The AI Reality Gap: From Ambition to Action

Is your organization ready for the AI-driven future, or are you stuck in the "AI reality gap"? In this session, Cisco leaders Chintan Patel (CTO and VP, Solutions Engineering, EMEA) and Gordon Thomson (EMEA President) explore the critical disconnect between AI ambition and production-scale execution. As AI, security, and networking collide at machine speed, IT leaders are under immense pressure to accelerate. This session breaks down the four pillars essential to bridging the gap: - Time: How to treat time as a competitive advantage while managing the risks of a "negative one-day" exploit window. - Talent: Redefining the workforce to include both humans and AI agents, shifting human roles from manual operations to high-value supervision. - Trust: Moving beyond security products to a foundational architecture that balances risk mitigation with business agility. - Technology: How the network serves as the critical engine for real-time routing, security, and telemetry, rather than a commodity. Discover why 73% of organizations feel their current infrastructure cannot support the 3x increase in traffic expected from agentic AI—and learn how to build a connected, intelligent platform that scales for the next decade. 0:47 – Pillar 1: Time6:50 – Pillar 2: Talent10:35 – Pillar 3: Trust14:52 – Pillar 4: Technology24:36 – Recap: The Four PillarsRelated links: Watch the sessions → https://experiences.cisco.com/highspeedai/?dtid=osclytb001772 See the partnership in action → https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/about/why-cisco/mclaren-racing.html?dtid=osclytb001772 Prepare for the AI era → https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/artificial-intelligence/critical-infrastructure/index.html?dtid=osclytb001772 Discover how Cisco is transforming industries with cutting-edge technology and business-driven innovation. Learn more: Cisco Official Site → https://www.cisco.com/?dtid=osclytb001772 Cisco Products & Services → https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/index.html?dtid=osclytb001772 Cisco Solutions → https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/index.html?dtid=osclytb001772 Contact Us → https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/about/contact-cisco/index.html?dtid=osclytb001772Follow Us on Social Media: Cisco LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/cisco Cisco X → https://twitter.com/Cisco Cisco Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/cisco Cisco Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/Cisco Got questions or insights? Drop them in the comments—we'd love to hear from you! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon to stay updated on the latest with Cisco. #McLaren #AIReality