Cisco AI Readiness Index

Where the business world stands — and where it needs to go — to compete in an AI era that refuses to stand still.

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Readiness isn’t the destination, it’s the journey

Each year, we benchmark how organizations are progressing from preparation to performance-measuring how they’re deploying, scaling and governing AI, and who’s realizing its value.

2025 Global Readiness

% Pacesetters

% Chasers

% Followers

% Laggards

2024 Global Readiness

% Pacesetters

% Chasers

% Followers

% Laggards

2023 Global Readiness

% Pacesetters

% Chasers

% Followers

% Laggards

Realizing the Value of AI

Find out how the most AI-ready companies from the Index outperform across every measure of value.

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Look-up Tool

Track trends across the six pillars of AI readiness and compare regions, markets, and industries.

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Assessment Tool

Find out if you’re a Pacesetter — or what it takes to become one.

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Methodology

Discover how we built the Index — from survey design and data collection to the six-pillar framework.

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What AI leaders do differently

Strategy separates leaders from wishful thinkers

99% of Pacesetters have a well-defined AI strategy vs. 58% overall. You can't execute what you haven't planned.

Not all networks were built for AI — and 85% know it

Only 15% have networks fully ready for AI vs. 71% of Pacesetters. When AI workloads surge, the network can become the bottleneck that you’ll struggle to fix under strain.

Scattered data means scattered results

76% of Pacesetters have fully centralized data vs. 19% overall. AI can only work with data it can find.

Security as infrastructure, not as afterthought

84% of Pacesetters have end-to-end encryption with continuous monitoring vs. 30% of all companies. Trust helps deliver speed. Secure infrastructure helps deliver trust.

AI without preparing people? Pilots stay pilots.

91% of Pacesetters have comprehensive change management plans vs. 35% of all companies. Technology changes fast. People need help keeping up.

The scale and speed gap: Where pilots go to die

97% of Pacesetters say they deployed AI at the scale and speed necessary to realize ROI vs. 41% overall. The 56-point gap? That's the difference between AI that delivers business value and an expensive experiment.

Strong AI needs stronger oversight

Only 24% of organizations can control agent actions with proper guardrails and live monitoring — compared to 84% of Pacesetters. Without governance, AI risks scale faster than innovation.