The proliferation of AI is exposing vulnerabilities in legacy wireless networks, according to Cisco’s State of Wireless 2026 report.

“For years, wireless was the ‘invisible utility’ – the background noise of the office that only commanded attention when the connection dropped. It was managed for cost, not for growth,” says Aruna Ravichandran in a blog post examining the report. “Now, we’ve entered an era where high-bandwidth AI workloads collide with an increasingly high number of IoT and connected devices, all competing for the same limited bandwidth.”

According to the report, based on a survey of 6,098 wireless professionals across 30 countries, 98% of organizations say wireless operations are becoming more complex. And, they cite three main drivers of this increasing complexity:

• Supporting mission-critical IT/IoT/OT workloads (including AI): 43%
• Security risks: 42%
• Bandwidth demand increase or unpredictability: 38%

Other key points from the report include:

• 86% of organizations struggle to hire wireless talent.
• 58% saw financial losses from wireless security breaches, with 40% exceeding $1 million annually.
• 55% of wireless professionals spend most of their time on reactive troubleshooting instead of strategic work.

Additionally, “talent is flowing toward AI and cybersecurity roles, leaving wireless teams understaffed exactly when complexity is peaking,” says Jayanthi Srinivasan, Sr. Director Product Management, Cisco Wireless.

Read more at Cisco.