Cisco debuts CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification

Two little letters are dominating Cisco’s annual Cisco Live conference this week in Las Vegas, where the networking giant continues to reveal AI-related product updates as well as a new certification program Cisco says will empower IT pros to design infrastructure for AI and machine learning.

The company’s new Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) AI Infrastructure certification is a vendor-agnostic, expert-level certification that will equip IT professionals with the ability to design modern AI/ML compute and networks now and as they evolve, says Par Merat, vice president of Cisco Learning and Certifications.

“With this new CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification, we bring Cisco industry-leading training and certifications to a technology that is already transforming our organizations, industry, and culture,” Merat wrote in a blog post this week. With this certification, technology professionals will be able to design network architectures optimized for AI workloads, and “they’ll be able to do this while incorporating the unique business requirements of AI, such as trade-offs for cost optimization and power, and the matching of computing power and cloud needs to measured carbon use,” Merat explained.

According to Cisco, the new CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification addresses topics including:

• Minimizing the burden on infrastructure resources and requirements for different AI/ML use-cases
• Designing for GPU optimization
• Building high-performance generative AI network fabrics
• Ensuring the security, sustainability, and compliance of networks that run AI workloads
• Making appropriate trade-offs between cost and power
• Matching compute power and cloud needs to measured carbon use

With the CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification, technology professionals will be able to consider several factors when designing AI-optimized network architectures. For instance, the learning course will teach them GPU optimization as well as building for high-performance generative AI network fabrics. Those seeking this certification will also learn about sustainability and compliance of networks that support AI. The skills will be needed across organizations, according to the Cisco AI Readiness Index, which found that 90% of organizations are investing to try to overcome AI skills gaps.

Online education company Pluralsight identified a disconnect between businesses investing in AI and technology organizations retaining the skills needed to be successful with AI. The Pluralsight AI skills report reveals this gap between AI investments and worker readiness, finding that “90% of executives don’t completely understand their team’s AI skill and proficiency. And while 81% of IT professionals feel confident they can integrate AI into their roles right now, only 12% have significant experience working with AI.”

The survey of 1,200 leaders and IT professionals found that “95% of executives and 94% of IT practitioners believe AI initiatives will fail without staff who can effectively use these tools.” The survey also revealed that “executives and IT professionals agree investing in talent, training, and culture is the top step organizations should take to prepare for emerging AI tools.” But according to the report, only 40% of organizations have formal structured AI training and instruction.

Cisco partners agree training must accompany investments in AI.

“AI is bringing new operational efficiencies and generating important business insights, so it is imperative that the ecosystem helps our customers create network architectures tailored for AI workloads. As AI gets integrated into network and edge footprints, we are helping our customers utilize the full capabilities of our hardware and software, enabling them through training and solutions development,” said John Healy, vice president and general manager of Intel’s network and edge customer and ecosystem enabling division, in a statement.

According to Cisco, testing for the new AI-focused certification will kick off at Cisco Live Amsterdam in February 2025.

Other news from Cisco Live:

• Cisco Live: AI takes center stage
• Cisco shows off new AI features to secure data flows
• Cisco gears up to capitalize on Splunk deal, AI revolution