Main ecosystem overhaul replaces Gold standing with new tiers and unified incentives to drive AI readiness.
In sum – what we all know:
- The brand new program – Cisco 360 Associate Program has formally launched, changing a 25-year-old framework to consolidate applications and drive profitability.
- New tier construction – Eliminates Gold designation; introduces Registered, Portfolio, and Most well-liked Companions primarily based on particular worth and capabilities.
- AI and telecom focus: Introduces “Safe AI Infrastructure” specialization focusing on AI-ready knowledge facilities and mass-scale infrastructure related to telecom operators.
Cisco is totally revamping its companion program. The corporate has introduced the brand new Cisco 360 Associate Program, representing the corporate’s most sweeping ecosystem restructuring in 1 / 4 century. The transfer consolidates a patchwork of legacy frameworks right into a single program constructed round one precedence — serving to companions capitalize on the AI infrastructure buildout. Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, Senior Vice President of the Cisco Associate Program, framed it as strengthening “what’s already a world-class ecosystem to ship even higher worth and assist our mutual prospects join, defend and thrive.”
The timing isn’t unintended. Enterprise conversations round AI have shifted from whether or not to speculate to how briskly organizations can transfer, and critically, which companions they belief to execute. For telecom operators and enormous service suppliers spinning up AI-ready knowledge facilities, this system carves out devoted pathways and incentives designed to speed up these deployments.
Cisco spent 15 months co-developing the 360 Associate Program alongside its ecosystem, positioning 2026 as a 12 months of “unprecedented profitability” for the channel. The restructuring consolidates beforehand siloed applications, together with VIP, Carry out Plus, and the Cisco Companies Associate Program, right into a unified incentive construction known as the Cisco Associate Incentive (CPI). The aim is basically to chop complexity and provides companions clearer, extra predictable earnings throughout Cisco’s full portfolio.
Additionally gone is the longstanding Gold companion designation. Instead sits a brand new tier system, with the “Cisco Associate” designation because the baseline, and “Cisco Most well-liked Associate” representing prime firms that carry superior technical capabilities. Beginning in February 2026, Most well-liked Companions can pursue the brand new Safe AI Infrastructure specialization, centered on safe AI infrastructure supply. A Safe Networking specialization has additionally been launched to acknowledge security-focused experience.
Telco AI
For telecom operators and repair suppliers pushing into AI, this system’s construction may very well be fairly useful. The Safe AI Infrastructure specialization speaks on to AI-ready knowledge heart wants, whereas the Mass-Scale Infrastructure portfolio targets the very massive buildouts that outline service supplier environments. Companions chasing these areas can be evaluated via the Associate Worth Index (PVI), which emphasizes capabilities, efficiency, and engagement over purely transactional metrics. Cisco plans to broaden PVI with devoted indexes for Builders/Advisors, Mass-Scale Infrastructure, and Distributors.
The monetary mannequin is designed to reward companions for delivering tangible AI deployment outcomes. CPI affords funds tied to whole contract worth, with earnings kicking in fas companions meet outlined milestones. New tooling additionally accompanies the launch — a Cisco Associate Locator that lets prospects search by portfolio (together with Cloud and AI Infrastructure), plus an enhanced Cisco AI Assistant embedded within the Associate Expertise Platform to streamline companion workflows. That stated, companions have flagged advertising and buyer schooling as important for making the Most well-liked Associate designation truly imply one thing out there. The long-term payoff of the brand new tier construction in the end hinges on how clearly Cisco communicates these distinctions to enterprise consumers.