| | Good morning, AI enthusiasts. In case you missed it, Cisco just announced AI Defense — a new solution that aims to become the global standard for AI security. | In a future where workforces will include AI workers — including apps, agents, robots and humanoids, understanding AI security is essential for every knowledge worker and business. | So we partnered with Cisco and Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and CPO at Cisco, for an exclusive Q&A on how AI Defense is tackling this challenge. | Free event: Join Cisco's Virtual AI Summit to hear from the most influential figures in AI, including the COO of OpenAI, Scale AI, Dr. Fei-Fei Li, and more. | | In today's AI rundown: | Cisco's AI Defense: A new era for enterprise security AI Defense's two-fold data strategy for sensitive info Protection at scale: Network-level security integration The future of multi-model, multi-cloud AI security Why AI-forward is the only way forward
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| | EXCLUSIVE Q&A JEETU PATEL |
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| | ANNOUNCEMENT | |  | Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown |
| The Rundown: Cisco announced AI Defense, a new security solution designed to protect AI systems in a future where workforces will expand to include AI workers — including apps, agents, robots, and humanoids. | Cheung: "AI security is dominating headlines right now. But for our readers who may be new to the topic, can you explain in simple terms what AI Defense is and why this announcement is a big deal?" | Patel: "The reality is that there will be two types of companies in the future: those who are leading with AI and those that are irrelevant. Every company will be using - if not developing - thousands of AI applications, and the rapid pace of AI innovation is outperforming major security and protection concerns." | Patel added: "We developed AI Defense to protect both the development and use of AI applications. Overall, AI Defense safeguards against the misuse of AI tools, data leakage and increasingly sophisticated threats. We are taking a radical approach to address the challenges that existing security solutions are not equipped to handle." | Why it matters: Enterprises are racing to adopt AI, and due to the rapid pace of the space, traditional security solutions are falling behind. Cisco aims to make AI Defense the global standard for AI security in the increasingly AI-powered world. |
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| | STRATEGY | |  | Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown |
| The Rundown: Cisco's AI Defense combines two protections: monitoring third-party AI app usage and protecting sensitive data in custom AI development — addressing the growing risks of data leakage and unauthorized access. | Cheung: "A lot of enterprises are now training their own AI models on sensitive data. What specific protections does AI Defense offer that weren't possible before?" | Patel: "Enterprises are training their models on proprietary data and connecting backend data sources to create more useful AI applications. This expands the risk surface tremendously; any data connected to your AI application is now subject to leakage, poisoning, or exfiltration." | Patel added: "AI Defense takes a two-fold approach. First, it gives security teams visibility into third-party AI application usage, letting them enforce policies to limit data sharing and restrict access to high-risk solutions." | Patel added: "For enterprises developing and deploying their own AI applications, AI Defense examines user inputs and model outputs to block sensitive data leakage in real-time. This covers scenarios like an adversary attempting to extract PII or an AI application inadvertently exposing snippets of proprietary source code, for example." | Why it matters: As enterprises adopt both third-party and custom AI solutions, the risk of data leakage grows exponentially. AI Defense's two-fold approach allows organizations to innovate faster with AI while keeping their sensitive data secure. Patel goes into more depth on this strategy in his blog post. |
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| | PROTECTION | |  | Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown |
| The Rundown: Unlike traditional security solutions, Cisco's AI Defense is integrated directly into network infrastructure, providing consistent controls and protection at scale across all AI apps. | Cheung: "You mentioned AI Defense is 'fused into the fabric of the network' - this sounds fascinating. Can you break down what this means in practical terms and why it matters?" | Patel: "Simply put, this means that AI Defense is deeply integrated into the overall network infrastructure. By doing security at the network layer, AI Defense provides consistent controls for AI applications across the business." | Patel added: "This removes a massive burden for your AI developers. They would otherwise spend tremendous time and resources trying to secure individual applications in accordance with broader security policies." | Patel added: "This approach also leverages Cisco's existing network mesh to provide unparalleled visibility and control over AI traffic on our customers' networks. As security fuses further into the network and cloud with Hypershield, the ability of AI Defense to identify and secure east-west AI-related traffic will grow exponentially." | Why it matters: By integrating security at the network level, Cisco is changing how enterprises protect AI applications. With thousands of distributed enforcement points across clouds and servers, this approach improves security while freeing developers from application-by-application implementation. |
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| | INTO THE FUTURE | |  | Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown |
| The Rundown: As enterprises move into a multi-model, multi-cloud world, Cisco is preparing AI Defense to tackle the growing complexity of AI security — where vulnerabilities can exist at both model and application levels. | Cheung: "We've seen AI evolve incredibly fast over the past couple years. How do you see AI Defense evolving to handle increasingly sophisticated threats, especially as AI agents become more prevalent?" | Patel: "You're right, we're already in a multi-model, multi-cloud world, and 2025 will be the year where companies start to deploy AI applications in a big way. The complexity is growing every day, and so is the risk." | Patel added: "This 'complexity' is a hard computer science problem to solve, since AI apps are built and operate differently. Ownership is fractured, meaning vulnerabilities can be at model or app level, and responsibility lives with different people – such as security practitioners, developers, users, vendors, and so on." | Why it matters: AI applications are becoming increasingly complex, and security challenges will continue to evolve. Cisco's AI Defense aims to take out the complexity by unifying security across models, applications, and stakeholders. |
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| | TRANSFORMATION | |  | Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown |
| The Rundown: Jeetu Patel believes that companies who are not AI-forward will no longer be relevant in the future. With AI Defense, Cisco aims to remove the biggest barrier to adoption at the enterprise level — safety and security concerns. | Cheung: "As we enter this new era of AI adoption, how do you think AI Defense will change the way enterprises build and deploy AI applications?" | Patel: "Companies who are not AI-forward will no longer be relevant. Every application will be an AI application, and every company will be using hundreds—if not thousands—of these apps every day." | Patel added: "Our Cisco Readiness Index confirmed that one of the biggest roadblocks to AI adoption is concerns around safety and security. We built Cisco AI Defense specifically to address these concerns, and to allow enterprises to develop, deploy, and use AI applications with confidence." | Why it matters: Security concerns are the biggest barrier preventing enterprises from becoming AI-forward. Cisco's AI Defense removes this roadblock, allowing companies to confidently build and deploy more AI applications — ultimately benefiting the end users who can rely on these tools for the future of AI-enabled work. |
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| | | | AI SUMMIT | | | Join Cisco's AI Summit on January 22, 2025, for an exclusive virtual broadcast featuring groundbreaking sessions with: | OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, to explore how AI is transforming industries like financial services, healthcare, and telecom Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang on the current realities of leveraging data to build better models Dr. Fei-Fei Li on how AI is blurring the boundaries between virtual and physical, enabling unprecedented customization, efficiency, and engagement Plus more from the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Cohere, Box, Glean, and Groq.
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