By Alex Pujols, Ph.D.,
Publication Date: 2026-10-26 23:00:00
What does it take to move an AI idea into the work a customer does every day? This year’s Partner Innovation Challenge winners have some practical answers. Different problems, different industries, but a common focus: making AI more useful and dependable in real operating environments.
Today, I’m proud to congratulate the 2026 winners and take a closer look at what they’ve built.
Global Winners
1st Place | 2026 Cisco Innovation Partner of the Year ($250K USD): Presidio
- The problem: AI agents can recommend a payment, approve a claim, or grant access. Who checks that the action fits the business’s rules before it happens, and who steps in when it doesn’t?
- The solution: ActionGuard, Presidio’s answer at the point of execution. It evaluates each proposed action against business policy, then allows it, blocks it, or holds it for human review. Decisions can be logged to Splunk.
- Why it matters: Unlike safeguards focused on an agent’s identity or whether its content is…
