Cisco Couples Splunk with Nvidia Hardware to Target Enterprise AI Workloads

Cisco Systems is working to broaden Splunk's reach across enterprise artificial intelligence deployments, attempting to translate its accelerating hardware momentum into higher-margin software and security revenue, according to a report from Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/cisco-csco-leans-splunk-broaden-171200277.html).

At the 2026 Splunk conference in Denver held Sept. 14–17, Cisco introduced the Cisco AI POD for Splunk. The system integrates Cisco infrastructure with Nvidia accelerated computing to run Splunk Enterprise across on-premises, private-cloud, and air-gapped environments, allowing organizations to self-host selected AI models.

Alongside the hardware rollout, Cisco entered into a multi-year agreement with Amazon Web Services to co-develop Splunk-focused security tools designed to monitor and defend against AI-driven threats.

The software push follows sharp gains in Cisco's AI hardware pipeline. The company logged $9.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers during fiscal 2026, including $4 billion booked in the fourth quarter alone. Cisco generated approximately $4 billion in AI infrastructure revenue during fiscal 2026 and projected that revenue will reach $7.5 billion in fiscal 2027.

However, infrastructure hardware remains susceptible to pricing competition and component cost inflation that can weigh on profit margins. Cisco faces the task of translating that hardware demand into software growth; fourth-quarter observability revenue rose by a modest 6 percent.

Hedge fund ownership in Cisco increased ahead of the Splunk conference, according to Insider Monkey tracking data cited by Yahoo Finance. The number of funds holding Cisco shares rose to 101 in the second quarter from 97 in the first quarter and 77 in the preceding period. Top holder Fisher Asset Management expanded its position by 94 percent to more than 33.4 million shares, while Arrowstreet Capital and D.E. Shaw held 19.3 million and 4.1 million shares, respectively.

As of Aug. 31, short interest in Cisco stood at 55.5 million shares—representing 1.41 percent of the public float and 3.6 days to cover—down 5.77 percent from the previous reporting period. Execution on software integrations such as Splunk will determine how effectively Cisco can convert expanding enterprise AI spending into recurring earnings.