Cisco accelerates AI strategy with acquisitions, restructuring, and partner program updates

Cisco is strategically reshaping its future to lead in the artificial intelligence (AI) era through a series of significant acquisitions, workforce adjustments, and enhancements to its partner program, as reported by CRN.

Cisco has made three key acquisitions this year to bolster its AI and security capabilities. In April, the company acquired AI observability specialist Galileo Technologies Inc., followed by identity protection startup Astrix Security in May. In June, Cisco announced plans to acquire WideField Security, intending to integrate these companies into its Splunk platform to enhance AI agent observability, protection, and security operations center (SOC) functions. Alongside these acquisitions, Cisco underwent a workforce restructuring, announcing layoffs to reallocate resources towards advanced AI, security, and quantum networking technologies.

The company also launched the Cisco 360 Partner Program, designed to support partners in the AI era with updated designations and a focus on AI-ready data centers and digital resilience. Further solidifying its AI push, Cisco unveiled Cisco Cloud Control, a unified platform for agentic AI spanning its networking, security, collaboration, and observability portfolios, built on the Cisco Data Fabric and powered by the Splunk Platform. These moves position Cisco to capitalize on the increasing demand for AI infrastructure and support enterprises through rapid technology transitions.

Source: CRN