The ‘Pacesetters’ are 6x more likely to move AI pilots into production, and 30% more likely to report measurable value from AI
Cisco has released the results from the third annual Cisco AI Readiness Index. A small but consistent group of companies — the ‘Pacesetters,’ about 12% of organizations surveyed in the Philippines, and 13% globally, for the last three years — outperform their peers across every measure of AI value, captured for the first time in Cisco’s global study of over 8,000 AI leaders across 30 markets and 26 industries.
The Pacesetters’ sustained advantage indicates a new form of resilience: a disciplined, system-level approach that balances strategic drivers with the data and infrastructure needed to keep pace with AI’s accelerating evolution. They’re already architecting for the future with 98% designing their networks for the growth, scale and complexity of AI compared to 41% in the Philippines.
The combination of foresight and foundation is delivering real, tangible results at a time when two major forces are starting to reshape the landscape: AI agents, which raise the bar for scale, security, and governance; and AI Infrastructure Debt, the early warning signs of hidden bottlenecks that threaten to erode long-term value.
“This year’s Cisco AI Readiness Index makes one thing clear: readiness leads to value,” said Zaza Soriano-Nicart, Managing Director, Cisco Philippines. “Across the board, we are seeing that AI-ready organizations— the Pacesetters in our research — prove this. They’re six times more likely to move pilots into production and 30% more likely to realize measurable value. As organizations now move toward deploying AI agents, their success depends on their readiness, discipline, and action.”
The Pacesetter profile: Readiness as competitive advantage
Cisco’s research outlines a consistent pattern among these leaders delivering real returns.
They make AI part of the business, not a side project.
Nearly all Pacesetters (99%) have a defined AI roadmap (vs 61% in the Philippines) and 91% (vs 27% in the Philippines) have a change-management plan. Budgets match intent, with 79% making AI the top investment priority (vs 16% in the Philippines) and 96% with short- and long-term funding strategies (vs 44% in the Philippines).
They build infrastructure that’s ready to grow. They architect for the always-on AI era. 71% of Pacesetters say their networks are fully flexible and can scale instantly for any AI project (vs 11% in the Philippines), and 77% are investing in new data-center capacity within the next 12 months (vs 34% in the Philippines).
They move pilots into production. 62% have a mature, repeatable innovation process for generating and scaling AI use cases (vs 12% overall in the Philippines), and three-quarters (77%) have already finalized those use cases (vs 14% in the Philippines).
They measure what matters. 95% track the impact of their AI investments — four times higher than others — and 71% are confident their use cases will generate new revenue streams, compared to the local average of 41% in the Philippines.
They turn security into strength. 87% are highly aware of AI-specific threats (vs 52% overall in the Philippines), 62% integrate AI into their security and identity systems (vs 33% in the Philippines), and 75% are fully equipped to control and secure AI agents (vs 50% in the Philippines). Trust is part of the Pacesetters’ value equation.
Pacesetters achieve more widespread results than their peers because of this approach: 90% report gains in profitability, productivity, and innovation, compared with 70% overall in the Philippines.
AI agents: ambition outpacing readiness
The Index shows 90% of organizations in the Philippines plan to deploy AI agents, and nearly 35% expect them to work alongside employees in the next year. But for majority of these companies, AI agents are exposing weak foundations — systems that can barely handle reactive, task-based AI, let alone AI systems that act autonomously, and learn continuously. 39% of respondents say their networks can’t scale for complexity or data volume and just 11% describe their networks as flexible or adaptable.
Pacesetters are again the exception. Their disciplined, system-level approach has already helped lay the foundations they will need to scale.
AI Infrastructure Debt: The emerging drag on value
The report introduces a new concept — AI Infrastructure Debt — the modern evolution of technical and digital debt that once held back digital transformation.
It’s the silent accumulation of compromises, deferred upgrades, and underfunded architecture that erodes the value of AI over time. Some early warning signs are already visible: 45% expect workloads to rise by over 30% within three years, 65% struggle to centralize data, only 19% have robust GPU capacity and fewer than one in three can detect or prevent AI-specific threats.
These early warning signs point to a gap between AI ambition and operational readiness. But when the systems that power AI aren’t secure, the debt can increase risk. Pacesetters aren’t immune, but their foresight, governance, and investment discipline help position them to avoid problems compounding into more costly risks.
Download the report: Value follows readiness
As agentic systems and autonomous AI push organizations into an era of constant compute demand, the report proves value follows readiness, with the most AI-ready organizations setting the pace for others to follow.
About the Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025
The Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025 is a global study, now in its third year, based on a double-blind survey of 8,000 senior IT and business leaders responsible for AI strategy at organizations with over 500 employees across 26 industries.
