Cisco Unveils Enhanced 360 Partner Program to Accelerate AI-Driven Growth

Cisco  has unveiled key details of its upcoming Cisco 360 Partner Program, set to launch on January 25, 2026. Co-designed with partners, the program aims to accelerate partner profitability while delivering enhanced value to customers. With partners anticipating AI to drive most of their revenue over the next five years, Cisco’s enhanced program provides incentives for organizations helping clients navigate infrastructure limitations, data complexity, and skills gaps. By strengthening collaboration across its global partner ecosystem, the program enables partners to fully leverage Cisco’s portfolio to deliver AI-ready data centers, future-proof workplaces, and digital resilience.

The updated Cisco 360 Partner Program introduces new paths to profitability, focusing on solutions that drive customer impact, including campus refresh, AI, security, collaboration, and mass-scale infrastructure. Preferred Partners can earn new specializations aligned with Cisco’s critical infrastructure priorities for the AI era. Cisco is also expanding its partner enablement initiatives with enhanced training, tools, and resources, including a marketing Launchpad and Branding Toolkit to support program adoption and readiness.

A key feature of the program is the enhanced partner incentive, which aligns rebate rates and eligible offers with growth areas such as AI, security, and premium services. Partners can model profitability through the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator and access two additional bonuses: the Cross Sell Bonus, rewarding portfolio breadth, and the Next Generation Specialization Bonus, rewarding deep expertise and predictable growth. These incentives are designed to help partners achieve as much—or more—than under the previous program while focusing on integrated solutions that drive customer outcomes.

Cisco is also introducing new specializations for Preferred Partners in February 2026: Secure AI Infrastructure and Secure Networking. These recognize partners delivering end-to-end solutions using Cisco’s integrated hardware, software, and services. Both specializations unlock additional incentive bonuses, further boosting profitability for partners building expertise in AI infrastructure.

Partner enablement is a central focus of the program, with expanded resources including Cisco Partner Learning Journeys, Cisco AI Assistant for Partners, advanced dCloud Demo Experiences, and Cisco U. AI Skills Expansion. Additionally, the program now offers the Cisco AI Infrastructure Specialist Certification within the CCNP Data Center Certification track, helping partners validate skills in Cisco’s AI-ready infrastructure.

To support program launch, Cisco is providing partners with a Marketing Launchpad, a Branding Toolkit, and one-on-one marketing support to customize assets and ensure readiness for January 25, 2026.

“The Cisco 360 Partner Program is about more than recognition—it’s about empowering every partner to thrive at the center of Cisco’s innovation. By investing in our partners’ capabilities and giving them the tools and resources they need, we’re enabling our ecosystem to deliver greater customer outcomes and lead in an AI-powered world.”

– Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, Senior Vice President, Cisco Partner Program

Other partner leaders, including Brian Ortbals of WWT, Ryan Morris of Blackwood, and Jay McBain of Canalys, echoed the program’s benefits in aligning incentives to customer outcomes, enhancing engagement, and preparing partners to capitalize on AI-driven opportunities.

For more information on the Cisco 360 Partner Program and the Partner Summit, partners and stakeholders can access dedicated resources on Cisco’s official portals.