AutoCon 2 Recap

DAN WADE | Network & Infrastructure Automation Practice Lead

AutoCon 2 was more than another event; it was a hub for exchanging ideas, learning, and advancing network automation practices. Attendees from across the globe came together to share insights on the challenges and successes of adopting automation. Here’s a recap of the session I presented and the broader takeaways from this year’s conference.

Session Highlight:

The Value of Network Testing

My talk focused on promoting the value of network testing, reviewing some of the available network testing frameworks, and providing real-world success stories of implementing network testing in client projects. Network testing is an underrated domain in the network automation space. Many don’t consider network testing their first step in network automation because it doesn’t solve a business problem—at least not at first. Many begin their network automation journey with deploying configuration at scale, which I believe is a much riskier task to start automating.  Network testing is crucial for creating effective and sustainable network automation and gives network engineers and operators the confidence to execute their automation scripts and workflows reliably. While the session recording isn’t available yet, we’ll update this blog with the video link once it’s posted.

 Conference Takeaways

1. Building trust through small wins

A key takeaway from almost every talk was the importance of starting small. Incremental automation, low-risk initiatives, and measurable wins build trust and empower us to create momentum. This mirrors how we approach client engagements, ensuring every step delivers value and positions teams for long-term success with sustainable automation practices.

2. Learning through collaboration

The conference wasn’t just about tools and solutions but about people. Walking around the conference, you could overhear stories of challenges and successes and practical advice on network automation adoption, such as the importance of stakeholder buy-in and the need for cultural shifts within IT teams. These moments reinforced the value of collaboration and understanding the human side of implementing change and adopting a new mindset.

3. The Power of Innovation

One of the recurring themes this year was artificial intelligence (AI). AI has been on top of everyone’s minds across almost every industry. The burning question is, “How can we use AI to make our lives easier?”. Multiple talks explained how AI could be the answer to help network engineers, but there was one talk that stood out to me the most.

Jeremy Schulman, Senior Director of Solution Engineering and Infrastructure at Major League Baseball (MLB), presented an amazing demo video showing how the MLB infrastructure team uses Selector AI to correlate and troubleshoot network events. The feature that surprised everyone was how easy it was to interface with your data using the natural language processing (NLP) interface. With a ChatGPT-like conversation, you could ask your network how it’s doing and where you should spend your time troubleshooting today. It really was fascinating! I look forward to seeing how AI helps shape and potentially increase the rate of network automation adoption.

4. Delivering on what matters most

What stood out at AutoCon 2 was the shared commitment to solving real challenges. Whether optimizing workflows, supporting organizational buy-in, or enhancing team capabilities, the lessons from AutoCon 2 align with our dedication to delivering solutions that truly make a difference. This shared commitment inspires us and unites us in our mission.

Reflecting on the conference, it’s evident that remaining engaged with the larger network automation community allows us to improve our service delivery approach continuously. For our clients, this engagement means collaborating with a knowledgeable, innovative, and prepared team that can apply these insights to address their unique needs.

Please feel free to reach out directly to our network automation team today to see how we can help address your network automation challenges: networkautomation@blueally.com