The previous few weeks have been thrilling ones within the Cisco world—from launching Cisco 360 Companion Program, internet hosting AI Summit, and presenting EMEA with an incredible Cisco Reside.
I used to be part of couple large associate occasions in Amsterdam at Cisco Reside and one factor is obvious: we aren’t simply speaking about the way forward for AI; we’re constructing the infrastructure to safe it.
As we transfer from generative AI to Agentic AI, the stakes have by no means been greater. AI that acts for us additionally wants safety that thinks for us. For our companions, this represents the one biggest alternative for progress in a decade.
The Massive Image: Safety is the Accelerator, Not the Brake
There’s a frequent false impression that safety slows down innovation. At Cisco, we consider the alternative. Consider safety just like the high-performance brakes on a Formulation 1 automobile; they’re the one cause the driving force feels secure sufficient to go 200 mph. As a Cisco associate, you’re the one handing them the keys to a safe, high-speed future.
The Rise of Agentic AI (And the Safety Hole)
Agentic AI is being adopted at a blistering tempo. Over half of organizations are already deploying brokers, with one other 30% experimenting. However these autonomous brokers introduce new dangers: immediate injection, instrument poisoning, and information leakage—simply to call a couple of.
The Cisco Strategy: We defend AI brokers from the world, and we defend the world from AI brokers. We’re embedding safety instantly into the material of the community, guaranteeing that safety and networking are now not two separate conversations, however one unified system.
New Improvements: Defending the Complete Lifecycle
We’ve simply introduced essentially the most vital enlargement of our safety portfolio up to now, together with:
- AI Protection Growth: Now defending your complete AI utility provide chain and mannequin integrity. It’s globally obtainable and built-in with the NVIDIA Safe AI Manufacturing facility.
- SASE for Agentic AI: We’ve launched automated detection and entry controls for AI brokers, together with safety for the Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP). This enables organizations to manipulate how brokers work together with information.
- AgenticOps in Safety Cloud Management: We’re utilizing AI to handle AI. These instruments proactively analyze firewall site visitors and configuration information to autonomously remediate points, eradicating the guide “grunt work” to your clients’ IT groups.
- Duo for Lively Listing: We haven’t forgotten the fundamentals. Since 44% of identification assaults goal legacy techniques, we’ve built-in Duo safety for Lively Listing to shut the hole on identity-based threats.
“Safety and observability aren’t issues that scale back productiveness—they speed up adoption. They’re conditions for productiveness.” — Jeetu Patel, EVP and Chief Product Officer, Cisco
The Cisco 360 Companion Program: Extra Worth, Extra Reward
On January 25, 2026, we formally launched the Cisco 360 Companion Program. This isn’t only a identify change; it’s a shift towards rewarding the depth of your experience.
Within the AI period, specialization is your foreign money. We even have aligned our incentives to reward those that spend money on the “Safe Networking” and “Safe AI Options” portfolios:
- The Specialization Bonus: Most popular Companions now earn an additional bonus on eligible bookings with one specialization.
- The Multiplier Impact: In case you maintain a number of specializations inside a single portfolio (like Safety), that bonus will increase additional.
- Everlasting Rewards: These aren’t short-term promos. These bonuses are a everlasting a part of the motivation construction, designed to reward your sustained funding in Cisco experience.
The Backside Line
The “Agentic Period” is right here, and your clients are searching for a information. Don’t anticipate them to ask about AI safety—convey the answer to them. Join together with your Cisco Companion Safety Account Government to study extra about how we’re making AI secure to scale.
We’d love to listen to what you suppose. Ask a Query, Remark Beneath, and Keep Related with #CiscoPartners on social!
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