In a significant announcement during the SPLUNK .CONF event, Cisco Systems Inc. revealed its innovative Cisco Data Fabric. This new architecture is designed to empower organizations to fully utilize their machine data, transforming it into AI-ready intelligence. The Cisco Data Fabric, powered by the Splunk platform, aims to simplify the complexities and costs associated with managing machine data at scale, enabling enterprises to leverage it for advanced AI applications.

Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, emphasized the importance of machine data in modern enterprises, stating, “Organizations everywhere are sitting on a gold mine of machine data that's been too complex, cumbersome, and costly to leverage for AI, until today.” He highlighted the potential of the Cisco Data Fabric to allow businesses to build custom AI models using their proprietary data, ultimately driving better decision-making.

2. A New Era for AI in Business

The Cisco Data Fabric is purpose-built for the AI era, promising to enhance innovation, bolster security, and improve business agility. This framework unifies and activates machine data from various sources within an organization, offering turnkey solutions that reduce costs and complexity while addressing the challenges of managing distributed data.

Kamal Hathi, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Splunk, remarked, “Our goal is to give customers the fastest, most secure path from data to action.” The integration of AI across the platform aims to enable organizations to anticipate changes, scale innovations seamlessly, and deliver more resilient digital services.

Key Features of the Cisco Data Fabric

1. Extreme Scale Operations

The Cisco Data Fabric supports the handling of vast streams of machine data, transforming it into real-time, actionable insights across various operational domains, including SecOps, ITOps, DevOps, and NetOps.

2. Federated Real-Time Analysis

The framework allows for quick searches and analyses of data where it resides, federating across diverse sources such as Amazon S3, Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Snowflake, and Microsoft Azure—intelligently routing data to the most suitable storage or analytic engine.

3. Flexible and Open Architecture

Designed to adapt to various environments, the Cisco Data Fabric promotes compliance with open standards, enabling plug-and-play integrations and empowering innovation without limitations.

4. Unlocking Proprietary Data Value

The upcoming Time Series Foundation Model will facilitate advanced pattern analysis and anomaly detection, further enhancing the value derived from proprietary data.

5. Unified User Experience

The Cisco AI Canvas will provide a collaborative workspace for teams, integrating with Splunk Cloud Platform and enhancing user experiences with real-time insights and advanced investigation tools.

3. A Solution for Today’s AI-Driven Challenges

Archana Venkatraman, Senior Research Director at IDC, noted the critical pain points in AI-driven enterprises, highlighting how the Cisco Data Fabric addresses the need for quick and secure unification of machine data. She stated, “Its focus on real-time search, coupled with a repository for AI-ready data, provides tangible value by reducing complexity and time to insights.”

4. Availability and Future Developments

The Cisco Data Fabric, built on Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform capabilities, is available now, with future enhancements slated for release through 2026. Upcoming features include:

Replay S3 for Federated Analytics: Available in October 2025.

Time Series Foundation Model: Scheduled for November 2025 on Hugging Face.

Integration with Cisco AI Canvas: Set for 2026.

As enterprises continue to navigate the complexities of machine data, Cisco's latest innovation positions them at the forefront of the AI revolution, equipping organizations to harness the full potential of their data-driven insights.

Original press release