AONE

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Channel • 2 Shows

Technology

Technology

Every two weeks
Technology

Technology

Every two weeks

22 APR

You Don’t Need Python Anymore: Hello World For AI

For years, network engineers were told the same thing: “Learn Python… or fall behind.” But what if that’s no longer true? In this episode, we walk through a real Hello World for AI in networking: connecting an AI agent to NetBox using Model Context Protocol (MCP) and querying network data in natural language. No scripts. No Python expertise. Just results. This is a live, unfiltered build, from cloning a repo to debugging JSON to finally asking: “How many sites do I have in New York?” …and getting an answer instantly. What You’ll Learn: Why Python is no longer the entry point to network automation What MCP is and how it connects AI to your network How to query NetBox using natural language How AI handles tasks that used to require scripts Where human-in-the-loop still matters Why This Matters: Most network engineers haven’t started automation, not because they don’t want to, but because the barrier felt too high. AI just lowered it. This episode shows you exactly where to start. Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

22 Apr

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52 min
25 FEB

The ABCs of AI

“AI Won’t Replace You, But Someone Using AI Might” AI is everywhere; stickers, marketing, hype. Network engineers are understandably skeptical. In this episode, Andy Lapteff is joined by longtime friend of the show John Capobianco (now Head of AI & DevRel at Itencho) and Mike Bushong for a practical, optimistic “ABCs of AI” discussion designed for working network engineers. We start with a blunt reality: automation adoption is still low, and the old “automate or die” narrative hasn’t helped. Then we pivot into what’s changed: modern models are strong enough to be useful, but only if you stop treating them like a search bar and start connecting them to real tooling and real data. John explains the core building blocks—LLMs, RAG, agentic workflows, and especially Model Context Protocol (MCP)—and why MCP may be the protocol that finally makes AI feel operationally real. Finally, we land on a concrete “Hello World” for neteng: connect an AI client to a source of truth like NetBox or Nautobot (in a sandbox), start with read-only workflows (logs, config deltas, compliance), and build from there—safely. If you’ve been curious but overwhelmed, this is your on-ramp. Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

25 Feb

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54 min
8 APR

Grow Your Career in 2026

What does a network engineer actually make in 2025–2026? How do you ask for a raise without making it weird? And what's the single biggest thing holding your career back? We recorded this one live. This episode comes straight from the US Networking User Association PA Network User Group 2026 Spring Career Day — a standing-room-only event organized by USNUA in the Philadelphia area. Five talks. Five perspectives. All of it relevant to where you are right now in your career. Drew Conroy Murray from Packet Pushers kicks things off with highlights from their global salary survey — 418 respondents across 33 countries, with some genuinely surprising numbers around certifications, tools, and geographic salary gaps. Pat follows with a straightforward breakdown of how to build your case, time your ask, and walk out of a raise conversation with something — even if the answer is no. David takes it from there with a hard truth most engineers don't want to hear: being good at your job is the floor, not the ceiling. Visibility, advocacy, and knowing who has influence over your next move matters more than you think. Danny brings the career path conversation — why management isn't the only way up, why passion matters more than a title, and why finding your people changes everything. Andy closes with a personal story about unemployment, cognitive bias, and what it actually took to unlearn a decade of being anti-automation. Fair warning: it gets real. This is the kind of conversation that usually stays in the room. We're glad we got to record it. Topics covered: salary benchmarks, asking for a raise, promotion strategy, career pathing, network automation, cognitive bias, personal brand, soft skills Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

8 Apr

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1hr 14min
11 MAR

Wi-Fi 7 Explained: What Network Engineers Need to Know

In this episode, Andy sits down with Gregory Grimes to unpack the world of Wi-Fi 7 and what it means for network engineers. If wireless has ever felt like magic compared to the predictability of route/switch, this conversation is for you. Andy and Greg walk through the evolution of wireless networking, from the early days of 802.11 to the latest innovations in Wi-Fi 7, including wider channels, better spectrum use, resource units, and multi-link operation (MLO). They also explore the real-world question every engineer asks: who actually needs Wi-Fi 7? Is it a game changer for the average home user, or does it really shine in high-density and high-performance environments like classrooms, auditoriums, healthcare, and immersive AR/VR use cases? Along the way, they translate complex wireless concepts into practical networking language that route/switch engineers can relate to, making this a great episode for anyone who wants to better understand modern wireless without needing a CWNA-level deep dive. In this episode: A quick history of Wi-Fi and the 802.11 standardWhy wireless feels so different from wired networkingHow contention, collisions, and airtime shape wireless performanceWhat OFDMA and resource units actually doWhat makes Wi-Fi 7 different from Wi-Fi 6/6EHow MLO changes the wireless conversationWhy deterministic wireless mattersWhere Wi-Fi 7 fits in the enterpriseWhen it makes sense to upgrade — and when it doesn’tThe episode also closes with a great reminder that networking is about more than protocols and throughput. Greg shares why the Art of Network Engineering community has mattered to him from the beginning, and why finding your people in this industry makes all the difference. Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

11 Mar

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46 min
28 JAN

Learn to Code With AI

Erika Dietrick (aka “Erika the Dev”) is back on the show, and she’s days away from a major life change (welcome, Baby Dev). In this follow-up conversation, we dig into the thing that keeps coming up in network engineering careers: programming is no longer a “nice-to-have.” Erika breaks down her free YouTube course designed specifically for network engineers: Level 1 is “programmatic thinking” (the mindset + foundations), Level 2 is where AI becomes your learning accelerator, and Level 3 is about generating code responsibly, without falling into the “vibe coding” trap. We also talk about why coding feels so foreign to CLI lifers, why so many “slick” courses lose beginners, and how to use AI like Google-on-steroids. If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not smart enough for this” or “I don’t have time,” this one’s for you. What we cover: - Why network engineers struggle with coding (and it’s not your fault) - The difference between using AI while coding vs vibe coding - How to build foundations that make AI actually useful - Why libraries matter, and how Level 2 focuses on network automation libraries - Career reality: why Python shows up in job descriptions everywhere Find Erika: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCkWURMuDQZox53bskCFS6vw LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikadietrick/ Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

28 Jan

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39 min
25 MAR

Radia Perlman: You’re Solving the Wrong Problem

What if the biggest problem in networking is that we’re solving the wrong one? In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy and Lexie sit down with Radia Perlman, one of the most influential figures in networking history and the inventor of Spanning Tree Protocol. This conversation goes far beyond protocols and configurations. Radia shares how networking evolved, through constraints, tradeoffs, and human decisions, and why so much of what we learn today is incomplete without understanding the problems those technologies were trying to solve. You’ll hear: Why Ethernet was never designed to be used the way we use it today How Spanning Tree came to be, and why it wasn’t meant to be permanent The blurred lines between Layer 2 and Layer 3 The real reason BGP exists (and its limitations) Why engineers often jump into solutions before understanding the problem What people get wrong about quantum computing and AI This is one of those conversations that doesn’t just teach you what networking is, it changes how you think about it. About AONE The Art of Network Engineering explores the human side of IT—real stories, real lessons, and practical insights from people shaping the industry. Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

25 Mar

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1 hr
22 APR

Can You Fly With Glass Wings? - Monthly News Update (with a Surprise)

Send us Fan Mail “Too dangerous to release” is a bold claim in cybersecurity, so we treat it like any other security headline: we interrogate it. We kick off our monthly news round-up by welcoming Catherine McNamara as a permanent co-host, then dig into Anthropic’s Mythos preview model and Project Glasswing, positioned as an AI security and threat intelligence leap that can allegedly find zero-day vulnerabilities at a level the public shouldn’t have yet. We ask the uncomfortable questions: where’s the independent evidence, what does high-fidelity vulnerability discovery actually look like, and how do we avoid drowning in AI-generated noise? From there, the discussion gets messier in the way real security always is. We talk about tokens, paid code security reviews, and how incentives change when AI companies chase growth, IPO pressure, and government contracts. We also unpack why “ethical” restrictions are hard to enforce in practice and how rumors of source code leaks and fast rewrites complicate any promise of controlled access. If powerful agencies can use AI to speed up exploit discovery, even lower-severity bugs can become dangerous when chained into real attacks. Then we pivot to a concrete lesson every org can use: the Vercel breach. A supply chain compromise plus a single OAuth “Allow All” moment shows how identity and SaaS permissions failures can open the door to data exfiltration. We break down least privilege, blocking risky OAuth grants, shadow SaaS, and why a CASB can be the difference between a contained incident and a headline. We close by connecting AI layoffs to social and economic pressure, including CEO security fears, surprising UBI rhetoric, and Oracle laying off 30,000 people by email. If you care about AI, cloud security, appsec, and what these incentives are doing to the world, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review with your take: is the AI security boom helping defenders more than attackers? Purchase Chris and Tim's book on AWS Cloud Networking: https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Advanced-Networking-Certification-certification/dp/1835080839/ Check out the Monthly Cloud Networking News https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fkBWCGwXDUX9OfZ9_MvSVup8tJJzJeqrauaE6VPT2b0/ Visit our website and subscribe: https://www.cables2clouds.com/ Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/cables2clouds.com Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cables2clouds/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cables2clouds Merch Store: https://store.cables2clouds.com/ Join the Discord Study group: https://artofneteng.com/iaatj

22 Apr

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43 min
21/06/2023

Ep 122 - What is OT? (vs IT)

In this interview we speak to Josh Varghese, owner of Traceroute, LLC, and subject matter expert in Operational Technology. OT is a bit different than traditional IT, but what is it exactly, and how is it different? We learn so much from Josh about OT we know you're going to enjoy this one! More from Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varghesejm/ Web: https://www.traceroutellc.com/ Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

21/06/2023

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1hr 14min
24/05/2023

Ep 120 - Transition out of the Military and into a Tech Career

In this episode, we chat with three different former and current members of our armed forces to get some helpful tips on transitioning from a career in the Military to a career in Tech as a civilian. John Berth, Julio Perez, and Tom Maryland join us to share their insights! More from our guests: John Breth Twitter: @JBizzle703 Web: https://jbcsec.com/links/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cyberinsight Julio Perez Twitter: @Julio_PDX Web: https://juliopdx.com/ Tom Marland Twitter: @tmarsland Web: https://www.thomasmarsland.com/ VetSec: https://veteransec.org/ VetSec is a home for those who served – those who are transitioning into or wanting to upskill into cybersecurity. We offer a community of like-minded veterans and a bridge to transition from the military into meaningful employment, with resources along the way to help you out. Send us Fan Mail This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng

24/05/2023

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1hr 2min
24/09/2025

Automating Cloud Native vs. On-Prem Networks with Eric Chou

Send us Fan Mail The gap between cloud-native and traditional networking has never been more evident. As organizations struggle with hybrid environments, finding a unified management strategy feels like searching for the mythical "one ring to rule them all." In this thought-provoking episode, we welcome Eric Chou, author, instructor, and podcast host with over a decade of experience at AWS and Azure. Eric brings a rare insider perspective on how hyperscalers approach networking fundamentally differently than traditional vendors. We explore why cloud providers built their infrastructure API-first from day one, while traditional networking vendors had to retrofit APIs onto existing hardware. This architectural distinction creates significant challenges when trying to manage both environments cohesively. Eric explains why cloud tools excel at declarative configurations while traditional networking tools often take a more procedural approach, and when each might be appropriate for your organization. The conversation takes a fascinating turn when we discuss how AI is reshaping network engineering. Are we headed toward a dangerous knowledge gap as junior engineers rely on AI without developing foundational skills? Eric advocates for an "enhance, not replace" philosophy that values human expertise while leveraging AI as a productivity multiplier. We debate whether simulation can ever truly replace the hard-earned lessons of 3 AM network outages. Whether you're managing a hybrid network environment or wondering how to prepare for an AI-driven future, this episode offers practical insights and a surprisingly optimistic outlook on the future of networking. Listen now to understand how bridging the gap between cloud and on-premises networking might be less about finding a universal tool and more about developing the right mindset and approach. Connect with Eric: Network Automation Nerds Podcast: https://packetpushers.net/podcast/network-automation-nerds/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/ericchou LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/choueric/ Network Automation Nerds Website: https://networkautomationnerds.com/ Purchase Chris and Tim's book on AWS Cloud Networking: https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Advanced-Networking-Certification-certification/dp/1835080839/ Check out the Monthly Cloud Networking News https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fkBWCGwXDUX9OfZ9_MvSVup8tJJzJeqrauaE6VPT2b0/ Visit our website and subscribe: https://www.cables2clouds.com/ Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/cables2clouds.com Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cables2clouds/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cables2clouds Merch Store: https://store.cables2clouds.com/ Join the Discord Study group: https://artofneteng.com/iaatj

24/09/2025

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51 min

The Art of Network Engineering podcast blends technical insight with real-world stories from engineers, innovators, and IT pros. From data centers on cruise ships to rockets in space, we explore the people, tools, and trends shaping the future of networking, while keeping it authentic, practical, and human. We tell the human stories behind network engineering so every engineer feels seen, supported, and inspired to grow their career in a rapidly changing industry.

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