2026 is shaping up as a watershed year for industrial artificial intelligence, as businesses move from pilot projects to full production applications.
This picture emerges from Cisco’s new report on Industrial AI in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). As Cisco senior vice president,Vikas Butaney points out, AI is becoming a key enabler for industry transformation, with enterprises already bringing it to life through specific applications.
At the same time, he stresses that networks are the critical infrastructure of the AI era, while artificial intelligence itself is also becoming a key player in cybersecurity, due to the complexity of data that exceeds human capabilities. In a survey of more than 500 decision makers from large enterprises in EMEA, three key areas emerge:
Networks: The foundation for AI
– 47% of enterprises expect increased connectivity and reliability needs
– 94% see reliable wireless networks as critical for AI
– Critical requirements such as greater bandwidth are emerging, more computing power at the periphery (40%) and higher reliability (47%)
– Network readiness directly determines the success and scalability of AI projects.
Cybersecurity: barrier and opportunity
– 35% see it as the main barrier to AI adoption
– 46% see it as the biggest network challenge
– 81% expect security improvements through AI
– AI is already being used for threat detection, monitoring and resilience enhancement.
Collaboration of IT & operational technology: The Deciding Factor
– 41% of enterprises operate with limited or no collaboration
– 96% trust AI scaling when there is alignment (vs. 88% without)
– 98% trust compliance with collaboration (vs. 80% without)
– IT and operational technology convergence accelerates implementation, reduces operational risk, and enhances stability and security.
In practice,Industrial AI is already being applied to critical operations such as visual recognition for quality control, autonomous vehicles, robotic supply chain systems, and data-driven process automation.
The big picture is clear: AI is no longer a future promise, but a present reality. As Vikas Butaney notes, the goal is to give businesses the tools to fully harness the potential of AI and unlock new business outcomes. 2026 is not just a year of technological evolution but the point where AI goes to the heart of manufacturing and begins to set the rules of the game in industry.
