Supercharge Your Network with Power and Cooling: An Innovation Blueprint

Recently formed Engineering Alliances to introduce validated solutions across four breakthrough customer-ready use cases at Cisco Live EMEA

We are witnessing an unprecedented transformation in technology that’s reshaping how we think about innovation, sustainability, and collaboration. Over the past three years, my conversations with C-suite leaders worldwide have revealed a consistent theme: the technology ecosystems that have been built over the last few decades are experiencing massive disruption.

The scale of this transformation is striking. According to IDC, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will contribute nearly $20 trillion to the global economy by 2030¹, but it comes with significant energy and environmental implications. Europe needs $1 trillion-plus to prepare its power grid for AI², according to Goldman Sachs. We’re facing both an extraordinary opportunity and a critical sustainability challenge. This isn’t just about managing growth – it’s about fundamentally reimagining how we innovate and build more sustainable technology solutions.

At Cisco’s Engineering Sustainability Office, we have been addressing these challenges through a new approach to ecosystem development. While we continue our essential work with standards organizations like the  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, National Fire Protection Agency, and National Electric Manufacturers Association to shape industry direction, we’re also taking decisive steps to accelerate innovation today through energy networking – a holistic approach encompassing hardware, software, and services.

This is why I’m especially excited about formalizing our work into a new program, Engineering Alliances, led by Cisco’s Vice President, Fabio Gori. This focus represents a crucial scaling mechanism through validating specific use cases and solutions, accelerating ecosystem development at a time when networking is being pushed to its limits. In just a short time, we’ve made remarkable progress in fostering partnerships that drive ready-to-implement solutions.

Our focus spans the three critical areas of Cisco’s portfolio strategy: AI Ready Data Centers, Future-Proofed Workplaces, and Digital Resilience. The complexity of these challenges – from optimizing AI infrastructure to increasing energy efficiency – is too great for any single company to solve alone. Success requires deep collaboration across our own portfolio, with our partners, and throughout the broader technology ecosystem.

The results of this collaborative approach are already emerging. Through our Engineering Alliances framework, we’re seeing innovative solutions that address urgent customer needs, from liquid cooling technologies for data centers to sophisticated DC microgrids for smart buildings. These solutions represent just the beginning of what’s possible when we combine expertise and resources across our ecosystem.

For our customers, this means access to validated solutions that work seamlessly across their infrastructure while helping to advance their sustainability goals. For our partners, it opens new opportunities to collaborate and innovate at scale, backed by Cisco’s engineering excellence and global reach.

As we continue to build and strengthen these alliances, I invite you to join us at Cisco Live EMEA to learn more about how we’re transforming technology innovation through ecosystem power. Together, we can build the sustainable technology foundation that will drive the next decade of innovation.

Attend my session to learn more:  Designing and Future-Proofing Energy Systems – From the Data Center to the Campus | CENGRN-1000

¹ IDC, September 2024

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS52600524

² Goldman Sachs, May 2024

https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/AI-poised-to-drive-160-increase-in-power-demand

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