Cisco’s AI momentum driving infrastructure deals to the tune of $700m in 2025: CEO

Cisco is on track to surpass $1bn worth of AI infrastructure orders in 2025, the tech giant announced during its Q2 2025 earnings call

Cisco Systems’ second fiscal quarter of 2025 saw a surge in deals requiring network upgrades for incoming AI applications, CEO Chuck Robbins said during the tech giant’s Q2 2025 earnings call on Wednesday.

Cisco reported AI infrastructure orders of more than $350m during its second quarter, bringing the total for the first half of Cisco's fiscal 2025 to approximately $700m (£555.95m).

The company is on track to surpass $1bn of AI infrastructure orders in 2025, Robbins said.

"AI security is top of mind for customers, especially in light of the emergence of new AI models,” Robbins said.

“These have reinforced that the battle for AI leadership will be on a global playing field.

“The adoption of AI network infrastructure, data capacity investments, and best-in-class AI security are all tailwinds for Cisco.”

While AI traction has mainly been driven by hyperscale cloud buildouts, enterprise opportunity is on the rise as businesses plan to bolster their infrastructure for the AI era, Robbins said.

The CEO highlighted momentum in Hypershield, the company's AI-powered security architecture for datacentre protection.

Cisco booked two eight-figure deals during the second fiscal quarter of 2025, which the company said signalled commitment from large customers for a "transformative" approach to security.

Cisco’s datacentre switching portfolio had its fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit order growth as enterprises ready themselves for AI deployments, Robbins said.

The company’s product revenues, which is led by the core networking business, increased 11 per cent excluding Splunk and service revenues climbed six per cent during Q2 2025.

Including Spunk, the company saw its fourth consecutive quarter of accelerating growth in product orders with 29 per cent growth year-on-year.

"This is a testament to our power of our portfolio and value we bring to customers," Robbins said.

He also took to the call to share that Gary Steele, Cisco’s president of go-to-market, will resign as of April 25 to pursue a CEO position elsewhere.

Cisco Q2 2025 financial results

Cisco’s networking segment includes the core switching and routing businesses, as well as the company’s telecommunications, cloud, and optical networking products.

Networking, a typically strong category for Cisco, declined three per cent with revenues of $6.85bn compared to Q2 2024’s result.

The segment was impacted primarily by declines in server sales, said Cisco CFO R Scott Herren.

Cisco’s security segment rose a whopping 117 per cent year-on-year with revenues of $2.11bn, which was attributed to the company's offerings such as zero trust and extended detection and response (XDR) and Secure Access, Robbins said.

The observability segment continued its strong momentum, posting 47 per cent revenue growth quarter over quarter of $277m.

Excluding Splunk, the security and observability segments grew four per cent and three per cent, respectively, in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, according to the company.

Cisco’s collaboration segment increased one per cent year-on-year to $996m in revenue compared to Q2 2024, driven by strength in contact centre and CPaaS, Herren said.

Subscriptions now make up about 56 per cent of Cisco's total revenue, which grew 23 per cent year-on-year, Robbins said.

For Cisco’s fiscal Q2 2025, which ended 25 January, revenue was up nine per cent to $13.99bn compared to the same period a year ago.

Cisco posted non-GAAP earnings per share of 94 cents, an eight per cent increase compared to a year ago and non-GAAP net income of $3.8bn in the second fiscal quarter of the year, which was up six per cent year-on-year.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, Cisco closed the acquisition of Deeper Insights AI, a privately held AI services company.

Cisco’s stock was up nearly seven per cent in after-hours trading Wednesday following the networking giant’s earnings release.

This article originally appeared on CRN UK sister website CRN.