What's Happening?
Cisco has announced an expansion of its Secure AI Factory in collaboration with Nvidia, introducing new infrastructure capabilities aimed at supporting enterprise adoption of agentic AI. The new features focus on accelerating retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, enabling faster and more secure data access for AI agents at scale. Cisco's AI PODs, which combine compute, storage, and networking, are now integrated with VAST Data's InsightEngine, built on the Nvidia AI Data Platform reference design. This integration allows organizations to prepare raw data into usable AI datasets. The system is designed to lower latency in AI applications by pairing Nvidia's accelerated computing and software with Cisco's high-performance Ethernet networking. The Secure AI Factory framework also integrates with Splunk for observability and Cisco AI Defense for security guardrails.
Why It's Important?
The expansion of Cisco's AI infrastructure is significant as it addresses enterprise concerns around data access, governance, and performance. By reducing RAG pipeline latency from minutes to seconds, the system aims to provide near-real-time AI responses, supporting multiple agents and workloads simultaneously. This development is crucial for enterprises looking to leverage AI to solve business challenges effectively. The collaboration with Nvidia and VAST Data represents a major milestone in the evolution of enterprise AI, providing a simple path for organizations to unlock the value of their data and enhance their AI capabilities.
What's Next?
Cisco's partnership with Nvidia and VAST Data is expected to drive further advancements in AI infrastructure, potentially leading to more integrated platforms for running powerful AI agents at scale. Enterprises may continue to adopt these technologies to improve data access and security, while expanding AI use cases. The collaboration could also influence other companies to explore similar partnerships to enhance their AI capabilities.
