Techaisle Blog

For years, midmarket businesses have been caught in a difficult position, forced to choose between the chaos of disparate, best-of-breed point solutions and the restrictive "walled gardens" of single-vendor platforms. At WebexOne 2025, Cisco presented a compelling third way: a vision of "Connected Intelligence" that delivers the power of a deeply integrated, cross-portfolio platform without the penalty of a closed ecosystem. This strategy, which Techaisle defines as Pragmatic Platformization, is a masterclass in meeting customers where they are. It is also the realization of a vision Techaisle first articulated in our 2018 white paper, "Interwork: the next step in connected businesses." In that analysis, we identified that the future of business IT would be defined by an 'Interwork platform' built from the interconnection of seven key domains, including "Connected security," "Connected collaboration," and "Connected insights." Cisco's 'Connected Intelligence' strategy is a powerful, real-world execution of this very concept. By combining the unique strengths of its networking, security, and collaboration portfolios while simultaneously forging deep, native integrations with its staunchest competitors, Cisco is building a platform that is uniquely suited to the heterogeneous and investment-conscious nature of the midmarket.

The 'One Cisco' Advantage: From Metal to Model

The foundation of the Connected Intelligence vision is the "true platform effect" that comes from leveraging Cisco's entire technology stack. This is not just a marketing concept; it is an organizational and engineering reality that allows Cisco to solve problems that no pure-play collaboration or networking vendor can address alone.

The most powerful new expression of this is the extension of AI Canvas to the collaboration portfolio. Initially announced for networking and security, AI Canvas is a collaborative, AI-powered troubleshooting tool. Integrating collaboration data means an IT admin can now investigate a "poor call quality" complaint and see correlated data from the Webex application, the user's Meraki access point, and the underlying Catalyst switch, all in a single, "multiplayer" interface. AI Canvas can then identify the root cause—such as a misconfigured QoS policy—and suggest a fix that can be applied in minutes, not days.

The narrative surrounding Artificial Intelligence in the workplace is undergoing a seismic shift. For the past several years, the conversation has been dominated by assistive AI—tools that could listen, transcribe, and summarize, acting as diligent but passive scribes. At its WebexOne 2025 event, Cisco signaled the definitive end of that era and the dawn of a new one: the age of Agentic AI. This is not merely an evolution; it is a re-imagining of AI's role from a helpful assistant to a proactive, autonomous "agentic teammate". While the scale of this vision is enterprise-grade, Techaisle analysis indicates that its most profound impact may be felt within the midmarket, where the automation of complex workflows is not a luxury, but a critical engine for growth and competitive advantage.

From Passive Assistance to Proactive Action

Cisco’s core message was a move "from this kind of notion of chat bots that intelligently answered our questions to agents that are going to conduct tasks and jobs almost fully autonomously on our behalf". This transition is the central pillar of its “Connected Intelligence” vision and is embodied by the introduction of five new AI Agents for the Webex Suite. These agents are designed to move beyond reporting on what happened in a meeting to actively participating in the work that follows.

• The Notetaker Agent: This agent captures summaries and action items from in-person conversations using the Webex app or a Cisco device.
• The Polling Agent: It contextually listens to meeting conversations and proactively suggests live polls to gauge team sentiment or gather immediate feedback, eliminating the friction of creating them manually.
• The Task Agent: Going beyond listing action items, this agent can be delegated to complete them—for example, by automatically creating a Jira ticket based on a technical discussion.
• The Meeting Scheduler Agent: This agent intelligently identifies the need for a follow-up, finds a suitable time for all required participants, and even drafts an agenda based on the prior conversation’s context.
• The Receptionist Agent: Leveraging technology from its Contact Center portfolio, this voice-enabled agent can handle routine inbound calls, answer queries, and route customers, acting as an AI-powered automated attendant for Webex Calling.

The Midmarket Perspective: A Productivity Force Multiplier

Techaisle's in-depth interviews with Cisco's SMB customers reveal a deep commitment from the vendor to solving their unique business challenges through its AI-powered offerings. Direct feedback from SMB customers, gathered through Techaisle's extensive interviews, confirms that Cisco's AI solutions are resonating precisely because they target the specific operational challenges these businesses face. SMBs are increasingly recognizing AI's potential, with many already having AI projects in the trial/pilot phase, and 92% expected to use AI by the end of 2025. A remarkable 75% of firms believe delaying AI adoption would lead to missed opportunities. Despite this positive outlook, many SMBs struggle with how to begin their AI adoption journey. The path is often fraught with numerous challenges, ranging from a lack of internal expertise and budgetary constraints to technical hurdles like reliance on legacy systems, limited network bandwidth, or data restrictions. Softer challenges, such as resistance to change or the absence of a clear strategy, can also impede effective AI adoption, sometimes leading to "checkbox solutions" that fail to meet real business needs.

Cisco’s Strategic Approach: Overcoming SMB Challenges with Tailored AI Innovations

Cisco deeply understands the unique needs of SMBs. Cisco’s AI-powered ecosystems are specifically designed to help SMBs unlock significant value without the burden of complex, stand-alone systems, addressing pressing challenges like limited resources, skills gaps, and operational inefficiencies. Let me first outline how Cisco’s approach to AI helps SMBs mitigate common adoption hurdles:

The modern enterprise, especially in the wake of the global shift to hybrid work, has firmly established collaboration as its central nervous system. It's no longer just a "nice-to-have" convenience; it's a strategic imperative directly influencing productivity, innovation, employee engagement, and overall business agility. Organizations are grappling with distributed teams, diverse work styles, and a multitude of digital tools, all of which demand seamless and effective communication. In this dynamic environment, the quality of collaboration experiences isn't just important; it's paramount to success in the digital age.

Within this evolving landscape, Cisco has long been a foundational player, building a formidable presence in networking, security, and, significantly, enterprise collaboration. For decades, Webex has been synonymous with robust meeting capabilities, underpinned by Cisco's heritage in secure, high-performance infrastructure. However, as the market matured and became more fragmented with the rise of numerous software-centric collaboration platforms, some might have questioned the continued emphasis on dedicated hardware. Indeed, as an analyst, I observed this skepticism myself. Yet, Cisco has not only maintained but significantly amplified its investment in collaboration devices, taking a bold and strategic initiative to innovate and expand its hardware portfolio. This commitment signals a profound understanding that while software provides the functional backbone, high-quality hardware truly anchors the collaboration experience, transforming it from merely functional to genuinely immersive and equitable. Having personally used several Cisco collaboration devices, I can attest to their impressive quality, performance, and interoperability.

From my vantage point, Cisco's renewed and aggressive device strategy, particularly its focus on open interoperability, isn't just a tactical adjustment; it’s a critical differentiator and, frankly, a strategic necessity in a crowded market. By embracing an ecosystem where its hardware seamlessly supports multiple third-party meeting platforms, Cisco is directly addressing a pervasive pain point for enterprises: the complexity and friction of multi-vendor environments. This strategic pivot positions Cisco not as a proprietor of a closed garden but as an enabler of universal, high-fidelity collaboration experiences, laying a strong foundation for its sustained relevance and leadership in the future of hybrid work. This is a clear signal to technology vendors: open ecosystems are key to future success.

Cisco's Strategic Bet on Devices: Why Now?

Cisco’s decision to double down on collaboration devices, seemingly against a backdrop of software commoditization, is a shrewd strategic bet rooted in a deep understanding of evolving user needs and the realities of enterprise IT. At its core, this strategy recognizes a fundamental truth: a superior collaboration experience is intrinsically tied to the quality of the hardware. For technology vendors, this underscores the importance of the edge device in the user's overall perception. While the software layer provides features and functionality, it is the device at the edge—the camera, microphone, speaker, and display—that truly dictates the user’s sensory and interactive engagement. Subpar audio, grainy video, or clunky controls can quickly derail even the most feature-rich software experience, leading to frustration and reduced participation.