Cisco is revolutionizing customer support with a new AI-based system that blends enterprise infrastructure data into a unified interface. The platform, known as Cisco IQ, promises to offer proactive recommendations, troubleshooting assistance, lifecycle guidance, and much more. This AI-powered tool aims to be the core foundation for Cisco’s customer experience (CX) services and professional offerings moving forward.
With the introduction of Cisco IQ, the company seeks to centralize its service offerings around a single AI-driven platform. This system combines data from best practices, security advisories, configuration details, and more, to provide comprehensive, real-time solutions to customers. Cisco IQ will also help customers navigate the complexities of their network infrastructure, security, cloud operations, and data centers.
Cisco’s Bold Move: Transforming CX with AI
Cisco’s vision is to ensure enterprises efficiently select and implement technologies that help meet their business goals. Historically, the delivery of services has been fragmented, relying on separate tools for different stages of service. Bhaskar Jayakrishnan, senior vice president of Cisco CX, explained that this fragmentation results in wasted time on data collection and tool management rather than meaningful analysis.
According to Jayakrishnan, Cisco IQ shifts the company’s approach from a tool-centric model to an intelligence-first model. The system serves multiple personas – customers, partners, and Cisco’s internal teams – through an API-first architecture. This transition allows Cisco to integrate decades of expertise into a dynamic, self-improving platform that optimizes infrastructure, security, and operational resilience.
AI in Action: Key Features of Cisco IQ
Cisco IQ offers a range of intelligent actions aimed at transforming the customer support experience. These key features include:
- Predictive Asset Insights
Solves the asset management challenge by unifying data from purchase contracts, device telemetry, and support cases into a single inventory. Tracks lifecycle milestones and delivers relevant Field Notices and Security Advisories for proactive infrastructure management. - Adaptive Infrastructure Assessments
Offers a standardized framework for assessing multiple domains, from operational health to security. AI interprets best-practice guides, generates tailored plans, analyzes configurations, produces findings, and provides prioritized recommendations. - AI-Powered Troubleshooting
Redefines support with a modern case management interface and an AI assistant. The AI agent uses hypothesis-driven and evidence-based methods to pinpoint root causes faster, leveraging internal knowledge and past solutions. - Technology Migration Framework
Uses AI-driven insights to create orchestration templates for complex migrations. Automates transitions with expert oversight, minimizing manual effort and risk, and integrates flexibly into customer systems for consistent outcomes. - Digitized Delivery Framework
A suite of capabilities that automates the entire process—planning, design, implementation, operation, and optimization—transforming traditional workflows into AI-ready, fully automated processes.
The Future of CX: AI-Driven Efficiency
Cisco’s push to centralize its customer experience around AI is an attempt to streamline operations and allow IT teams to focus on strategic decisions. As Liz Centoni, Cisco’s executive vice president of customer experience, noted, Cisco IQ acts as an accelerator. By automating routine tasks, it frees up valuable resources, enabling businesses to prioritize high-impact decisions that can drive growth and innovation.
As Cisco continues to expand its AI offerings, the company’s commitment to integrating AI into every aspect of its customer experience becomes more evident. Cisco IQ is not just a tool for automating processes – it’s a comprehensive platform designed to keep customers ahead of the curve, ensuring that their infrastructure is always operating at peak performance.
