is unheard of among competitors.

3. NVIDIA/Cisco innovation partnership

Cisco is leaning in hard with NVIDIA, allowing clients the customization and compute needed to power AI workloads. Beyond GPUs, they're collaborating on DPUs and advanced networking silicon like Cisco Silicon One and NVIDIA Spectrum X.

4. Unified orchestration & visibility

Cisco Cloud Controller unifies Nexus and Catalyst management into a single cloud platform, delivering consistent policies, simplified operations and seamless visibility across data center and campus networks. Together with ThousandEyes and Splunk integrations, this creates a powerful, centralized view for better control and faster issue resolution. 

5. Unique AI offerings and perspectives

Because AI Canvas integrates multiple tech domains in one tool, it simplifies AI deployment and fosters collaboration — something no other vendor offers at this scale. The Deep Network Model adds AI-powered network insights that traditional monitoring lacks.

Delivering with speed and confidence

Cisco is making bold moves to lead in the age of AI. The pace of innovation, combined with a clear, integrated vision, was felt across every announcement and executive conversation. And WWT is right alongside Cisco, helping our clients turn that innovation into impact. Whether you're looking to modernize your network, operationalize AI or secure your digital ecosystem, we're here to help accelerate what's possible.