The Oblong Table - Network AutoMagic

Oct 19, 2026

A loosely structured roundtable on why network automation adoption is still stuck, how AI affects infrastructure teams, and what conferences and communities should give their attendees. Brian looks back on organizing the first CPH^Automate, John pushes back on the idea that network engineers can’t think in systems, and we discuss Trail of Bits’ AI assisted/augmented/native framework, where “automation” could replace “AI” without changing the meaning.

Topics:

  • Running CPH^Automate while keeping its grassroots community feel
  • Engineers who still equate automation with faster config generation
  • Systems thinking versus organizational silos and “mean time to innocence”
  • Adoption order of AI: security first, then coding, then infrastructure
  • Vendors bundling 100+ CVEs into a single advisory, and Knocknoc
  • Tiered AI policies, guardrails, and clear green/yellow/red guidelines
  • What conference talks should give audiences to take home

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