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Global technology company Cisco says it is expanding its social impact initiatives in Nigeria by exploring artificial intelligence-powered solutions for smallholder farmers while deepening investments in digital skills training and technology access for underserved communities.
The company’s Chief Social Impact and Inclusion Officer, Brian Tippens, disclosed this in an interview with News Central during the 2026 World Business Chicago, on the growing commercial and technology partnership between Nigeria and the United States.
Tippens said Cisco was looking beyond large enterprises to ensure that emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence benefit local communities, particularly farmers and vulnerable populations.
“We are doing quite a bit and to importantly provide technology to smallholder farmers,” he said.
“Typically when we think about AI, we think about enterprises, we think about data centres, but there’s an opportunity to bring innovation and AI to those smallholder farmers.”
According to him, Cisco is exploring practical applications of artificial intelligence that can help farmers improve productivity and make better decisions.
“Things as simple as creating AI-powered WhatsApp groups so we could take the collective knowledge of those smallholder farmers or working with technology like geospatial mapping to create maps and grids and track weather patterns,” he said.
“There’s so many different data feeds that we’re able to bring to bear and so we invest through Cisco Foundation and a lot of early-stage startups that are creating these innovative technologies.”
“We’re thinking about enterprises, we’re also thinking about communities and thinking about smallholder farmers, how we drive that local impact.”
Digital Skills for Underserved Communities
Beyond agriculture, Tippens said Cisco was seeking to broaden digital skills training for groups that are often excluded from technology opportunities.
He cited the company’s One Million Learners initiative under the Cisco Networking Academy as an example of its commitment to expanding digital education across Nigeria.
“As I mentioned, we did the One Million Learners for Cisco Networking Academy, which was amazing,” he said.
The initiative also exposed Cisco to organisations working with persons with disabilities, prompting discussions on expanding inclusive technology programmes.
“While we were there we learned about some organisations like, for example, Sightsavers, which is an amazing non-profit that’s doing work around people with visual impairments.”
“They’ve created a connection between the work they’re doing around visual impairments and skills delivery and created some kind of bespoke technology offerings, which is amazing.”
Tippens said such collaborations present opportunities to reach broader segments of society.
“I think there’s so much potential for us to explore opportunities to provide training to broader audiences of underrepresented populations.”
Leveraging Cisco’s Global Resources
The Cisco executive said his office coordinates the company’s social impact strategy globally by mobilising financial resources, employees and partnerships to deliver measurable benefits in communities.
A farmer in a rice farm in Anka, Zamfara, Nigeria.
“My organisation in Cisco, and again we’re about 87,000 employees around the globe, and I report to an executive vice president who reports to the CEO,” he said.
“We’re one of the top leaders in the company looking after how we bring all of our resources to bear, our people, our dollars, our advocacy to make maximum positive impact in communities around the globe.”
According to him, the strategy covers both Cisco’s workforce and external communities.
“That includes internal communities, how we think about employee volunteerism, how we think about engagement, how we think about accessibility, how we create this environment of inclusion inside Cisco.”
“But importantly, how we bring those resources to bear externally in communities like Maiduguri in Borno State, across the whole of Nigeria to maximise our impact there.”
Cisco is one of the world’s largest networking and cybersecurity companies, providing internet infrastructure, cloud networking, cybersecurity, collaboration technologies and digital transformation solutions to governments, businesses and educational institutions.
Nigeria and the United States launched the Commercial and Investment Partnership to strengthen bilateral trade and investment in key sectors, including the digital economy, agriculture, infrastructure and innovation.
Technology firms such as Cisco are expected to play an important role in advancing digital inclusion, supporting entrepreneurship and improving workforce development under the initiative.
