The UK’s new Industrial Strategy charts a bold and necessary path toward long-term economic renewal—anchored in innovation, digital infrastructure, and the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI). At Cisco, we’re energised by this vision and proud to support the UK government’s ambition to future-proof the nation’s global competitiveness.
Across three core pillars—accelerating AI, driving productivity, and building digital skills at scale—the strategy aligns closely with Cisco’s priorities and capabilities.
Maximising the AI Opportunity
AI is rapidly becoming the defining technology of our time, transforming industries, labour markets, and global value chains. By placing AI at the heart of its Industrial Strategy, the UK is making a strategic bet on the future—and it’s the right one. Building on this year’s AI Opportunities Action Plan is both pragmatic and visionary.
AI has the power to turbocharge productivity, accelerate breakthroughs, and reimagine how we deliver public services. From predictive insights and intelligent automation to adaptive, secure infrastructure, Cisco sees AI as a catalyst for long-term transformation—not just incremental gains.
But realising AI’s full value demands more than adoption. It requires trust, coordination, and readiness. We need cross-sector partnerships to ensure that AI is deployed ethically and securely. That means establishing governance frameworks, protecting data, and embedding trust into every layer of the digital stack.
Infrastructure matters too. Cisco’s AI Readiness Index reveals that 60% of UK organisations say their networks aren’t scalable or flexible enough to support AI at speed. To stay globally competitive, the UK must modernise its connectivity backbone.
Digital Infrastructure as a Driver of Inclusive Growth
Technology is a growth engine, but its benefits must extend beyond traditional tech hubs and to every corner of the country. The Industrial Strategy’s focus on wide-spread growth is spot on; Cisco has long championed the power of connectivity to create opportunity, close divides, and supercharge local economies.
In fact, Cisco’s “GM One Network” partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority is a great example of how smart city initiatives that combine next-gen infrastructure, IoT, and data insights can improve public services, reduce costs, and support local economies.
With the UK doubling down on cloud, 5G, and digital public services, there is a clear opportunity to unlock productivity gains and regional innovation.
A National Skills Strategy for a Digital Economy
Digital skills are the connective tissue linking innovation, productivity, and long-term economic resilience, and no industrial strategy can succeed without a parallel investment in the people who will make it a reality.
In the UK, Cisco’s Networking Academy trains nearly 100,000 learners annually and is aiming to reach 1 million people since inception by 2030. But meeting the growing demand for digital talent will require wider systemic change.
That means embedding digital literacy into every layer of the education and workforce development system—from primary schools all the way up to adult reskilling programmes. It means greater flexibility with apprenticeships, rethinking vocational pathways, advocating for lifelong learning opportunities, and building deeper collaboration between employers, educators, and government via Skills England and other institutions.
The UK’s eight strategic sectors from life sciences and energy to manufacturing and creative industries will increasingly depend on workers fluent in AI, cybersecurity, and complex network environments. By prioritising access to these skills and investing in people as much as we do platforms, the UK can help ensure that a future-ready economy leaves no one out.
From Vision to Velocity
The UK’s Industrial Strategy offers a compelling blueprint for a more innovative and competitive economy. But its success will hinge on pace and execution. Delivering on its promise—and fast—will attract investment, build investor confidence, and generate real-world impact for businesses and citizens alike.
At Cisco, our decades of experience connecting anything to make everything possible runs deep, and we’re ready to help the UK bring this strategy to life. Together, we can build a UK economy, by powering secure AI deployment and closing the skills gap, that’s digitally connected and globally respected.
