Cisco Systems has introduced a new integrated computing platform dubbed Cisco Unified Edge to support distributed AI workloads across sectors with significant edge operations.

The platform delivers compute, networking, storage, and security capabilities positioned at data generation points such as retail stores, healthcare sites, and industrial environments.

According to Cisco, this strategy is intended to address the increasing need for real-time AI inferencing and agentic workloads by reducing reliance on centralised data centres.

The company said that more than half of current AI pilot projects stall due to infrastructure limitations, with industry projections estimating that 75% of enterprise data will be created and processed at the edge in 2025.

Unified Edge is built as a modular system offering both central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) options, integrated storage, converged networking features, redundant power and cooling provisions and SD-WAN support.

Operational management runs through Cisco Intersight for centralised control, deployment automation and scalability, with support for Splunk and ThousandEyes to provide complete observability across deployments.

Security integrations include device-level zero-trust, tamper resistance, policy enforcement, and audit capabilities designed to address expanded edge attack surfaces.

Cisco president and chief product officer Jeetu Patel said: “As AI agents and experiences proliferate, they will naturally emerge closer to where customers interact and decisions are made – the branch office, retail store, factory floor, stadium, and more. That’s where compute needs to live.

“With our Unified Edge we’re making it easier to power AI in the real world with flexible, secure systems that are simple to deploy, operate, and scale as demand grows.”

The development process incorporated feedback from customers operating in retail, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare sectors.

Their requirements influenced system architecture as well as deployment and security features.

Cisco said the platform is capable of supporting both existing CPU-based applications and emerging GPU-dependent AI use cases.

Unified Edge platforms are currently available for order with general availability planned by year-end.

In October 2024, Bloomberg reported that Cisco was preparing to invest in CoreWeave, a US cloud-computing firm focused on AI, in a deal that would value the startup at about $23bn.