Since the security market is large and segmented, out-of-the-box approaches are needed to spur more innovations.

To integrate security and networking, Cisco Systems Inc. devised a platform that is cloud-based and powered by generative artificial intelligence, called Cisco Security Cloud, according to Jeetu Patel (pictured), executive vice president and general manager of the Security and Collaboration Business Units at Cisco.

“About a year ago, we decided that we are going to launch this platform approach, called Cisco Security Cloud,” Patel said. “The attackers are getting more sophisticated, they’re getting more coordinated and our defenses are getting more isolated because of the point solutions. So we figured we’d be able to help here. We launched it a year ago, and there was a lot of enthusiasm about the vision but a cautious level of optimism about our ability to execute.”

Patel spoke with theCUBE industry analysts John Furrier and Dave Vellante at Cisco Live, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Cisco is revamping the security scene using innovations, such as AI and the Cisco Security Cloud.

AI should augment human capacity

Since AI is emerging as one of the most profound shifts in human history, Cisco is using this cutting-edge technology to join together network and security. AI is also playing a pivotal role in boosting people’s capabilities, Patel pointed out.

“The fact that we actually invested so much in speech and everything starts in meetings with speech and moving that to text will really help our generative calls,” he said. “We will be the most kind of intentional AI-powered platform for security and for collaboration and for all the other areas, networking, observability on the planet.”

Given that Cisco has been working on predictive AI for many years, the strides made will enable the company to take advantage of generative AI. Custom and generic data will also be instrumental in the realization of enhanced security outcomes, according to Patel.

“If you look at what we’re doing with generative AI with policy engine, and what we’re doing with the SOC assistant, no one else has announced a policy engine for firewall where you have 6 million rules that you need to go out and manage, which you can do in a conversational AI kind of mode,” he added.

Since necessity is the mother of invention, Cisco Multicloud Defense streamlines security through a single control-plane approach. Cisco Secure Access is also founded on the zero-trust concept and makes security connectivity simple, Patel explained.

“Our Secure Access solution will be the best in the market, hands down,” he said. “There’s no one else in the market today that does a single experience for employees and contractors, for accessing applications that are in the cloud and the private data center, for accessing applications from home and at work in exactly the same experience. If you look at Multicloud Defense, that’s not just best of breed. We’re the first to market of any kind of at scale provider.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Cisco Live:

Photo: SiliconANGLE