In a world where cyber threats grow more sophisticated by the day, Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s Chief Product Officer, believes that the key to effective security is artificial intelligence.
“In order to be a world-class security company, you have to be a world-class AI company,” Patel explained during a recent interview. The sheer scale and complexity of modern cyber threats demand more than human intervention — they require AI operating at machine scale.
With Cisco’s recent $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, the company is doubling down on this vision. Splunk’s data and observability tools, Patel says, are essential to strengthening Cisco’s AI-powered defenses.
“Splunk really helps us further the cause on data,” he shared, noting that this data-centric approach allows Cisco to detect and respond to threats faster and more accurately.
For Patel, AI is foundational in addressing today’s security challenges.
“The threat vectors and the sophistication of threat actors are so high now compared to what it used to be five years ago that you simply can’t go out and handle security at human scale. You have to do it at machine scale,” he said. This shift reflects a broader trend Patel sees in AI-driven cybersecurity, where attackers, including nation-states, use AI to execute large-scale, automated attacks. In response, Cisco has embedded AI deeply into its product line, utilizing machine learning models to analyze massive data sets and identify anomalies across networks.
Patel is particularly passionate about protecting critical infrastructure, underscoring how essential AI-driven defenses are to public safety.
“Today, if you have an attack and your power supply goes down or your hospital system goes down, lives are going to be lost,” he noted. As cyberattacks threaten industries from healthcare to energy, Patel believes that machine learning models are essential to preempt and respond to these threats at unprecedented speeds.
But as companies integrate AI into their defenses, securing AI systems themselves becomes paramount.
“Securing AI itself is a pretty big job,” Patel explained. As AI becomes embedded in enterprise workflows, it also becomes a potential vulnerability. Cisco, under Patel’s leadership, is working to ensure that machine learning models and AI-based systems have robust guardrails to prevent misuse. “If you ask a model to show you how to build a bomb, the system should prevent such responses. And in customer support, responses from a chatbot must stay within legal bounds,” he said, noting Cisco’s proactive approach to these ethical and security challenges.
Patel stressed that collaboration across the industry is critical in this fight.
“In cybersecurity, the true enemy is the adversary,” said Patel, advocating for close partnerships even with competitors to effectively counter threats. In his view, industry-wide data sharing is essential: “If we don’t do that, humanity is at risk. This is not just a commercial interest; it has a meaningful, consequential effect on society at large.”
In the era of machine-driven attacks, Patel’s vision for Cisco combines innovative AI use with a mission-driven approach to cybersecurity. He believes Cisco’s integration of AI into its security infrastructure not only protects companies but safeguards society’s essential services — a responsibility Patel and Cisco are taking seriously as they work to redefine security in an AI-powered world.
