Partner Study Uncovers the Opportunities Ahead for Cisco Partners and Informs New AI Specialization

As the Artificial Intelligence (AI) landscape continues to evolve, organizations must adopt AI effectively to stay competitive. Our inaugural study, “Bridging the Customer AI Readiness Gap,” explores the opportunities and challenges facing partners in supporting their customers’ AI ambitions.

Based on a double-blind survey of over 1,500 partners, the study reveals that IT partners around the world anticipate a transformative wave of AI technology demand that will drive significant revenue over the next four to five years as customers seek to address gaps in their readiness for AI implementation.

This new survey builds on Cisco’s Customer AI Readiness Index which evaluated global companies’ ability to adopt and fully leverage AI. That initial index revealed widespread deficiencies in infrastructure, data, governance, and talent, highlighting a significant gap in customer readiness to implement AI effectively.

Insights from the partner-focused survey reinforce the crucial role partners play in addressing customers’ AI readiness needs and aspirations. This highlights a tremendous opportunity for Cisco and its partners to collaborate and bridge these critical gaps for our customers.

Key Findings​:

• AI revenue growth: AI-related revenue is expected to grow significantly, with 27% of partners anticipating over 75% of their revenue from AI within the next four to five years.​ The areas with the greatest AI opportunities for partners are infrastructure, cybersecurity and CX ​— all areas that align with Cisco’s strategic priorities.
• Shared goals: Partners and customers agree on AI’s potential to improve efficiency of systems, processes and operations (63%), as well as the customer experience (47%).
• Partner expertise: Partners are considerably more knowledgeable than customers when it comes to data, governance, and AI-ready infrastructure. In fact, 77% of partners believe they have a high level of understanding around what it takes to build a scalable and adaptable infrastructures for AI vs. 54% of customers.
• Talent advantage: Partners have a significant opportunity to bridge the talent gap. When it comes to deploying AI, the Customer AI Readiness Index showed that only 29% of companies rated their talent pool’s skills as high. In contrast, our recent partner study found that partners believe 76% of their talent has the skills needed.
• Experience Counts: However, given the recent emergence of large-scale AI deployments, partners have identified these key improvement areas for themselves: 1) Experience in deploying new technologies​, 2) Knowledge of systems and process​, and 3) Awareness of available technologies​.
• Investing for growth: To address these challenges, partners are already heavily investing in upskilling existing employees in AI-related competencies, with almost 80% conducting either internal trainings or inviting external vendors to provide specialized training.

Empowering Partners for Success with AI Specialization

To bridge the AI readiness gap, we’re committed to empowering our partners with the necessary skills and knowledge. Insights from our study have informed our AI Specialization program.

Earlier this year, we introduced AI Fundamentals for Partners, a successful training program in our Black Belt Academy. This program has seen significant engagement among our partners, with approximately 900 certifications from 600 companies and nearly 2,000 registrations to date.

Building on this momentum, we’re excited to announce the second phase: AI-Ready Infrastructure for Partners. This specialization is now available to all Cisco partners, free of charge, and perfectly aligned with the data center and AI products launching this week at Partner Summit.

Seizing the AI Opportunity: A Call to Action for Partners

We encourage all partners to engage in our AI training programs and join our Early Access Community to gain a competitive advantage. By investing in AI training and enablement, partners can position themselves as trusted AI advisors and capitalize on the growing market opportunity.

The AI landscape is rapidly evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for organizations. By understanding the AI readiness gap and empowering partners with the necessary skills and resources, we are helping customers harness the power of AI and achieve their business goals.

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

Cisco Partners Facebook  |  @CiscoPartners X/Twitter  |  Cisco Partners LinkedIn

Share: