Cisco AI Readiness Index reveals 72% higher ROI among AI-ready companies

A small group of businesses, dubbed "Pacesetters," are widening the gap in AI adoption and performance, according to the Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025, which surveyed over 8,000 AI and business leaders across 30 global markets. These leading firms, which represent 13% of organisations globally and 17% in India, move past testing AI; they put it into operation. Pacesetters are three times more likely than their peers to scale AI pilot programs and 72% more likely to realise measurable business value.

The leaders' secret lies in a system-level approach that balances strategy, infrastructure, and governance.

The Readiness Blueprint for Success

The research identifies clear differences that give Pacesetters their competitive edge. These firms make AI a central business concern, committing resources and building repeatable processes to ensure success:

• Roadmap and Priority: Nearly all Pacesetters (99%) maintain a defined AI roadmap, compared to 67% of companies in India. A large majority of Pacesetters (79%) rank AI as their top investment priority, while only 32% of Indian organisations share that view.

• Infrastructure and Scaling: Pacesetters build foundations that keep pace with compute demand. About 71% can instantly scale networks for AI workloads, compared to just 20% in India.

• Process and Security: A majority of Pacesetters (62%) have mature, repeatable AI development processes. Only 16% of Indian companies report the same discipline. Furthermore, Pacesetters show greater awareness of AI-specific security risks (87% versus 51% in India).

As a result of this preparedness, 90% of Pacesetters report improvements in profitability, productivity, and the ability to generate new products, compared with 71% of Indian organisations overall.

Agentic AI Ambition Overwhelms Networks

The report notes a rising enthusiasm for agentic AI, systems that execute complex tasks autonomously. In India, 91% of organisations plan to deploy AI agents, and 41% expect agents to work with employees within a year. Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s President and Chief Product Officer, stated that firms move past chatbots and into the next phase: agents that execute tasks independently.

Yet, ambition outpaces technical readiness. Only 20% of Indian companies describe their networks as flexible or adaptable enough for large-scale AI. One in four organisations admits their systems cannot handle the data or compute complexity necessary for AI workloads.

AI Infrastructure Debt Becomes a Real Risk

Cisco introduces the concept of AI Infrastructure Debt to describe the growing risk from outdated systems, deferred hardware upgrades, and underfunded architectures. This debt limits the long-term value of AI investments.

The early warning signs show a widening risk for unprepared firms:

• Workload Growth: 41% of organisations expect AI workloads to grow by over 30% in three years.

• Data and Compute: A significant 64% struggle to centralise data. Only 26% of companies have sufficient GPU capacity to manage these demands.

• Security Gaps: Just over one in three firms can prevent or detect AI-specific threats.

Cisco warns that without stronger governance and investment discipline, this mounting debt will erode AI’s long-term business impact. The 2025 Index makes the message clear: value follows readiness. Organisations investing in scalable networks, resilient data infrastructure, and AI security today capture the highest returns tomorrow.