Today, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced Cisco Unified Edge, an integrated computing platform for distributed AI workloads. From retail stores to healthcare facilities to factory floors, Cisco Unified Edge brings together compute, networking, storage, and security closer to the data for real-time AI inferencing and agentic workloads. This is critical to turning the AI vision into reality, providing the foundational infrastructure needed to support both traditional and AI workloads.

More than half of today’s AI pilots are stalling due to infrastructure constraints, highlighting an urgent need for a new decentralized network architecture. The edge is the new AI frontier where it’s forecasted that 75 percent of enterprise data will be created and processed this year. As AI workloads fast-track from centralized model training to real-time inference, traditional data centers struggle to accommodate the requirements of AI. AI agents are transforming network traffic from predictable bursts to relentless, high-intensity loads, with agentic AI queries generating up to 25 times more network traffic than a chatbot. Instead of pulling data to and from the data center, AI workloads require models and infrastructure to be closer to where the data is created, and decisions are made.

“Today’s infrastructure can’t meet the demands of powering AI at scale,” said Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco. “As AI agents and experiences proliferate, they will naturally emerge closer to where customers interact and decisions are made - the branch office, retail store, factory floor, stadium, and more. That’s where compute needs to live. With our Unified Edge we’re making it easier to power AI in the real world with flexible, secure systems that are simple to deploy, operate, and scale as demand grows.”

Reimagining Computing for Agentic AI Cisco Unified Edge enables real-time inferencing and agentic workloads from edge to core - so enterprises can confidently deploy and manage AI at scale. It is designed to grow and adapt without the need for rip-and-replace upgrades, protecting AI investments and powering use cases and services that have yet to be imagined.

• Performance and Modularity to Power Real-time AI: Full-stack, converged architecture unifies compute, storage, and even networking into a single platform, supported by an extensive partner ecosystem. The modular chassis offers CPU and GPU configurations, redundant power and cooling, high-performance SD-WAN networks and pre-validated designs to support today’s applications and those yet to be imagined.
• Operational Simplicity from Edge to Core: Zero-touch deployment and pre-validated blueprints deliver accelerated and predictable AI rollouts. Centralized management via Cisco Intersight and automated fleetwide operations simplify scaling, troubleshooting, and upgrades without needing on-site specialist skills. With Splunk and ThousandEyes integrations, customers can get end-to-end observability. Democratized edge management at scale.
• Built-in Security for Edge AI: Multi-layered, zero-trust security protects AI environments at every layer. Tamper-proof features, deep telemetry, consistent policies, and drift-free configurations help ensure resilience, while audit trails safeguard compliance as operations scale. Security is built-in at the device level and can extend to applying zero trust to every access, segmentation, and protect applications and AI models. This approach addresses the expanded attack surface at the edge, helping secure AI operations from physical and cyber threats.

Unlocking Breakthrough Outcomes, Industry by Industry Cisco partnered closely with customers across retail, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare to co-design a platform that reflects the complexity and constraints of the real world. This means supporting both the traditional workloads of today as well as the ambitious AI workloads of tomorrow. Enterprises need to still manage the realities of today (real-time applications that CPUs can handle), with the visions of tomorrow (GPU intensive AI workloads). Their input directly shaped everything from the system architecture to how the platform is deployed, secured, and managed at scale. From running AI workloads on the shop floor to delivering secure digital services in bank branches, the platform supports real-time decision-making where it matters most.

Partners: The cornerstone of AI success As Cisco’s customers and partners continue to navigate an ever-changing and progressing AI landscape, Cisco is committed to working across the industry to drive openness, flexibility and choice. By honoring customers’ unique journeys to AI, Cisco and its extensive ecosystem of technology, managed services, ISV and reseller partners will together help organizations achieve their AI ambitions. AI will require new levels of expertise and integrated, simple solutions in the face of growing complexity. Cisco’s world-class partner ecosystem can lead the way for customers.

Availability Cisco Unified Edge platforms are orderable now and are expected to be generally available by the end of the year.

Industry Reactions “The Intel-Cisco collaboration for Unified Edge represents a fundamental shift in how we think about distributed computing. By combining our silicon innovation with Cisco’s networking and compute expertise, we’re not just connecting edge locations - we’re extending the full power of the data center to wherever data needs to be processed. The Intel Xeon 6 SoC provides a flexible, efficient foundation that edge systems need for high throughput, low latency workloads, while Cisco’s modular compute design and unified operations model makes managing AI workloads easier and more secure.”—Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Network & Edge Group

“The importance of the Edge is more apparent now than ever before. Early adoption of AI at the Edge delivers a competitive advantage that can transform entire industries. Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option. With the rapid pace of AI and technological advancement, the future remains unpredictable. Building flexibility into a future-proof Edge platform is essential. Verizon and Cisco share a common vision for innovation, and we approach this goal with a focus on simplicity, reliability, and consistency.” — Lee Field, Vice President of US Solution Architecture at Verizon

“To maximize AI’s productivity benefits in a manufacturing environment, connecting islands of automation is critical. Connecting multiple lines in a plant and then connecting multiple plants can generate petabytes of data. Some applications make sense to go back to the data center; that will continue to happen. But other decisions need to be made in real time at the edge—especially on a manufacturing floor. Edge computing requires an integrated platform approach where the compute, the networking, and of course, the security all come together. Performant, secure networking at the edge is absolutely essential.”—Blake Moret, chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation

“As AI and data processing shift from centralized data centers to the on-premises edge, our customers will need solutions that deliver both agility and security right at the source. With Cisco Unified Edge we can seamlessly extend powerful secure cloud and AI infrastructure to wherever data is generated, empowering customers and their models to inference at the edge to make decisions faster than ever before. Offering this solution not only strengthens our customer relationships but also positions us at the forefront of future-ready technology adoption.”—Brian Ortbals, SVP of Global Solutions and Architecture at World Wide Technology

“The true power of AI will be unlocked when we can move the inferencing and analysis closer to where the data originates, making the edge the new frontier for the next wave of AI. Agentic and Physical AI will require compute at the edge to handle the substantial increase in network traffic and real-time analysis. Cisco Unified Edge simplifies adoption and operations for those enterprises that have struggled with how to implement AI to deliver true business impact.”—Bob Laliberte, Principal Analyst at theCUBE Research