"Of all the technology topics covered by industry analysts, financiers and pundits over the course of 2025, perhaps the most interesting was that of the so-called artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. Very much a dog that didn't bark over the past 12 months - just go ask Nvidia - those supposedly in the know ended the year more or less hedging their bets, predicting that something still "may likely" happen in the general IT space in 2026."
"In December 2025, IT and networking giant Cisco noted that with 22.4 billion internet of things (IoT) devices generating more than 90 zettabytes of data a year, the next 12 months will see organisations tap into the vast well of telemetry, machine, IoT and industrial IoT (IIoT) data. AI is absolutely fundamental in analysing and combining these sources of business intelligence."
"As a result, AI has fuelled an unprecedented surge in network demand, with the emergence and widespread adoption of agentic AI-enabled applications further reshaping infrastructure requirements, prompting a rapid evolution in networking solutions. Keeping pace with the next wave of AI growth will require new long-haul networks to enable the rapid scaling of capacity needs in both existing and emerging enterprise setups."
AI transitioned from potential to operational requirement for networking in 2025, and 2026 requires networks built to monetize AI workloads. Explosive growth in AI capacity and agentic AI applications is placing unprecedented strains on network infrastructure, demanding rapid adaptation and increased overall capacity. Tens of billions of IoT and IIoT devices are producing zettabytes of telemetry and machine data that organisations will tap for business intelligence. AI is essential for analysing and combining these diverse data sources. Meeting these demands will require new long-haul and next-generation networks capable of rapid scaling and greater capability.
Read at ComputerWeekly.com
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