At the Cisco Partner Summit, Technology Reseller News’ Moshe Beauford sat down with Cyndi Privett, Principal & Owner of Viewpoint Research, to discuss Cisco’s sweeping updates to its partner program, the introduction of Cisco IQ, and how AI is reshaping partner profitability and customer experience.

Privett described the new 360 Partner Program 2.0 as a major milestone in Cisco’s evolving channel model. “There’s now much more clarity around how Cisco intends to measure its partners going forward, and what the real levers of profitability will be,” she said. The redesigned incentive structure rewards partners that expand their portfolios beyond networking into security, collaboration, and managed services, with a strong focus on premium services and recurring revenue.

A highlight of the event was the debut of Cisco IQ, a platform designed to give partners deeper insight into customer environments and enhance proactive support. “Cisco IQ is a big step forward—it’s about enabling partners to deliver an up-leveled support experience and deepen their customer relationships,” Privett noted.

Privett also reflected on Cisco’s vision for machine AI, as outlined by Chief Customer Experience Officer Liz Centoni, which could one day allow multi-vendor “war rooms” to be fully automated. “We could soon see virtual war rooms where bots from Cisco, IBM, and others collaborate autonomously to solve outages or security breaches. That’s the future Cisco is building toward,” she added.

While Privett praised Cisco’s forward-looking approach, she cautioned that not all partners will immediately benefit. “Those who can evolve, expand into new architectures, and lead with AI will thrive. Those who can’t may find incentive dollars shrinking. But that’s how every technology cycle works,” she said.

From its unified edge strategy to its “picks and shovels” approach to AI enablement, Cisco’s transformation signals a new era for partners ready to align around automation, intelligence, and measurable business outcomes.

Learn more about Viewpoint Research at https://www.viewpointresearch.com/.