Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory: Can it Outpace PANW & FTNT?

Cisco is expanding its Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and new rack-scale compute designed to embed security into the AI infrastructure stack. The architecture combines Cisco networking, NVIDIA AI infrastructure and Supermicro rack systems, with security and resiliency built from silicon through applications and AI agents rather than handled as a separate layer. Cisco says the move targets rising enterprise, neocloud and sovereign-cloud demand for AI infrastructure that protects sensitive data while supporting complex workloads, as agentic AI broadens the cyberattack surface and increases need for monitoring and incident response. Revenue momentum includes security revenue up 14% year over year to $2.23 billion in fiscal 2026’s fourth quarter and firewall orders up more than 30%. Competition cited includes Fortinet’s FortiOS/SASE approach and Palo Alto’s AI-focused Prisma AIRS and related tools.