Resilience by design: Thriving in the age of AI and disruption

Cisco acknowledges that 'digital resilience' has become a strategic imperative, writes Suchit Leesa-nguansuk

- Suchit Leesa-nguansuk

As Cisco marks its 40th global anniversary and 30 years in Thailand this year, Weera Areeratanasak, the company's managing director for Thailand and Myanmar, shared the company's journey and future vision as it helps organisations build secure, agile systems that thrive amid constant disruption.

Over the past 40 years, the tech landscape has evolved from basic connectivity to intelligent, adaptive systems. As artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and cyberthreats redefine business risk, digital resilience has become a strategic imperative.

Cisco's transformation from internet pioneer to platform enabler reflects this shift.

CONNECTIVITY TO INTELLIGENCE

Mr Weera said since its founding in 1984 and its establishment in Thailand in 1995, Cisco has played a pivotal role in powering the internet to becoming the global de facto standard for networking, connecting people across the globe.

As industries evolved, Cisco led the shift to cloud computing in the 2000s to the 2010s, enabling seamless access to applications and data.

From the 2010s to the 2020s, it helped usher in the Internet of Things (IoT) era, connecting billions of devices and driving automation across sectors.

By 2015, digital transformation took centre stage, and Cisco integrated AI, cybersecurity, and predictive analytics into its solutions.

Mr Weera said with the rapid evolution of technology and the surge in the AI era, organisations no longer fully manage their IT infrastructure, applications, or even data. AI leverages both internal and external data in open environments, shifting the traditional model of data ownership.

Previously organisations maintained on-premise data centres or hybrid cloud environments where they still retained control over their data. However, this transformation has introduced a more complex and distributed ecosystem, bringing new threat vulnerabilities.