Cisco has signed an MoU with Andhra Pradesh government to train 50,000 youth with advanced IT skills over the next year. It will offer training in networking, cybersecurity and AI. Another pact has been inked with Telangana government institutes, including Young India Skills University, Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK), and the state’s IT ministry, to expand digital skills training on their AI and cybersecurity vision to train 75,000 students over the next three years. Cisco will also invest in an AI centre of excellence in the southern state.
That’s not all. The opening of a Cisco centre of excellence and Cisco Networking Academy lab at GL Bajaj Institute of Management & Research in Greater Noida, is aimed at empowering students with advanced networking technologies and enhance their industry readiness. The lab, inaugurated by Cisco senior vice-president & global innovation officer, Guy Diedrich, is part of a larger programme that focuses on IT skills-to-jobs, aiming to transform lives through technology, education, and career opportunities. Cisco Networking Academy to date has trained over 2.2 million students across India in emerging technologies such as networking, programming and cybersecurity.
“India’s commitment to advancing AI is not just ambitious but transformative,” Diedrich told FE in an interview. It’s inspiring to see how industry and government collaborate to drive inclusive, sustainable AI. Our efforts are specifically directed toward enhancing AI, cybersecurity, data centre capabilities, and digital skills training to drive progress in these critical areas,” he added.
AI has been the dominant theme of the business world over the past couple of years. However, as companies learn more about AI and how to adopt, deploy, and fully use its capabilities, they are beginning to realise they may not be as prepared as they thought, Diedrich said. Cisco’s AI Readiness Index, released in November 2024, showed that just one in seven organisations are fully prepared to deploy new AI technologies. A lack of skills is a key reason for this low level of readiness: Only 31% of companies said their workforce is at a high state of readiness to leverage AI.
“While there is progress in developing AI strategies, many firms do not have a clear plan in place. Infrastructure and data readiness remain the most challenging areas, companies are also falling behind in having the necessary skills and talent to effectively implement AI,” Diedrich said, adding, “We have a number of programmes to help IT professionals and organisations upskill on AI.”
Having the internet available doesn’t necessarily mean it’s accessible, the senior Cisco official feels. “Cisco’s purpose is to power an inclusive future for all. While there’s a connectivity digital divide, there’s also a skills digital divide, and through the Networking Academy, and through our association with universities, we’re doing our very best to have a positive influence on closing that divide. We have pledged to train 25 million new students in between now and 2032 and we’re well on our way to achieving that,” he added.
Cisco has embedded AI in its networks for over a decade. “We have recently introduced the first AI-native security solution, AI Defense. Other security products like Hypershield also have an AI embedded element into it. We see 600 billion security events daily and with AI embedded in our network and 80% of the world’s traffic passing through Cisco equipment, we learn more about cyber threats than anyone,” Diedrich said.
Talking about Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme, he said, “We are celebrating its 10th anniversary and India was one of the first countries where we had launched. Even back then, India was prepared to invest in itself, there was a national digital agenda focusing on smart cities, skilling, cybersecurity, and connectivity, aligning with what we wanted to accomplish together with the government.” Diedrich feels that India continues to be an innovative nation, “aligning perfectly with what we want to do with the CDA programme.”
The CDA programme was launched to help countries align with their national digital agenda, create a national digital architecture, carve out individual projects, execution plans, and budgets. “Today, we are in 50 countries with over 1,700 individual digitisation projects across verticals,” he said.
Cisco’s R&D operations in India play a critical role in driving innovation. “We have around 16,000 employees in India and 8,000 of those are engineers who are responsible for over 1,000 patents filed on behalf of Cisco. We spend about $6 billion on R&D internally every year. We also innovate through acquisitions. But it’s our people who are the real innovators. They’re the ones that bring forth ideas that keep us at the very forefront of innovation in our industry,” he added.
