Cisco’s new Global AI Partners Study reveals that IT partners expect a significant revenue shift toward AI-related technologies over the next four to five years. The report, titled “Bridging the Customer AI Readiness Gap – The opportunities ahead for partners”, finds that 27% of surveyed partners anticipate that 76-100% of their revenue will stem from AI technologies within this period. Key drivers behind this demand include infrastructure (54%), cybersecurity (48%), and customer experience (30%). Short-term expectations are also high, with 38% of partners projecting AI to contribute 26-50% of their revenue within the next year. These findings align with the Cisco AI Readiness Index, which highlights a global gap in AI adoption readiness due to challenges in infrastructure, data management, governance, and talent.
The study underscores both the revenue potential and the readiness challenges for partners implementing AI solutions. While partners express confidence in areas like infrastructure scalability, GPU resource availability, and data privacy, they also acknowledge gaps, such as insufficient experience in deploying new technologies (62%) and limited knowledge of complex systems (56%). To address these, nearly 80% of partners are investing in upskilling through internal and external training programs. According to Alex Pujols, Cisco’s VP of Global Partner Engineering, these findings affirm the critical role partners play in guiding businesses through the AI transformation.
