Cisco’s first-ever State of Wireless Report found that wireless has evolved to be a “strategic growth engine” that provides benefits across employee productivity, customer engagement, and revenue.
The key takeaway of the report — based on a survey of more than 6,000 wireless professionals worldwide — is that organizations prioritizing wireless achieve “significantly higher” business value than those that don’t.
“The enterprise workforce is evolving into blended teams of humans, AI [artificial intelligence] agents, and automated systems, all operating together at machine speed. Wi-Fi is the foundation that makes that possible, connecting every endpoint, protecting every interaction, and unlocking the operational insights that drive smarter decisions across the business,” Cisco senior vice president and general manager of Enterprise Connectivity & Collaboration said in a press release. “AI is both the biggest opportunity and the biggest test for enterprise networks right now.”
The report says that wireless has become a key enabler of high value applications and services such as the Internet of Things (IoT), AI workloads, and high-bandwidth applications, such 4K/8K streaming and artificial reality/virtual reality, are now the primary drivers. It also enables workplace trends such as “hot desking” and bring-your-own-device (BYOD).
Spending is up considerably. Cisco says that 80% of those surveyed have increased spending over the last five years and that 29% increased budgets by half or more during that time. Eighty-two percent forecast continued budget increases over the next four to five years, with 35% expecting to increase budgets by 50% or more over that period.
The report found that these wireless investments are paying off.
- 78% of respondents reported operational efficiency gains
- 75% see employee productivity improvements
- 75% observe enhanced customer engagement
- 68% experience positive revenue impacts from wireless investments
The report said three priorities will make organizations four times more likely to achieve better return on investment: reducing operational complexity, mitigating wireless security risks, and confronting challenges related to wireless personnel shortages.
Wi-Fi is a big part of the wireless future, and developers are taking it seriously: Wi-Fi 8 standards won’t be released until late 2028 or 2029 but early discussions about Wi-Fi 9 already are underway.
