Cisco Just Redefined AI Security – And It’s Coming for Your Threat Stack

Cisco launched an AI-fueled security offensive that changes how enterprises will think about XDR, SecOps, and the future of cyber defense.

Cisco, well-known and respected for their network equipment including switches, routers and firewalls is facing the next era of their journey with the help of AI and Splunk.

At the same time, customers are looking to change the cybersecurity game using enhanced insights and an accelerated pace. Unfortunately, the budget is not keeping up.

In a recent 2025 CISO report where CISOs and Board Members were asked if the budget is adequate to achieve their cybersecurity goals. 41% of board members said yes while only 29% of CISOs agreed. Change is needed. It’s more than just funding. We need a smarter way to address the challenges.

The combination of AI, Splunk and Cisco’s overall network reach provide a powerful opportunity for those looking to change how they think about cybersecurity.

The rules are changing

The bottom line is that there are no rules. Considering the increasing sophistication of adversaries and nation states, customers need to adopt novel approaches. The adversaries are not playing by the rules and customers need to rethink how they out smart their opponents.

This is where intelligence comes in. Cisco completed their acquisition of Splunk just over a year ago. Splunk provides customers the ability to understand the data streams flowing throughout their business. However, the challenge has been how to effectively understand and manage that data. This is where the evolution of SASE, XDR and the SOC come in…which is what Cisco is leaning into. 

Cisco leans in on intelligence

The network is the backbone of any communications fabric which means it sees all the communications traversing it. While good on the surface, there is a phenomenal amount of data to parse through.

Leveraging the acquisition of Splunk, Cisco is leaning into leveraging the intelligence of the network. The concept of your network as ‘one massive sensor network’ has long since been a panacea of network and security professionals. Add to that the need to integrate multiple vendors and solutions and the problem becomes incredibly complicated.

Cisco’s new approach with XDR 2.0 is addressing both issues by leveraging intelligence that continues the convergence they started last year with the integration of SIM and SOAR. It also demonstrates Cisco taking a platform approach to integrating these solutions.

Increasing security intelligence with AI

Cisco is also leaning into AI through their core offerings, Splunk and their partnerships with companies like ServiceNow. Cisco is looking at AI to enhance security operations and the role of agents in coordinating and reasoning across boundaries. Specifically, Cisco is looking at the combination of Cisco and Splunk to provide a unified platform for security and IT operations. They are looking at their collaboration with ServiceNow to provide a more comprehensive security platform.

Considering the sheer amount of data generated by a network on any given day, AI is the force multiplier that can provide insights to make better decisions. Combine that with the power of tools like Splunk and Servicenow and one can see how enterprises can gain an advantage.

Custom silicon addressing physical data center limitations

With the sheer amount of data and processing required to address network analysis using AI, companies need a new approach to mitigate the insatiable appetite of these resources.

Cisco is leveraging a combination of their integrated systems and Cisco One custom silicon technology. Using integrated solutions and purpose-built silicon improves the price-performance ratio. The key is in driving efficiency. Is this the whole answer? No. But it will buy customers time until the industry addresses other physical challenges.

The CIO perspective

CIOs have long believed that the network holds more potential. As security threats increase in both ferocity and complexity, CIOs need a new approach to mount a solid defense. Cisco has stood as a long-time stalwart in the networking space.

Today, Cisco is upping their game by leaning in heavily with AI to supercharge their existing technology in ways that were previously much harder to do. It is impressive to see how far Cisco has gone just in the past 6-9 months. Just between RSAC in April and CiscoLive in June, Cisco significantly accelerated their progress in adopting AI to benefit both security posture and security operations.

For enterprises within the Cisco ecosystem, this should provide solid opportunities to advance their network operations and security posture across the enterprise. As we move into a more advanced and automated realm, enterprises will need to rely more heavily on insights and automation routines. The complexity from edge to cloud and network to agent is only going to grow. We need solutions that provide greater observability to advance our business objectives while protecting our business interests.