Report

2026 State of Industrial AI Report for EMEA

We surveyed more than 500 professionals across EMEA, operating in 21 industrial sectors.

Discover what they had to say in this Cisco report.

Hear from industrial professionals across EMEA

Global organizations are establishing the top business and technical priorities for industrial networks to support AI adoption by identifying opportunities, overcoming challenges, and improving collaboration for operational success.

Respondents who believe deploying AI will improve their cybersecurity posture.

Participants who expect AI workloads to have a negative impact on their industrial networks.

Respondents are actively deploying or looking to scale AI deployments.

Report highlights

Reality of AI adoption

As AI adoption expands, early productivity gains are emerging—but sustaining them requires networks built for rising data, mobility, and connectivity needs. Industrial leaders are now upgrading infrastructure to support AI at scale.

Cybersecurity Imperative

Cybersecurity remains the biggest challenge in operating industrial networks. Expanding connectivity and data exposure are increasing cyber risk, even as AI enhances detection and strengthens defenses needed to safely scale intelligent, connected operations.

IT/OT Collaboration

Independent operations between IT and OT teams are weakening network performance and security, slowing the impact of AI. A major vendor solution that provides shared visibility helps both teams support reliable, AI-enabled industrial operations.

Vikas Butaney Headshot

"Our deep expertise in both IT and OT has positioned us to help organizations harness AI, enabling smarter, more secure, and more agile industrial networks at scale."

Vikas Butaney, Senior Vice President, General Manager
Cisco Networking SD-WAN, Multi-cloud, and Industrial IoT

Headshots of Samuel Pasquier and Richard Mullen

Join Cisco live on LinkedIn

Join us live on LinkedIn on April 7th for the 2026 State of Industrial AI Report. Hear insights from 1,000+ global professionals on securing operations, advancing IT/OT collaboration, and building an AI-ready network that can scale.

Let us help you build an AI-ready industrial network.