2026 has continually rewritten the requirements for the network: Frontier models like Mythos GPT-5.6 Sol are rapidly uncovering new vulnerabilities; global governments are accelerating post-quantum cryptography mandates; and AgenticOps went from vision to a day-to-day necessity for NetOps. When technology change is advancing at machine speed, we need a stronger foundation in the network to establish transparency, anchor trust, and enable autonomous operations.

Last week at Partner Summit, we announced a number of key innovations that advance Cisco’s secure networking and AgenticOps capabilities. Today, we’re going to dive deeper into how IT teams of all sizes can scale and secure their networks in the Agentic Era. Want to see it live? Watch our Keynote Deep Dive: Trusted, Scalable, and Assured: Designing Resilient Networks for the Agentic Enterprise from Cisco Live Melbourne with GMs Joe Vaccaro and Michael Dickman.

Here’s a quick rundown of the highlights you’ll see at Cisco Live Melbourne 2027:

• ThousandEyes intelligence for trusted autonomous operations: Seamless access to intelligent network telemetry to help pinpoint network problems sooner, starting the moment you onboard a new access point.
• Experience Metrics for applications: Connecting that rich assurance and app telemetry to continually survey the network and optimize performance.
• Agentic Actions for networking: Now in controlled availability, Actions closes the autonomous loop with deep reasoning, agent transparency, and trust.
• New Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for networking platforms: Providing a standardized way to access network intelligence across cloud and on-premises networks, making custom troubleshooting and workflows easier to build.
• Post-quantum cryptography across wireless networks: Our industry-first over-the-air and secure boot capabilities defend Wi-Fi networks against future quantum threats.
• Live Protect Expansion: Delivering validated shields against newly discovered vulnerabilities, Live Protect is now available for Cisco Smart Switches, wireless controllers and gateways, and Secure Routers.

Making the Agentic Loop a thousand times better

A recent Cisco and Omdia study of 1,000 IT and network operations leaders found that 51% of respondents are already using agentic AI to act on NetOps processes and tasks in production. And 84% expect to reach an AI-led operating model within 12 months.

That’s no surprise to us – with technology evolving this rapidly, we need machine-speed capabilities to keep ahead of the curve. But, as Joe Vaccaro aptly pointed out last week, “greater autonomy must come with visibility and control.”

While Cisco Cloud Control is the home for AgenticOps, at the heart of this new operating model is the Agentic Loop. The Agentic Loop is the clear process for turning network signals into trusted outcomes: agents sense an issue, diagnose its cause, prepare remediation, validate the proposed change, and deploy it within customer-defined controls.

The next step in building that trust comes from ThousandEyes. We’re now including ThousandEyes agents and synthetic testing with every Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access point as a core part of the system – no extra licenses, no additional steps. Now, the moment you power on a new access point, the platform will automatically provision agents, discover critical services, and intelligently deploy tests. One click, and your Agentic Loop just got a Thousand times better.

Caption – ThousandEyes intelligence is now automatically deployed and included in eligible Cisco Networking Essentials licenses, powering more powerful agentic capabilities.

This powerful telemetry fuels trusted actions across the Agentic Loop. Fueled by this new data, we’re now extending Experience Metrics to application performance, raising the bar for experience management across complex networks. Sign up for the Experience Metrics beta today.

And all these insights come together in Agentic Actions – a single view in Cloud Control that combines AI agents, deep reasoning, and Cisco Workflows, giving operators visibility into every action, recommendation, and result across the Agentic Loop. Even better, it’s built with controls to give you the choice over how autonomous actions are executed. Sign up for the beta and check it out for yourself.

Embedding trust into the infrastructure itself

As AI accelerates the threat landscape and organizations introduce AI agents, security teams are racing to keep up. Multiplying these risks is the looming threat of post-quantum computing, enabling harvest now, decrypt later-style attacks. Fortunately, CISOs and CIOs already have a strategic asset in position to help immediately: the network.

The network sees traffic as it moves and is an always-present platform that can identify new risks, limit access to applications and network resources, and defend the infrastructure while fixes are underway. Our secure networking announcements in November show our commitment to continually improving the security capabilities embedded in the network to ensure networking and security teams are operating on the most trusted possible platform.

Industry-first wireless quantum resilience

To start, Cisco is expanding post-quantum protections to Wi-Fi 7, wireless controllers and Campus Gateways. These enhancements now include post-quantum-ready Secure Boot and PQC-enabled communications, including over-the-air encryption on supported platforms. These capabilities help customers prepare wireless infrastructure for changing cryptographic requirements and future quantum threats.  

I’m personally excited about the new Cisco Wireless CW9176ISEC, the industry’s first Wi-Fi 7 access point with quantum-resilient capabilities. The CW9176ISEC is the first access point with quantum-safe capabilities aligned to CNSA 2.0, the NSA’s updated set of quantum-resistant algorithms. Starting January 1, 2027, all new national security system deployments must comply with CNSA 2.0, with fielded equipment targeted to complete the transition by the end of 2030. 

Beyond that, Cisco Wireless 9800 Series Wireless Controllers and Campus Gateways are also being refreshed to bring the same quantum-resilient security capabilities as the CW9176ISEC. And, we’re partnering with Qualcomm Technologies, Microsoft, and Intel to help pioneer quantum-safe enterprise wireless with PQC over the air (OTA). Available starting in January across Cisco’s Wi-Fi 7 access point portfolio this feature brings quantum-safe communications across the network infrastructure, operating system, and client hardware, such as laptops and mobile devices. 

Live Protect expansion to wireless and routing

Finally, we’re continuing our rollout of Live Protect support across the campus and branch portfolio. Live Protect helps reduce exposure to newly disclosed vulnerabilities while customers test and deploy permanent fixes through their normal update process. We’re now extending Cisco-provided and Cisco-validated runtime Vulnerability Shields beyond Smart Switches to supported wireless controllers, Campus Gateways and Secure Routers. This adds protection across more of the network infrastructure without requiring an immediate upgrade or reboot to apply the shield.

See more at Cisco Live Melbourne

The Agentic Era needs a network teams can trust: one that gives AI agents reliable insight, keeps people in control of actions, and builds security into the infrastructure itself. At Cisco Live Melbourne, we’re advancing that foundation with richer network and application visibility, quantum-resilient wireless capabilities, and Live Protect coverage across more of the campus and branch network. Watch the Keynote Deep Dive broadcast live or on demand to see these innovations in action, and subscribe to our Enterprise Networking Linkedin Newsletter for ongoing updates.

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