As AI reshapes job roles and automation redefines workflows, organizations are beneath stress to repeatedly construct, validate, and apply new expertise at scale. Most expertise pipelines merely can’t sustain: practically half of IT leaders already report {that a} lack of AI expertise is slowing progress.
At Be taught with Cisco, it’s our purpose to make IT expertise accessible to everybody: from college students and entry-level professionals to consultants with years of expertise. So it’s extraordinarily gratifying to see that IDC MarketScape has positioned Cisco as a Chief within the 2025–2026 IDC MarketScape for IT Coaching Companies in North America and a Chief within the 2025 IDC MarketScape for IT Coaching Companies in Europe.
Thanks to everybody at Cisco and at our companions for making this recognition attainable. As AI modifications the way in which we work, we’re extra dedicated than ever to offering entry to in-demand expertise to learners throughout the globe.
Studying as mission-critical infrastructure
“The arrival of AI and different rising applied sciences provides a brand new dimension of complexity to an ecosystem already careworn by widening IT expertise shortages,” in keeping with IDC MarketScape for North America IT Coaching Companies. The report continues: “IDC tasks that by the top of subsequent 12 months, expertise shortages may value the worldwide economic system as much as US$5.5 trillion in misplaced income, product delays, high quality points, and impaired competitiveness.” Workforce growth is not a nice-to-have. It’s foundational infrastructure for competitiveness in an AI-driven economic system.
At Cisco, we’ve at all times believed that expertise alone doesn’t drive transformation—individuals do. That perception is mirrored in our end-to-end studying ecosystem, designed to assist people, groups, and enterprises construct expertise that matter right this moment whereas getting ready for what’s subsequent.
Proper now, meaning getting ready groups to work with AI. The World Financial Discussion board predicts that by 2030, 39 % of employees’ core expertise will change. That applies to everybody, not simply individuals in ICT and even ICT-adjacent roles. And naturally, the dominant driver of that shift in expertise is AI and technological change.
A generational problem
Our skill to fulfill this want for reskilling—each for people and for enterprises—can have implications for generations. At Be taught with Cisco, we’re addressing the problem head-on.
Cisco Networking Academy’s Introduction to Trendy AI, now out there in 12 languages, is already one among our hottest programs. The NetAcad staff can also be releasing a complete suite of studying referred to as “Apply AI.” The primary module exhibits how one can use AI-driven thematic evaluation to higher perceive buyer suggestions. The following module clearly teaches anybody to make use of AI to write down and replace a resume. Additional programs and the complete Apply AI curriculum will likely be introduced at Cisco Reside Amsterdam.
We’re additionally seeing thrilling traction with our AI Enterprise Practitioner Studying Path, out there on Cisco U. This Studying Path helps professionals in any respect ranges, in all industries, construct foundational AI expertise and lead accountable adoption of AI by way of strategic use and a variety of enterprise functions.
ICT employees can count on even higher modifications. In 2024, the primary report from the AI-Enabled Workforce Consortium discovered that 90 % of ICT-related roles will expertise excessive or reasonable ranges of transformation from AI. The second report, issued only a 12 months later, discovered that 78 % of ICT-related job roles had been already being remodeled.
We’re remodeling our certifications portfolio simply as rapidly. We’re updating present coursework and certifications to include new, in-demand expertise, and we’re including new studying and certifications to show and validate AI-specific expertise. These embrace:
- The Cisco AI Infrastructure Specialist, which lies inside the CCNP Knowledge Middle certification monitor. It permits learners to construct and validate expertise in deploying, migrating, and working AI options on Cisco knowledge middle infrastructure, in addition to in monitoring and troubleshooting.
- The AI Technical Practitioner certification focuses on synthetic intelligence and machine studying workloads, serving to technical professionals develop into AI-ready and efficiently embed AI into their workflows.
- The CCDE-AI Infrastructure specialization permits professional networking professionals to validate their skill to design, provision, and optimize networks and compute energy for right this moment’s AI workloads. It encompasses data of AI and machine studying, in addition to concerns referring to networks, safety, {hardware}, and the surroundings.
We’ll proceed to make these expertise out there by way of our linked, multiplatform ecosystem:
- Cisco Networking Academy
- Cisco U.
- Cisco Studying Community
- A globally acknowledged certification program
Collectively, these platforms assist roughly 7 million learners every year and greater than 28 million learners worldwide since inception, spanning foundational digital literacy by way of expert-level mastery.
Personalised, AI-driven studying at international scale
As AI transforms how work will get accomplished, it’s additionally redefining how individuals study.
By Cisco U., learners can establish ability gaps, obtain tailor-made content material, and monitor progress over time—shifting studying from reactive coaching to proactive expertise growth.
From GenAI-powered assessments and adaptive apply exams to dynamic content material updates, Cisco is embedding intelligence immediately into the training expertise—whereas persevering with to pair expertise with professional instruction, mentorship, and group assist.
Studying by doing: Palms-on expertise that mirrors actuality
Cisco’s ecosystem is constructed round real-world functions, getting ready learners with job-ready expertise. We’re emphasizing project-based studying—corresponding to that present in our Knowledge Science Necessities with Python course, which was lately highlighted in a white paper launched on the World Financial Discussion board.
Throughout our portfolio, learners have interaction with digital labs, hardware-based distant labs, practical simulations, Seize the Flag challenges, and project-based experiences that mirror enterprise environments. They’ll construct, safe, automate, and troubleshoot networks utilizing the identical instruments and eventualities they’ll encounter on the job.
This experiential strategy extends to international and regional occasions corresponding to Cisco Reside, hackathons, and expert-moderated examine teams — serving to learners construct not simply expertise, however confidence, credibility, and group.
Main the way forward for IT studying
In an period the place the power to repeatedly study is the last word aggressive benefit, we consider IDC MarketScape’s recognition reinforces what we see day by day: expertise are the inspiration of innovation, resilience, and financial progress.
At Cisco, we stay dedicated to empowering learners, companions, and prospects throughout North America, Europe, and past with the data and hands-on expertise they should lead in an AI-powered world—right this moment and into the long run.
As a result of when individuals thrive, expertise transforms.
The IDC MarketScape for IT Coaching Companies analyzes IT coaching corporations with portfolios which might be applicable to organizations contemplating vital digital and AI transformation initiatives.
The inclusion standards embrace:
- A breadth of choices
- Measurement and breadth of choices that may considerably contribute to transformation
- initiatives
- Important expertise experience that’s essential to transformation initiatives
IDC MarketScape: European IT Coaching Companies 2025 Vendor Evaluation, #EUR153005625, December 2025
IDC MarketScape: North America IT Coaching Companies 2025-2026 Vendor Evaluation, #US52991625, December 2025
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