“What they are trying to do is get to a place where rather than just sell you a server or network switch and I’m done, is make themselves into basically a cloud service provider,” said Gold.
At the core of Cisco’s strategy is its growing focus on security and network visibility. With its equipment embedded across enterprise, telecom, and service provider networks, Cisco has a unique vantage point into data traffic. Gold noted that this visibility allows the company to expand into advanced security offerings, particularly as artificial intelligence introduces new challenges.
One emerging opportunity is identity management for AI agents. While identity tools for human users have been around for decades, managing identities for potentially millions of AI agents represents a largely untapped market. “This is a greenfield environment,” Gold said, adding that many organizations are still uncertain how to approach the issue.
In May Cisco announced plans to acquire Astrix Security for an undisclosed amount to bolster its AI agent security portfolio. Astrix is known for its security platform that specializes in identifying, managing and securing AI agents and non-human identities, such as machine-to-machine connections.
