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Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking and security, today released the results from the third annual CiscoAI Readiness Index. A small but consistent group of companies — the ‘Pacesetters,’ about 17% of organizations surveyed in India, and 13% globally, for the last three years — outperform their peers across every measure of AI value, captured for the first time in Cisco’s global study of over 8,000 AI leaders across 30 markets and 26 industries.
The Pacesetters’ sustained advantage indicates a new form of resilience: a disciplined, system-level approach that balances strategic drivers with the data and infrastructure needed to keep pace with AI’s accelerating evolution. They’re already architecting for the future with 98% designing their networks for the growth, scale, and complexity of AI compared to 59% in India.
The combination of foresight and foundation is delivering real, tangible results at a time when two major forces are starting to reshape the landscape: AI agents, which raise the bar for scale, security, and governance; and AI Infrastructure Debt, the early warning signs of hidden bottlenecks that threaten to erode long-term value.
“We're moving past the era of question-answering chatbots and stepping into the next major phase of AI: agents that independently execute tasks," said Jeetu Patel, Cisco's President and Chief Product Officer. "Today's study shows that over 80% of companies are prioritizing agentic solutions, with two out of three reporting that these systems are already meeting or exceeding their performance goals. The evidence points to a massive competitive advantage: companies that are further along are seeing dramatically stronger returns than their peers.”
Cisco’s research outlines a consistent pattern among these leaders, who deliver real returns.
They integrate AI into the business, not a side project.
Nearly all Pacesetters (99%) have a defined AI roadmap (vs 67% in India), and 91% (vs 45% in India) have a change-management plan. Budgets match intent, with 79% making AI the top investment priority (vs 32% in India) and 96% with short- and long-term funding strategies (vs 51% in India)
They build infrastructure that’s ready to grow.
They are architects for the always-on AI era. 71% of Pacesetters say their networks are fully flexible and can scale instantly for any AI project (compared to 20% in India), and 77% are investing in new data center capacity within the next 12 months (compared to 51% in India).
They move pilots into production.
62% have a mature, repeatable innovation process for generating and scaling AI use cases (vs 16% overall in India), and three-quarters (77%) have already finalized those use cases (vs 24% in India).
They measure what matters.
95% track the impact of their AI investments — twice as high as respondents surveyed in India — and 71% are confident that their use cases will generate new revenue streams, approximately 1.5 times the overall average in India.
They turn security into strength.
87% are highly aware of AI-specific threats (vs 51% overall in India), 62% integrate AI into their security and identity systems (vs 38% in India), and 75% are fully equipped to control and secure AI agents (vs 45% in India). Trust is part of the Pacesetter’s value equation.
Pacesetters achieve more widespread results than their peers because of this approach: 90% report gains in profitability, productivity, and innovation, compared with 71% overall in India.
