This week, Cisco introduced major updates designed to transform how you build, integrate, and automate across Meraki and Catalyst platforms. For developers, this means more reliable automation, significantly safer network changes, and accelerated rollouts, all accessible through the operational interfaces you already use.
Here’s a closer look at what’s new and why these innovations matter.
Ask for Outcomes, Not Commands
The Cisco AI Assistant is now integrated into the Meraki dashboard. It intelligently summarizes issues, suggests precise fixes, and executes prebuilt Agentic Workflows. These are multi-step, Cisco-validated automations—such as “create an SSID and deploy across Meraki and Catalyst Center.” Powered by the Cisco Deep Network Model, the AI Assistant is designed to genuinely reduce operational burden, moving beyond mere conversational interfaces to deliver tangible results.
A Single Operational Picture
A new Global Overview solution is on the horizon, linking visibility across Meraki and Catalyst Center, complete with SSO-based pivots and prioritized alerts. This is targeted for general availability in Q4 2025. Additionally, cloud-managed fabric orchestration in Meraki is slated for GA in Q1 2026, aiming to significantly simplify campus policy and segmentation management.
Unified Branch, with Built-in Safety Rails
Unified Branch streamlines the design → deploy → operate lifecycle with two powerful options:
- Branch as Code: Empowering you to build robust pipelines with integrated version control and rollback capabilities.
- Cisco Workflows: Offering low-code/no-code flows directly within the Meraki dashboard, based on proven Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs). These workflows are specifically engineered to prevent “automated mistakes at scale,” ensuring reliability and consistency.
Identity and Security Built-in
Access Manager (a SaaS front end for Cisco ISE) seamlessly integrates identity-based access control into the Meraki dashboard. Furthermore, Cisco Secure Access (Cisco’s SASE offer) now integrates with Meraki SD-WAN, providing end-to-end policy consistency from campus to cloud environments.
AI-Ready Infrastructure and Assurance
New Cisco Catalyst 8200/8400 Secure Routers and Wi-Fi 7 gear (CW9171I/CW9174I/CW9174E with CW9800L controller) are expanding network performance and roaming capabilities. Roaming Health and ThousandEyes Active Testing for Wireless deliver deeper assurance and accelerate troubleshooting. Wi-Fi 7 is slated for Q4 2025.
What Changes for Your Workflow
These innovations are designed to transform your daily operations:
- Faster, Safer Rollouts: Replace brittle custom scripts with validated Cisco Workflows or Branch-as-Code. You gain essential versioning, rollback, and guardrail capabilities, aligning your network operations with modern software development practices.
- Cross-Domain Clarity: The Global Overview reduces context-switching and provides a unified starting point for triage and changes. Cloud-managed fabrics further simplify campus policy at scale.
- Identity Travels with Configuration: Policies defined in Access Manager now follow your rollouts, significantly reducing configuration drift and ensuring consistent access alignment.
- Better MTTR (Mean Time To Resolution): The Cisco AI Assistant and advanced assurance tools empower you to move from identifying an issue to resolving it—faster than ever before.
Explore Further
To explore each of these transformative announcements in detail, review the following official Cisco blog posts, which include links to further resources:
Initiate Your Cisco AI-Networking Pilot
If you are involved in network automation — or aspire to be — this is an opportune moment to initiate a pilot. Choose your preferred track: Branch-as-Code or Cisco Workflows. Centralize identity management with Access Manager. The operational landscape is evolving, becoming simpler, safer, and inherently more developer-native.
