I'm thrilled to share that Cisco has been recognized as the overall leader and top implementer in the ABI Research Enterprise WLAN Infrastructure Vendors Competitive Ranking 2026. This prestigious acknowledgment highlights our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences for our customers and empowering them to build networks ready for the AI era. By receiving this recognition on top of our recent leadership ranking in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for Enterprise WLAN, we're happy to highlight our innovation and transformation of organizations.

Source: ABI Research Enterprise WLAN Infrastructure Vendors Competitive Ranking, Andrew Spivey, January 2026.

Wireless networks are rapidly expanding with more devices and applications every day, resulting in increased bandwidth requirements for uninterrupted video streaming, low-latency collaboration, connectivity of high-density environments, and returning fast AI queries.

At the same time, the surge in AI workloads presents new challenges for our wireless networks. As Wi-Fi becomes more critical and device density and bandwidth needs explode, the complexity of managing the network is also going up. On the one hand, wireless is a business enabler and more mission critical than ever. On the other hand, growth comes with more complexity in operations, challenging IT teams.

This is where AI, automation, and AgenticOps provide the path to scale and manage networks more efficiently. With AgenticOps, agentic capabilities don't just mean alerting but also include performing specific tasks, which allows humans to work on more complex issues, thus improving overall productivity and efficiency.

Our AI devices are ready to scale for the AI era, and by fusing security across every layer of the network, we ensure everything is protected. As more teams embark on this journey within an organization, Cisco is creating solutions that prepare customers for the next era of AI by future-proofing their workplaces.

Check out the ABI Research competitive assessment that highlights the innovations across Cisco and our customers. Read on for a quick summary.

Wireless is at the core

In the AI era, wireless is foundational to your business. Cisco provides the essential foundation to scale your infrastructure with AI-ready devices, simplify your journey through agentic capabilities, and secure your digital transformation, ensuring the network is agile-always.

• Cisco has advanced AI features enabled by the company's industry-leading large language model (LLM) purpose-built for networking, the Cisco Deep Network Model.
• Cisco has shown recent efforts to converge its networking portfolio across hardware, licensing, and embedded operating systems (OSs).
• Cisco's leadership in the innovation category is evidenced by the company's unrivaled market share and extensive global channel partner network.
• Cisco Wi-Fi 7 access points are ready for the AI era while expanding integration to Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB) technology for areas where fiber is difficult to lay with near-zero latency, "make-before-break" handoffs, and uninterrupted connectivity.
• Cisco access points also directly power Cisco Spaces, unlocking a series of new use cases such as location analytics, wayfinding, and asset tracking.

A network for the next era of AI

AgenticOps for operational simplicity

As AI reshapes our world, Cisco is redefining how networks think and act. AgenticOps delivers value in three transformative ways: faster troubleshooting, robust network optimization to mitigate problems, and trusted validation, allowing changes to scale securely. With AgenticOps, users transform a reactive motion into a proactive shift.

Our competitive advantage is simple: we possess a data lead that no one else can claim. With over 40 years of Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) specialization, our models are using decades of experience to train for the future of AI-driven connectivity. It is this specialized intelligence that led ABI Research to recognize the Cisco Deep Network Model as the most powerful networking-specific LLM in the industry today.

Features like Cisco AI Assistant leverage our over 40-year data lead that empowers customers to move more effectively and innovate faster. By using natural language to drive productivity and digital transformation, AI simplifies the complexity. By embedding AgenticOps with Cisco wireless, customers benefit from:

• AI-RRM: Automates, optimizes, and predicts RF changes in real time.
• AI Config Recommendations: Eliminates the guesswork through predictive configuration guidance powered by trained models.
• AI Packet Analyzer: Faster troubleshooting by turning data into decisive action.

These tools provide the automated assurance that is essential for optimizing and future-proofing an organization's wireless environment.

Security fused into the network

In today's era of AI-powered networking, modern security solutions embed visibility, protection, and deep inspection directly into the network, acting as the first line of defense. Wireless security safeguards user devices and agents from unauthorized access, misuse, and attacks, starting with the verification of every connected device. For example, Cisco Secure Boot ensures that devices operate only on trusted, verified software, preventing tampering and establishing a secure infrastructure from the ground up.

Unlike wireless-only offerings, Cisco extends security across every network domain. Unified security policies support a comprehensive zero-trust approach organization-wide, ensuring consistent enforcement and protection everywhere users connect.

As networks grow and threats evolve, cybersecurity becomes even more strategic. Cisco AI Defense is an end-to-end solution that empowers security teams with robust data and threat protection, while also securing proprietary AI tools and assets.

Scalable devices ready for AI

Since launching our Wi-Fi 7 access points in 2024, our Wi-Fi 7 portfolio (CW9171, CW9174, and CW9179F) supports any operation scale with a unified platform, providing flexibility to deploy in any enterprise setting. With integrated technologies, Cisco wireless access points enable devices to scale to new use cases every day, including indoor navigation or asset tracking with ultra-wideband (UWB) + Cisco Spaces, along with cameras and sensors for physical security use cases. And when ultra-reliable connectivity is essential for mission-critical use cases, like supporting automated guided vehicles in factories or providing network access in areas where fiber is difficult to install, Cisco Wi-Fi 7 access points use URWB to ensure consistent and dependable performance. The ABI Research report highlights how this level of innovation enables us to successfully deliver solutions optimized for even the most challenging environments.

Cisco's innovations are designed for the expanding, AI-driven network landscape. The networks you deploy today are not only prepared for today's challenges-they set the stage for your business's future operations and success.

Read the excerpt where Cisco is
named a leader in Enterprise WLAN