As enterprises race to move AI from pilot projects to full-scale production, they face a common hurdle: the gap between AI ambition and infrastructure reality. While the potential of AI is immense, the complexity of integrating hardware, software, and networking often turns innovation into a bottleneck. 

This is where the partnership between Cisco and Digital Realty bridges the gap. By combining Cisco's leadership in networking and security with Digital Realty's global data center platform, we provide a unified foundation that simplifies the AI lifecycle. Together, we are helping geo-distributed enterprises move faster, reduce risk, and scale their AI initiatives globally. 

The power of a unified partnership 

Our collaboration is built on the distinct, complementary strengths of both organizations: 

Cisco brings full-stack AI blueprints to the partnership-comprehensive reference architectures designed for production environments. At the core are Cisco AI PODs. These are modular, pre-validated infrastructure units designed to take the guesswork out of scaling. We deliver advanced, programmable networking-including 8000 Series Routers and SRv6-to optimize traffic for AI workloads. Our solution also provides end-to-end observability for proactive performance assurance, alongside robust AI Defense to secure models and data throughout their entire lifecycle. 

Digital Realty provides scalable, AI-ready infrastructure designed for modern power and cooling requirements, combining Digital Realty Innovation Lab (DRIL), a proving ground to validate real workloads, an advanced interconnection fabric (ServiceFabric®), and a global ecosystem (PlatformDIGITAL®) spanning over 300 facilities in 50+ metros and across 30+ countries. 

Together, we deliver accelerated time to value, significantly reduced deployment risk, and the ability to scale AI workflows globally with confidence. 

A collaborative approach to experimentation and optimization 

One of the most exciting aspects of our partnership is the collaborative proving ground we've established in the DRIL. Here, customers can bring their applications, test them, and optimize them with support from Cisco and Digital Realty. This environment is invaluable, providing a foundation for experimentation and rapid innovation. It reduces risk, improves time to value, and ensures that organizations are getting the most out of their AI investments.  

For us at Cisco, simplifying AI starts with delivering well-defined, validated reference architectures-solutions that are sized for different applications and built on our trusted "Cisco Validated Design" concept. By integrating the full stack, we help customers confidently build AI into their workflows and transform their businesses.  

Figure 1: Cisco architecture for empowering enterprise AI  

Solving the infrastructure challenge: The HCI advantage 

To support the demands of modern AI, we have integrated our technologies into a streamlined solution. Our approach centers on hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), which simplifies the deployment of complex AI workloads. 

By integrating compute, scalable storage, seamless networking, and security, we enable: 

• Distributed inferencing: Run AI models closer to the data source to minimize latency and improve performance. 
• Seamless interconnectivity: Use ServiceFabric to link data sources and inference endpoints across metros, ensuring consistent performance. 
• Flexible scaling: Our modular design supports both "scaling up" (adding resources to a single node) and "scaling out" (adding more nodes) as your datasets grow and your AI needs evolve. 

Addressing the challenge of data center densification  

AI workloads require more from the data center. Traditional rack densities of 6-8 kW are giving way to AI POD densities reaching 20-50 kW. Meeting these demands means creating environments that support dense power, robust cooling, and seamless interconnectivity. Through our collaboration, Digital Realty and Cisco have developed solutions that meet these requirements, allowing customers to scale their AI applications efficiently and reliably.  

Built for the geo-distributed enterprise 

This joint solution is designed specifically for organizations that operate across multiple locations and require consistent, high-performance AI capabilities. Whether you are a retail bank looking to implement real-time fraud detection across thousands of branches, or a global retailer deploying computer vision to optimize in-store customer experiences, our architecture provides the reliability and speed you need. 

By moving beyond the "do-it-yourself" model of infrastructure, your team can stop managing the plumbing of AI and start focusing on the outcomes that drive your business forward. 

Accelerate your AI journey 

Our partnership with Digital Realty is built to help enterprises move from experimentation to execution with less risk and more speed. Together, we have demonstrated how distributed inference can enable intelligence by decoupling reasoning and execution across multiple locations-a hallmark of advanced agentic architectures. With validated designs, modular AI-ready infrastructure, DRIL for hands-on workload validation, and ServiceFabric for metro-scale interconnection, customers can focus on outcomes while scaling AI factory workflows and distributed inference with confidence. 

With validated designs and a global footprint, Cisco and Digital Realty are ready to help you turn your AI ambitions into a competitive advantage.

Scale your AI infrastructure-fast