Cisco (Outshift by Cisco): the factory infographic
Cisco's incubator and developer platform for agentic AI: building the plumbing that agents will run on.
What the company does
In normal terms
Networking and security; at Web Summit it presents Outshift by Cisco (incubation of emerging tech) and Cisco DevNet (developer platform for agentic AI), with open-source projects in agentic AI, quantum and next-gen infrastructure.
Through Outshift and DevNet, Cisco gives developers open-source building blocks for agents that talk to each other and to the network.
In lay terms
Cisco builds the roads and traffic lights of the internet. Now it is building the roads AI assistants will drive on.
The risks it faces, especially from AI agents
In normal terms
- Agents on the network. Agents built on shared infrastructure can reach systems and other agents far beyond their task, across company boundaries.
- Open source, many hands. Open-source agent components spread fast; each adopter inherits defaults that may grant more reach than they need.
- Who answers for an agent?. In multi-agent systems, responsibility for an action is split between builders, operators and the platform.
In lay terms
- Agents on the network. Once on the motorway, a car can drive anywhere, not just to the shop.
- Open source, many hands. Free car kits are great, but everyone builds them with the same loose bolts.
- Who answers for an agent?. After a pile-up, who was driving?
How RiskMandate helps
- Reachwhat it can actually access or affectEvery system and agent a DevNet-built agent can contact.
- Mandatewhat the business authorisedThe task its owner approved.
- Gapthe difference: the riskConnections the agent has but its task never uses.
- Barrierswhat really stands in the wayNetwork controls and agent identities, named as evidence.
- Provenancewho owns it, who reviewed it, which versionWhich team built it, on which open-source version.
In normal terms
RiskMandate offers the agent-infrastructure community a common record per agent: a behaviour policy that travels with the agent across the network. Open projects could ship with an example policy, so every adopter starts with a stated mandate.
In lay terms
Cisco builds the roads; RiskMandate is the driving licence that says where each car may go.
A first line for the conversation: You are building the roads for agents. Could every agent on them carry a licence that says where it may go?
Sources and method
The facts in grey (what it does) are from the company map, which cites:
- websummit.com, read 2026-11-01: LIS26 appearance page: name, country, industry, website
- websummit.com, read 2026-11-01: listed on the 2026 event partners list with its elevator pitch (the "what" field)
The risks and how RiskMandate helps are our analysis, written by dev@web-summit.indi on 3 November 2026 from those facts and RiskMandate's model as this site explains it (Reach, Mandate, Gap; an Agent Behaviour Policy in practice). They are not the company's own statements and name no incident. A person reviews each before it is used.