Equinix has announced an expanded collaboration with Cisco to accelerate AI innovation in Singapore by deploying the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA directly within Equinix's Singapore data centres . The initiative also extends AI capabilities to the edge with Cisco Unified Edge, targeting retail stores, hospitals, and warehouses .
The move addresses a critical gap highlighted by the 2025 Cisco AI Readiness Index, which found that while 83% of Singaporean organisations plan to deploy AI agents, only one in ten say their networks are fully capable of scaling instantly.
"Singapore continues to place the digital economy at the heart of its national growth strategy," said Yee May Leong, managing director, Singapore, Equinix.
"Through our expanded collaboration with Cisco, we will help organisations extend their AI infrastructure from centralised data centres to distributed environments while keeping operational complexity in check."
Bridging the infrastructure gap
The partnership offers an end-to-end architecture designed to scale workloads while maintaining strict data governance and sovereignty. By leveraging Equinix's interconnected ecosystem, organisations can access over 2,000 technology companies to test configurations and assess AI deployments across data centres, cloud, and edge locations.
This initiative aligns with Singapore's National AI Missions, providing the secure infrastructure required to scale AI transformation across critical sectors such as finance and manufacturing .
Bee Kheng Tay, president, ASEAN, Cisco, added: "Organisations scaling their AI ambitions need a foundation that is simple, secure, and scalable. Our collaboration with Equinix simplifies how customers build their AI infrastructures so they can focus on driving business value and innovation."
Comprehensive AI capabilities
Cisco's Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA provides a foundation for the agentic era, enabling businesses to run AI securely anywhere, maintain data protection with zero-trust protocols, and simplify operations through fleet management techniques that reduce data retrieval times from minutes to seconds .
The partnership also includes a collaboration with Presidio to deploy a Programmable AI Technology Hub lab within Equinix facilities, allowing customers to validate and refine AI configurations in a live environment before full-scale rollout .
Supporting Singapore's digital future
This initiative supports Singapore's position as a leading digital innovation hub . According to Cisco's 2025 AI Readiness Index, 97% of organisations here believe a modernised network is essential for rolling out AI and cloud solutions, yet only 22% have the GPUs needed to meet current and future AI demands . The collaboration seeks to bridge this gap with ready-to-deploy, validated infrastructure.
By offering a secure foundation for AI projects, Equinix and Cisco aim to help organisations in Singapore move from AI planning to production with speed and confidence, while adhering to strict data sovereignty requirements.
