Cisco is emphasizing the importance of securing AI agents and the broader AI supply chain as enterprises in the Middle East increasingly deploy autonomous AI solutions. According to Cisco's AI Readiness Index 2025, 92 of organizations in the UAE and 91 in Saudi Arabia plan to develop or implement AI agents across sectors including government, financial services, energy, and large enterprises.
To address emerging risks, Cisco introduced AI Defense, a platform designed to secure the full lifecycle of AI applications. The solution scans third-party and open-source AI components for vulnerabilities, mitigating supply chain risks such as compromised models or datasets. It also provides runtime protections to prevent attacks, data leaks, harmful outputs, and other security threats, particularly for agentic AI systems that operate autonomously.
With the expansion of multi-agent systems and AI-driven operations, Cisco AI Defense has evolved to include protections for complex interactions between human users, AI agents, and enterprise tools. The platform functions as a gateway, intercepting calls between AI agents and servers to safeguard sensitive data and prevent tool compromise.
