Cisco Paves the Way with Agentic AI Collaboration

Rhea-AI Summary

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) has announced new AI-powered collaboration solutions at Enterprise Connect, focusing on agentic AI innovations. The company is launching Webex AI Agent, set for general availability on March 31, 2025, offering 24/7 self-service with natural, human-like interactions for customer support.

Key announcements include updates to the Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center planned for Q2 2025, featuring suggested responses and real-time transcription. The company is also introducing Webex Calling Customer Assist, enabling employees to provide enhanced customer support through the Webex app.

Additional innovations include workflow automation capabilities in Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Suite, new AI management features in Webex Control Hub, and ecosystem integrations including Apple AirPlay support for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Cisco Spatial Meetings compatibility with Apple Vision Pro.

Positive

• Introduction of 24/7 AI-powered customer service solution reducing operational costs
• Expansion of enterprise integration capabilities with major platforms (Salesforce, ServiceNow, Jira)
• New revenue stream potential through Webex Calling Customer Assist solution
• Enhanced product portfolio with AI-driven features strengthening market position

Negative

• Significant investment required in AI technology development
• Potential cybersecurity and privacy risks associated with AI implementation
• Dependency on third-party integrations for full functionality

Insights

Financial Technology Analyst

Cisco's rollout of agentic AI solutions across its Webex platform represents a strategic expansion of higher-margin software offerings that could meaningfully diversify revenue streams beyond traditional networking hardware. The announcement centers on transforming contact centers into AI-powered "experience centers" with the general availability of Webex AI Agent on March 31, 2025 - a tangible milestone showing Cisco is moving from concept to marketable products in the AI space.

The integration capabilities are particularly significant - the platform will connect with Salesforce, ServiceNow, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Apple devices, and Epic healthcare systems. This ecosystem approach strengthens Cisco's enterprise stickiness by embedding its technology across critical business workflows and multiple industries.

From a financial perspective, this push aligns with investor preferences for recurring, subscription-based revenue models rather than one-time hardware sales. Contact center modernization represents a substantial addressable market, and Cisco's approach of enhancing existing Webex deployments provides an efficient go-to-market strategy with lower customer acquisition costs than standalone products would require.

While revenue impact will materialize gradually as features roll out through 2025, this announcement reinforces Cisco's strategic pivot toward higher-growth, software-centric business lines that could command better valuation multiples than pure networking equipment.

Enterprise AI Solutions Expert

Cisco's agentic AI announcement represents a meaningful competitive advancement in the enterprise collaboration space. Unlike basic generative AI implementations that merely provide suggestions, Cisco is developing systems that can actively execute tasks across applications - a more sophisticated approach that addresses genuine productivity bottlenecks.

The Webex AI Agent appears particularly differentiated with its ability to perform actions to fulfill customer requests rather than simply answering questions. This moves beyond chatbot functionality to true process automation, potentially reducing operational costs while improving customer satisfaction through 24/7 availability without queues.

The workflow automation capabilities connecting Webex with enterprise applications like Salesforce and ServiceNow address a critical friction point in current AI implementations - the inability to seamlessly work across system boundaries. By building these connectors natively, Cisco is reducing implementation complexity for IT departments.

The consolidated AI management through Webex Control Hub is equally important, providing centralized visibility into AI usage patterns and customization options. This addresses enterprise concerns around AI governance and deployment oversight.

For healthcare specifically, the Epic integration for contact centers represents a vertical-specific enhancement that acknowledges the unique workflows of that industry, potentially opening doors for further industry-specialized implementations that could command premium pricing.

Cisco unveils new Webex AI solutions that predict and automate customer and employee experiences

News summary:

• Furthering Cisco's agentic AI journey, Cisco expands its Collaboration portfolio to include the general availability of Webex AI Agent to improve customer experiences.
• With new Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center updates and Webex AI Agent availability, Cisco is transforming contact centers into customer experience centers.
• New solutions for end users and IT teams include Webex Calling Customer Assist, new features within Webex Control Hub, and new workflow automation solutions for the Cisco AI Assistant for Webex.

ORLANDO, Fla., March 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At Enterprise Connect, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) will unveil its vision for agentic AI collaboration, along with new AI-powered collaboration solutions designed to create futureproofed experiences for customers, employees and IT teams. Cisco is driving toward a future where AI anticipates customer and employee needs, addresses challenges, fulfils intent and further enhances productivity for all. New agentic AI innovations include the general availability of the Webex AI Agent for enhanced customer experience. Additional solutions announced across Collaboration Devices and the Webex Suite include new workflows in AI Assistant for Webex Suite to streamline employee experiences, Webex Calling Customer Assist, and AirPlay on Cisco Devices for Microsoft Teams Rooms.

"Enterprises are starting to realize the potential of agentic AI. It is reinventing what it means for people and technology to work together across the physical and digital worlds," said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. "Our customers love how Webex AI is built seamlessly into the way you work. Working alongside employees increasing efficiency, improving employee sentiment and enhancing overall customer experiences."

Creating Customer Experience Centers with AI
Traditional contact centers, primarily reactive in addressing customer inquiries, are evolving into experience centers where every interaction is an opportunity to provide exceptional interactions with customers. Webex is making this possible with the Webex Customer Experience portfolio with tools like AI Agent and AI Assistant for Contact Center that seamlessly answer customers' questions and integrate with back-office systems for automated intent fulfillment. New AI solutions include:

• Webex AI Agent: With general availability planned for March 31, 2025, the Webex AI Agent is a 24/7, self-service solution with natural, human-like interactions. It works alongside human agents to answer routine and high-volume customer questions and executes actions to fulfil customer requests, while eliminating the need for queues or wait times. It integrates out of the box with Webex Contact Center and combines natural sounding conversational intelligence with real-time automation for customers to resolve issues and queries as if they were speaking or messaging with a human.
• Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center: To improve agent and customer service experiences, the generally available Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center has new features planned for Q2 2025, including suggested responses and real-time transcription for agents. These will join previously available features including context transfer summaries, dropped call summaries, Agent Wellbeing, topic analytics and automatic customer satisfaction scores (Auto CSAT).

Delivering AI-Powered Employee Experiences for End Users and IT
In today's digital era, employees expect intelligent and efficient collaboration experiences. AI-powered solutions deliver seamless collaboration and bolster productivity for every employee, from the end users who depend on our products daily to the IT professionals who ensure smooth operations. Employees can use some of these tools as they become available later this year to increase their productivity with workflow automation that streamlines routine tasks, easily customize and manage AI capabilities and insights, and more, including:

• Workflow Automation in Cisco AI Assistant for Webex: This capability in the Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Suite intends to streamline processes and save time by working across enterprise apps like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Jira. This enables users to more efficiently complete tasks and automatically share meeting summaries across enterprise apps.
• AI Capabilities in Webex Control Hub: The platform will allow IT admins to easily access, search and manage all AI ecosystems in one place, and to customize them to match their organization's needs. They will also be able to view analytics on AI usage, trends, and employee adoption metrics within Webex Control Hub.

Any employee can be empowered to assist customers with this Webex Calling solution:

• Webex Calling Customer Assist: This reimagined calling solution aims to empower any employee to assist customers with an AI-powered, modern experience in the Webex app on their desktop or mobile phone. With Customer Assist, local and regional branches including retail stores, bank branches, pharmacies and healthcare clinics can quickly provide great customer experiences, resolve issues and build strong relationships. With the addition of new features available later this year, it intends to provide efficient call routing, AI assistance for agents and supervisors and powerful analytics—all in an easy-to-deploy, cost-effective Webex Calling offering.

The Webex ecosystem delivers a seamless integration of AI-driven innovations and collaboration tools, enhancing user experiences with secure, flexible, and rich interactions across workspaces:

• Apple AirPlay on Cisco Devices is now available for Microsoft Teams Rooms, enabling instant wireless content sharing from iPhone, iPad or Mac to Cisco Devices.
• Now generally available, Cisco Spatial Meetings allows users to turn any space equipped with a Cisco Room Bar Pro into an immersive studio with Webex for Apple Vision Pro.
• With connectors across many enterprise apps such as Outlook, Salesforce, and ServiceNow—made possible with Glean—users can enhance discussions, search Webex, and speed up decision-making with knowledge graphs and connectors.
• Native Epic integration for Webex Contact Center, expected to be in beta this month, will enable contact center agents to access patient information more easily as they manage interactions within the popular electronic health record (EHR) software.

To see Cisco's innovations in action, join the Enterprise Connect keynote on Tuesday, March 18 from 11:30am - 12:00pm EST and visit Cisco at Booth #1607.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that is revolutionizing the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco has securely connected the world. With its industry leading AI-powered solutions and services, Cisco enables its customers, partners and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity and strengthen digital resilience. With purpose at its core, Cisco remains committed to creating a more connected and inclusive future for all. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at @Cisco.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at http://www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word 'partner' does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

About Webex

Webex is a leading provider of cloud-based collaboration solutions which includes video meetings, calling, messaging, events, customer experience solutions like contact center and purpose-built collaboration devices. At Webex, we start with people and their experiences first. This focus on delivering inclusive collaboration experiences fuels our innovation, which leverages AI and Machine Learning, to remove the barriers of geography, language, personality, and familiarity with technology. Our solutions are underpinned with security and privacy by design. We work with the world's leading business and productivity apps – delivered through a single application and interface. Learn more at webex.com.

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cisco-paves-the-way-with-agentic-ai-collaboration-302402556.html

SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.

FAQ

When will Cisco's Webex AI Agent be available to customers?

Webex AI Agent will be generally available on March 31, 2025, offering 24/7 self-service customer support with natural interactions.

What new features are coming to Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center in Q2 2025?

New features include suggested responses and real-time transcription for agents, adding to existing capabilities like context transfer summaries and Auto CSAT.

How does CSCO's new Webex Calling Customer Assist benefit businesses?

It enables any employee to assist customers through the Webex app, offering efficient call routing, AI assistance, and analytics for locations like retail stores and healthcare clinics.

What enterprise applications will Cisco's new Webex AI workflow automation support?

The workflow automation will work across enterprise apps including Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Jira, enabling automated task completion and meeting summary sharing.