By Michael Cooney
Publication Date: 2026-03-04 00:27:00
As IT and OT teams work more closely together, cyber risks become more visible, not smaller—an essential step toward building resilient, AI-ready industrial environments, Cisco stated. Yet today, only 20% of organizations report fully collaborative IT/OT interworking on cybersecurity, the report states.
The 2026 report also shows how quickly AI has become the main topic of conversation among industrial networking teams. For example, the survey found 61% of respondents are actively deploying AI in industrial environments, and only 20% report mature, scaled adoption. Interestingly, in its 2024 report, Cisco found that a shortage of skilled workers was the number one challenge facing AI adoption. That challenge has fallen to third place in 2026, with AI technology integration capturing the second slot.
Some other insights from the Cisco research include:
- 51% of respondents anticipate significant increases in connectivity and reliability requirements, while 96% say…
