Cisco SVP talks agentic AI, quantum security and sustainable infrastructure

Building power-efficient systems is imperative to maximize resources and ensure we can meet ongoing technology demands, Jokel said.

Cisco has identified a number of data center power challenges on its radar. For example, integrating small-form-factor GPUs into data center infrastructure is a concern from both a power and cooling perspective and may require modifications such as the adoption of liquid cooling and adjustments to power capacity, Cisco stated.

“Cooling and liquid cooling have become strategically very important for the data center,” Jokel said.

“Our strategy is to partner with a number of vendors that specialize in liquid cooling for the data center,” he said. “We know that, increasingly, enterprises are going to need to deploy this technology, but they don’t necessarily have the expertise or the facilities to make it happen. So, our goal is to make it as turnkey as possible for the enterprise customer.”

AI-driven connectivity

At the heart of Cisco’s strategy is the promise to securely connect everything and to make anything possible, Jokel said. 

“What that really means is it’s about helping our customers connect and protect their environment. So, think about connecting people, places, things, apps, data, basically anywhere the network can reach,” Jokel said. “Many of our customers may know us as a networking security company delivering firewalls. We’ve really taken the concept of connecting far beyond that, with our acquisition of Splunk, for example, and doubling down on our core security and observability capabilities.”