The past few weeks have been exciting ones in the Cisco world—from launching Cisco 360 Partner Program, hosting AI Summit, and presenting EMEA with an amazing Cisco Live.
I was a part of couple big partner events in Amsterdam at Cisco Live and one thing is clear: we aren’t just talking about the future of AI; we are building the infrastructure to secure it.
As we move from generative AI to Agentic AI, the stakes have never been higher. AI that acts for us also needs security that thinks for us. For our partners, this represents the single greatest opportunity for growth in a decade.
The Big Picture: Security is the Accelerator, Not the Brake
There is a common misconception that security slows down innovation. At Cisco, we believe the opposite. Think of security like the high-performance brakes on a Formula 1 car; they are the only reason the driver feels safe enough to go 200 mph. As a Cisco partner, you are the one handing them the keys to a secure, high-speed future.
The Rise of Agentic AI (And the Security Gap)
Agentic AI is being adopted at a blistering pace. Over half of organizations are already deploying agents, with another 30% experimenting. But these autonomous agents introduce new risks: prompt injection, tool poisoning, and data leakage—just to name a few.
The Cisco Approach: We protect AI agents from the world, and we protect the world from AI agents. We are embedding security directly into the fabric of the network, ensuring that security and networking are no longer two separate conversations, but one unified system.
New Innovations: Protecting the Entire Lifecycle
We’ve just announced the most significant expansion of our security portfolio to date, including:
- AI Defense Expansion: Now protecting the entire AI application supply chain and model integrity. It is globally available and integrated with the NVIDIA Secure AI Factory.
- SASE for Agentic AI: We’ve introduced automated detection and access controls for AI agents, including security for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This allows organizations to govern how agents interact with data.
- AgenticOps in Security Cloud Control: We are using AI to manage AI. These tools proactively analyze firewall traffic and configuration data to autonomously remediate issues, removing the manual “grunt work” for your customers’ IT teams.
- Duo for Active Directory: We haven’t forgotten the basics. Since 44% of identity attacks target legacy systems, we’ve integrated Duo protection for Active Directory to close the gap on identity-based threats.
“Security and observability aren’t things that reduce productivity—they accelerate adoption. They’re prerequisites for productivity.” — Jeetu Patel, EVP and Chief Product Officer, Cisco
The Cisco 360 Partner Program: More Value, More Reward
On January 25, 2026, we officially launched the Cisco 360 Partner Program. This isn’t just a name change; it’s a shift toward rewarding the depth of your expertise.
In the AI era, specialization is your currency. We also have aligned our incentives to reward those who invest in the “Secure Networking” and “Secure AI Infrastructure” portfolios:
- The Specialization Bonus: Preferred Partners now earn an extra bonus on eligible bookings with one specialization.
- The Multiplier Effect: If you hold multiple specializations within a single portfolio (like Security), that bonus increases further.
- Permanent Rewards: These aren’t short-term promos. These bonuses are a permanent part of the incentive structure, designed to reward your sustained investment in Cisco expertise.
The Bottom Line
The “Agentic Era” is here, and your customers are looking for a guide. Don’t wait for them to ask about AI security—bring the solution to them. Connect with your Cisco Partner Security Account Executive to learn more about how we’re making AI safe to scale.
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