At the Cisco Partner Summit, Technology Reseller News’ Moshe Beauford spoke with Jeff Drury, Director of Engineering at CVE Technologies Group, about how Cisco’s expanding AI portfolio is reshaping partner enablement, education, and customer strategy across the channel.

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in Oregon and Hawaii, CVE Technologies Group has been a trusted Cisco partner since 2002. The company provides technology solutions, engineering support, and technical services to customers across the Intermountain West and beyond.

Discussing the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, Drury described AI as “the new buzzword — it’s replaced ‘cloud’ as the vaguest but most talked-about trend in technology.” He explained that customers are approaching AI adoption in three ways: by using built-in AI features within existing tools, leveraging large language models (LLMs) to improve workflows, and developing proprietary AI solutions — with the last category being the most complex and skill-intensive.

Internally, CVE is also adopting AI to streamline operations. “We’re looking at how to ‘dog food’ our own AI initiatives, especially around LLM integration, to improve business processes and make us faster and more agile,” Drury noted.

Education and enablement remain central to CVE’s approach. “Cisco’s been very good about providing enhanced and focused training once we show initiative and investment in a space,” said Drury. “Education is the key and the burden of being a successful channel partner — it’s constant.”

Looking ahead, Drury hopes for greater interoperability across AI-driven tools. “Standalone AI information for one product isn’t beneficial if it can’t talk to other systems. Interoperability between vendors’ AI technologies will be key as the market matures,” he added.

Learn more about CVE Technologies Group at https://www.cvetech.com/.