Cisco Partner Summit: Five insights that will define the channel in the AI era – SiliconANGLE

For most of its 30-year history, Cisco Partner Summit has focused on how partners sell Cisco Systems Inc. technology. This year’s event in Vancouver was about something different: how partners make money in a world where the transaction is no longer the main event.

Cisco entered the event with tremendous momentum, as its stock was up more than 50% over the past 12 months. Tim Coogan (pictured), senior vice president of global partner sales, told the 2,000 partners in attendance that channel bookings accounted for about 90% of Cisco’s total in fiscal 2026 and that global channel growth was just over 17%. Chief Executive Chuck Robbins called fiscal 2026 “the absolute best year that Cisco’s ever had.” Good years can mask structural change, though, and the announcements in Vancouver signal a real rethink of how value moves through Cisco’s partner ecosystem.

Here are my five takeaways that should matter to Cisco partners.

Influence now counts, not just transactions

The most…