Cisco has released its latest State of Industrial AI Report, showing that AI is now widely used across factories, utilities, and transportation.
The report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 operational technology decision-makers across 19 countries and 21 industrial sectors. It finds that 61% of industrial organizations are using AI in live operational environments, while 20% report scaled, mature deployments.
AI is being used in process automation, automated quality inspection, predictive maintenance, logistics, and energy forecasting.
Most companies plan to increase spending, with 83% expecting to invest more in AI and 87% expecting meaningful outcomes within two years.
The breakdown
The report breaks down the biggest drivers and barriers into three main areas.
Network infrastructure
As AI moves into real-time operations, network strength becomes more important.
- 97% expect AI workloads to impact industrial network requirements
- 51% expect higher connectivity and reliability demands
- 96% say wireless networking is essential to enabling AI
The report notes that reliable connectivity, predictable latency, and edge computing are becoming central to scaling AI across physical operations.
Cybersecurity
Security remains one of the top concerns as more machines, sensors, and systems become connected.
- 98% say cybersecurity is foundational for AI-ready infrastructure
- 40% cite cybersecurity as the biggest obstacle to scaling AI
- 85% expect AI to improve their cybersecurity posture
Companies see AI as both a risk and part of the solution when it comes to monitoring and protecting operations.
IT and OT collaboration
The ability of IT and operational teams to work together appears to play a major role in scaling AI.
- 57% report some level of IT and OT collaboration
- 43% report limited or no collaboration
- 47% of organizations with limited collaboration cite network instability as a top challenge
“Industrial AI is moving from experimentation into production, where AI systems sense, reason, and act in the real world,” said Vikas Butaney, SVP/GM of Secure Routing and Industrial IoT at Cisco. “At this stage, success is no longer determined by models alone, but by whether networks, security, and teams are ready to support AI at the edge, in motion, and at scale. The research shows that organizations confident in scaling AI are those treating infrastructure, cybersecurity, and IT/OT collaboration as foundational, not optional.”
Cisco conducted the survey in association with Sapio Research. Respondents represented companies with annual revenues above $100 million.
