Pure Storage and Cisco have announced a new FlashStack Cisco Validated Design (CVD), adding to the collection of AI PODs, a key module within the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA. The collaboration brings together compute, storage, networking, and software in one unified, production-grade platform to help enterprises move from AI pilot projects to large-scale deployment with confidence.
“Too often, enterprises focus on GPUs and compute power, but without reliable data, the model never reaches its potential,” said Maciej Kranz, GM, Enterprise, Pure Storage. “Our collaboration with Cisco and NVIDIA removes those data barriers, giving customers the performance, simplicity, and efficiency they need to operationalize AI.”
Enterprise AI is no longer an experiment. Organizations have spent months running pilot projects and proof-of-concepts, testing large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)-powered assistants, and domain-specific AI applications. But here is the problem many of them hit: the model is ready before the data is.
“With this new FlashStack CVD, we’re not just validating hardware, we’re orchestrating all the elements of RAG into an AI-ready infrastructure, removing complexity and reducing risk so customers can focus on turning data into insights that drive strategic outcomes,” explains Jeremy Foster, SVP & GM, Cisco Compute.
AI success isn’t just about training models. It’s about having data pipelines you can trust. Without them, even the most powerful models stall. For many enterprises, fragmented data architectures, limited visibility, and operational friction make moving from pilot to production feel like an uphill battle.
Data: The Missing Link in Enterprise AI
As enterprises move beyond proof-of-concepts and pilot projects, they’re discovering that AI success depends not only on model design, but on data readiness. Fragmented architectures, limited visibility, and operational complexity can stall even the most advanced AI initiatives before they reach production.
The Cisco and Pure Storage validated solution addresses these challenges by ensuring that both structured and unstructured data are readily available to AI workflows. Built on Pure Storage’s Enterprise Data Cloud architecture, the solution provides high-performance data access, concurrency, and energy efficiency through FlashBlade//S, while Portworx by Pure Storage enables persistent, portable, and protected data across Kubernetes-based AI environments.
The result: AI teams can focus on innovation instead of infrastructure management.
A Blueprint for Enterprise-Scale AI
At the core of this collaboration is a shared goal: simplify the path from experimentation to scalable, reliable AI deployment. The AI factory integrates:
- Pure Storage FlashBlade//S – enterprise-level data management at scale solution
- Cisco UCS C845a servers – GPU-accelerated compute powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 GPUs
- NVIDIA AI Enterprise software – a production-ready software stack for building and deploying AI at scale
