Network Automation Nerds

Garrett Masters talks with Eric Chou about the concept of the AI-Augmented Engineer. Together they discuss how IT professionals can use Python and NetMiko to automate tasks and even connect AI directly to lab environments. Garrett also shares practical advice on prompt engineering, the importance of context management, and how engineers can safely adopt AI... Read more »

Eric is joined by Sid Mathur, founder of Fastah Inc., to unpack the real-world implications of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) internet. Sid has built a career obsessing over data networks, system performance, and the operational challenges facing ISPs and satellite operators. Together they dive into the complexities of in-motion geolocation and explore the traffic routing implications... Read more »

Eric Chou welcomes guest co-host William Collins as well as Network Automation Forum founders Scott Robohn and Chris Grundemann to discuss how their community emerged from a simple question: Why haven’t we seen full adoption of network automation? They discuss the growth of AutoCon and how its practitioner-focused, vendor-neutral approach has fostered a unique environment... Read more »

Known across the industry for making network engineering cool again with her highly relatable tech content, Alexis Bertholf is a powerhouse when it comes to combining technical expertise with personal branding. Eric Chou sat down with Alexis at AutoCon 5 to chat about Alexis’ career, the art of storytelling in 60 seconds or less, the... Read more »

Eric Chou welcomes Juulia Santala, a Solutions Engineer at Cisco, to discuss her transition from traditional network programmability to cutting-edge AI research. They explore how she moved beyond simple RAG to make AI truly agentic, while solving some hallucination problems in production configurations. They also cover the number one skill network engineers need by 2027,... Read more »

Eric Chou welcomes Florian Lohden, a NetDevOps engineer and co-founder of the NetAuto Group, to discuss his community-building efforts and his latest adventures in network automation. Together they explore how adopting software development practices can help with network automation, and the importance of sharing knowledge within networking communities. Florian also talks about how he balances... Read more »

Eric welcomes Eduard Dulharu, a veteran network architect and the Founder and CTO of vExpertAI, to talk about how agentic AI, open-source LLMs, and digital twins are changing network operations. Eduard discusses the rapid evolution of generative AI, draws parallels between AI’s current limitations and early network protocols such as Spanning Tree, talks about why... Read more »

Early in 2026, Drew Conry-Murray authored the first Packet Pushers Salary Survey, offering a transparent look into compensation in the network engineering industry. Drew joins Eric to discuss the results of the survey, the challenges of interpreting global data, how to use this data to advocate for your market value, and more! AdSpot Sponsor: Meter... Read more »

Sif Baksh joins Eric Chou to share his professional experience and resources to help engineers get their arms around using AI in network automation. They discuss practical advantages of AI over standard Python scripts and the risks and benefits of vibe coding for prototyping. Sif also breaks down the P.E.N.E. framework, a structure for writing... Read more »

Eric Chou and guest host Drew Conry-Murray sit down with deep space networking specialist Scott Spicer. Following the Artemis 2 mission, they discuss the challenges of long-delay space communications and the essential technologies making it possible such as the Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION), Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN), and Contact Graph Routing (CGR).  AdSpot Sponsor: Meter Meter... Read more »