Shift Happens - Episode 10: AI, Authenticity, and the Biggest Partner Shift in 20 Years

In today’s episode of the Cisco Leadership Podcast, we sit down with Jason, a seasoned leader whose career spans technical, strategic, and executive roles. Jason shares his journey from humble beginnings to shaping teams, strategy, and culture at Cisco. Tune in to learn his unwritten rules of success, the CHII leadership principles (Courage, Honesty, Intellect, Intuition), and how to lead with purpose. Whether you’re growing in your career or leading teams, Jason’s insights are a masterclass in leadership. Thank you for listening!

We're thrilled to welcome Chris Pupillo (WWT VP of Engineering), Benita Mordi (WWT AI Strategist), and Joel Sprague (Cisco SE) to the Cisco SE Talks podcast. We cut through the noise to discuss customers' biggest questions about AI deployment, from strategy to security. Hear how our Cisco-WWT partnership is tackling the future and addressing our customers’ biggest AI pain points head-on!

Ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about distribution? 🤔📦 it's AI, security, scale, and the secret sauce behind partner success. In this episode, Jeff Edwards sits down with John Brookbank, VP of Partner Sales for Americas Distribution at Cisco, to talk career curveballs ⚾, the evolution of Cisco 360 🔄, and why distribution might just be the OG "large language model" for partners. 👊 From landscaping to leading, from Avaya to Cisco, John's journey is packed with insights, leadership lessons, and one very real superpower: aligning people to execute big visions. 💡 Listen in for: • The biggest myths about distribution (and the truth behind them) • How AI + security open massive opportunities for partners • Why execution is everything ("a vision without execution is a hallucination") 👉 Grab your coffee ☕, hit play ▶️, and let's make shift happen!

Join Kat and Ian for 17 minutes of great advice on advancing your career, and five minutes of Ian ranting about his therapist - it's a safe space here, okay? From being the "life of the corporate party" to sending a message to the wrong person via work chat, Kat and Ian go through all the "don'ts" of growing your career. Tune into this episode for tips, laughs, and vents - the three consistencies of 404. If you've made it this far and are actually looking for information on Cisco's solutions, you can check them out here: https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/index.html#tabs-a107e9a621-item-6caff3e5bb-tab Oh! And now you can WATCH 404 on our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@404ScriptNotFound

Dive into the world of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)—the backbone of the Internet—and explore everything from BGP zombies to BGP monitoring best practices. Tune in for this special conversation with Lefteris Manassakis and The Internet Report team. A seasoned researcher and network engineer, Lefteris Manassakis co-founded Code BGP, which is now part of Cisco ThousandEyes. He currently serves as a Software Engineering Technical Leader at ThousandEyes, focusing on BGP monitoring. To learn more, follow Lefteris on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/manassakis/) or visit his website (https://manassakis.net/) ——— CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:11 What Is BGP? 07:05 May 2023 Incident 17:16 Challenges of BGP Monitoring 19:16 BGP Zombies 33:45 Get in Touch ——— For additional BGP insights, check out these links: - Monitoring Root DNS Prefixes: https://www.thousandeyes.com/blog/monitoring-root-dns-prefixes?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q1fy26ep3_podcast - BGP Zombies Show Up Regularly: https://www.thousandeyes.com/blog/bgp-zombies-show-up-regularly?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q1fy26ep3_podcast - Monitor BGP Routes to and From Your Network: https://www.thousandeyes.com/solutions/bgp-and-route-monitoring?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q1fy26ep3_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X. ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report

AB sits down with Jorge Ramirez, GM's Global Director Automation, Chief Manufacturing Cybersecurity Officer, to discuss how GM leverages Cisco technology extensively across its global manufacturing plants to enhance operational efficiency, cybersecurity, and network visibility.

AI isn’t just buzz — it’s about to unleash 2,142 zettabytes of data (yep, that’s all the sand on all the beaches… times 2,142 🌊). In this episode of Shift Happens, I sit down with Cassie Roach, Cisco’s Global VP of Cloud & AI Infrastructure Partner Sales, to unpack what this wave means for partners and how to ride it. We cover: ⚡ From “proof of concept” AI to real, enterprise-scale deployment 🔐 Why trust + infrastructure = the foundation for AI adoption 💰 The $43B network refresh nobody should sleep on 🚀 How the Cisco 360 Partner Program helps partners stand out and own the moment If you’re a partner, seller, or just trying to make sense of the AI gold rush — this one’s for you. 👉 Tap play and let’s make shift happen.

In this episode, Kendra Dodson, a SD-WAN technical Leader in RTP Cisco TAC center tells us her stories about SD-WAN : from counter overflow, to packet overfragmentation or sudden config loss, she gives her tips and her thoughts on the future of WAN connections.

Kat met Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.), and Ian has anxiety. We discuss sleep shows, and Kat rubbing shoulders with celebrities. We then jump into tech talk all around networking - we're talking tech and not your friend circle, even if that is how ChatGPT explained it to Kat. We dig into how the network was founded, Cisco's role in the development of the router (it's a love story), and if it played a role in us getting to the moon. Kat asked about how the network works, and then battles with understanding the difference between LAN and WAN and what her own home network looks like. Something for everyone this week! If you want to check out all of Cisco's networking solutions for SMBs, you can find them here: https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/solutions/small-business/networking/index.html

In this episode of Shift Happens, host Jeff Edwards sits down with Stephen Tessitore, Cisco’s Global VP of Partner Marketing, to explore the “accidental” yet ambitious journey from sales to leading global partner marketing. Stephen shares how today’s marketing is being reshaped by AI, hyper-personalization, and brand differentiation — and why the Cisco 360 Partner Program represents the biggest shift (and opportunity) in partner programs in 20+ years. From building authentic brands to balancing AI efficiency with human connection, this conversation offers practical insights for partners navigating change and rethinking their value in the market.