Cisco expands AI-driven network management and offers new partner incentives

Cisco expands AI-driven network management and offers new partner incentives

Cisco Systems Inc. today announced enhancements to its partner program as well as to its infrastructure management and security portfolio, including new artificial intelligence capabilities, automated network monitoring and tools to help enterprises prepare for quantum computing threats.

Cisco also announced several enhancements to its Cisco 360 Partner Program aimed at expanding opportunities for resellers, developers, advisors and distributors.

Unveiled at Cisco Partner Summit in Vancouver, the innovations extend the Cisco Cloud Control platform with AI-driven operations, expanded infrastructure intelligence and tighter integration between networking and security systems. Cisco said its objective is to help organizations identify vulnerabilities, automate troubleshooting and modernize increasingly complex information technology environments.

A centerpiece of the announcement is Model Foundry, a new Cisco Cloud Control service that lets organizations discover, evaluate, fine-tune and deploy Cisco’s purpose-built AI models using their own data. The service will also provide early access to new model versions and weights, initially through Cisco partners.

Cisco is also introducing Model Context Protocol servers for its networking platforms, allowing AI agents and third-party applications to access live network telemetry through standardized interfaces. The technology is designed to eliminate the need for custom integrations and enable automated workflows for troubleshooting, reporting and infrastructure management.

The growing sophistication of cyberattacks makes timely infrastructure intelligence increasingly important, said Vikas Butaney, Cisco’s senior vice president of customer experience product management and marketing.

“Because of the power of AI, risk in our customer environments is growing,” he said. AI-powered threats have reduced the time between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation to hours, he added.

Bringing AI to the network 

Cisco is integrating data from its ThousandEyes digital experience and network intelligence platform directly into Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access points, allowing continuous background testing of application and network performance even when users aren’t connected.

The capability, included with eligible Cisco Networking Essentials and Advantage licenses, requires no additional deployment or configuration. It is intended to provide continuous visibility into network conditions and improve the reliability of automated decisions made by AI agents.

Cisco IQ, the company’s infrastructure intelligence platform that currently covers more than 20 million devices across more than 16,000 customers, is also receiving several enhancements.

New AI-powered assessment playbooks help organizations evaluate their readiness for quantum-resistant security and identify devices running software approaching the end of vulnerability support. Additional planned tools will assess software compatibility, prioritize bugs and identify potential causes of outages.

The Cisco IQ AI Assistant is gaining access to device diagnostics and knowledge from Cisco’s Technical Assistance Center, enabling more contextual troubleshooting. Users will also be able to open, close and escalate support cases directly through the assistant.

Butaney said the expanded intelligence will help organizations identify infrastructure risks that might otherwise go unnoticed.

“We look at device criticality and where it is deployed,” he said. “Based on that, we give it a risk or criticality score that our customers and partners can use to prioritize where they focus.”

Expanded application programming interfaces and MCP integration will also allow customers and partners to build AI agents that act on Cisco IQ intelligence, including through integrations with ServiceNow Inc.

Quantum readiness 

Cisco is extending quantum-resistant security to wireless networks with what it calls the industry’s first Wi-Fi 7 access point with quantum-resilient capabilities. The move addresses industrywide concern that quantum computers will be able to crack even the strongest encryption algorithms in minutes.

The technology combines Qualcomm Inc.-powered access points with client-side support from Intel Corp. wireless chipsets and Microsoft Corp. Windows software. It extends Cisco’s quantum-readiness strategy across wireless networking, switches and routers.

Butaney said assessing quantum readiness requires looking beyond encryption algorithms to examine hardware security and key management practices. “Within IQ, we can look at your environment and tell you how ready you are for quantum,” he said.

Cisco is also expanding its Live Protect and security technology to additional switches, wireless controllers and software-defined wide-area network platforms. Live Protect deploys temporary, Cisco-validated compensating controls called Vulnerability Shields to protect supported infrastructure devices between the time a vulnerability is disclosed and a permanent software patch is installed.

Another new offering, Cisco Privileged Infrastructure Access, is being developed with Gravitational Inc.’s Teleport identity platform to provide tightly controlled access to routers and switches for human administrators and AI agents. It uses short-lived, identity-bound certificates, records sessions and automatically terminates privileges when sessions end.

Butaney said the overarching goal is to enable customers to identify emerging problems and address them before they become more serious.

“Technology debt in our customers’ environment builds up over time,” he said. The expanded capabilities are intended to make those risks visible and give organizations a more systematic way to address them.

Partner incentives

Partners are getting Cisco’s help in extending customer engagements and maximizing profitability.

A new Ecosystem Deal Registration capability recognizes advisors and developers who influence purchasing decisions even when they don’t make the ultimate buying decision. New Partner Value Indexes measure the contributions of different partner types, with a unified distributor index scheduled for spring 2027. Cisco said the changes reflect the growing influence of partners across the customer lifecycle, from initial technology evaluations through deployment and ongoing support.

The company is also increasing financial incentives to encourage partners to expand their services and customer relationships. Changes include a 50% increase in annual contract value growth rewards, a doubling of adoption incentives and an additional 2% cross-selling bonus for qualifying partners that introduce customers to new Cisco architectures, including Splunk.

A new Cisco IQ adoption incentive will reward partners for onboarding customers and integrating their infrastructure telemetry. Cisco estimates that partners building recurring managed services around Cisco IQ could potentially double their profitability by combining ongoing customer engagements with the expanded incentives.

Additional enhancements focus on helping partners improve productivity and develop new services. An AI-powered One Cisco Content Agent, currently in beta, helps sales and marketing teams find approved materials and generate customized customer presentations. New analytics APIs, deal registration visibility and a deal estimator are intended to help partners manage opportunities and calculate potential rebates.

Cisco is also introducing an operational technology security certification, expanded technical training and service development workshops to help partners build practices around Cisco IQ and its broader infrastructure management portfolio.

Photo: Cisco