Cisco AI Defense has been significantly expanded to help enterprises adopt agentic AI with confidence, combining agent protection, interaction governance, and resilient connectivity for AI-driven workflows. The announcement, made on February 10, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marks a sweeping evolution of Cisco’s security portfolio as organizations transition from AI assistants to autonomous agents.
As organizations move from AI assistants to autonomous agents that use tools and data across hybrid environments, security teams face unprecedented challenges. These autonomous agents require strengthened defenses, governed interactions with enterprise systems and external services, and reliable, cryptographically protected connectivity at scale.
The Challenge of Agentic AI Security
“In the age of AI, safety and security are pre-requisites for adoption, and AI agents bring a whole new set of challenges. As agents take on critical enterprise roles, we’re developing protections that work both ways: preventing agents from being compromised and controlling what they can access and do on our behalf.”
Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s President and Chief Product Officer
Agentic AI innovations have expanded the attack surface across AI supply chains and the tool ecosystem. Enterprises need protections that reduce the risk of agents being manipulated or hijacked, including during tool interactions. This is where Cisco AI Defense comes into play with its most significant expansion since its January 2025 launch.
New Features in Cisco AI Defense
The expanded Cisco AI Defense platform delivers several groundbreaking features designed to secure agents and the AI supply chain:
- AI BOM (Bill of Materials): Provides centralized visibility and governance for AI software assets, including model context protocol (MCP) servers and third-party dependencies
- MCP Catalog: Discovers, inventories, and helps manage risk across MCP servers and registries spanning public and private platforms
- Advanced algorithmic red teaming: Expands the scope of AI security assessments with adaptive single and multi-turn testing for models and agents in multiple languages
- Real-time agentic guardrails: Continuously monitor and inspect agentic interactions to detect manipulation or unsafe behavior
AI-Aware SASE Capabilities
AI agents rely on continuous interaction with LLMs, SaaS applications, data stores, and tool endpoints that are often remote. To meet these needs, Cisco SASE is unveiling new capabilities designed to govern agent interactions and keep AI traffic reliable. These include AI traffic optimization for predictable performance during surges, MCP visibility and policy control, intent-aware inspection of interactions, and unified policy enforcement across SD-WAN and SSE.
Post-Quantum Cryptography Protection
Cisco is also announcing IOS XE 26, the latest version of the operating system that powers millions of networks globally. The new release delivers industry-first full-stack post-quantum cryptography (PQC) protections for the enterprise, defending organizations against device tampering and data compromise. This aligns with evolving European and global regulatory guidance, ensuring enterprises remain protected in the quantum computing era.
The announcement reinforces Cisco’s position as a worldwide technology leader revolutionizing how organizations connect and protect in the AI era. With more than 40 years of experience securely connecting the world, Cisco continues to enable customers, partners, and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity, and strengthen digital resilience.
