What the AI Boom Looks Like From Inside Cisco with Sam Badri | The Real Eisman Playbook Ep 77

Cisco’s growth acceleration reflects both hyperscaler demand and replacement orders for enterprise gear: it reported 18% quarterly revenue growth and guided to 15% growth at the midpoint for FY27, while Badri said hyperscaler revenue was expected to nearly double but remain below 20% of the company’s total. Badri linked larger Silicon One-based system orders, which began six to nine months before the interview, to multiple wins in hyperscaler networks; Cisco’s own silicon is used in its data-center switches, and the broader silicon program has been running for about 10 years.

Cisco and Arista have different exposure to growth trends: Badri says Arista is more heavily weighted toward hyperscalers and faster-moving markets, while Cisco’s security, collaboration, services, and other businesses give it more exposure to slower trends. That mix sits alongside Cisco’s reported acceleration, which the host attributed in large part—but not entirely—to hyperscaler AI-related business.

AI activity and demand are concentrated around OpenAI and Anthropic, according to Badri, who compares their position to Google Search if it were private; the host separately cites Nvidia’s 10-Q, where five accounts represented 70% of accounts receivable, and raises concern about reliance on the two frontier-model companies. Badri says some workflows can use less costly open-weight models, while demanding work such as silicon engineering may warrant frontier capabilities; the host also flags a possible price war among Anthropic, OpenAI, and Chinese models as a risk.