Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Dan DeBacker, Chief Product Officer, Infrastructure, at Extreme Networks
Networking has shifted from supporting business operations to powering them, becoming a core pillar of resilience, security, and productivity. In 2026, increasing numbers of users and devices, bandwidth-heavy applications, and AI-powered operations will make the network even more critical for organizations across industries. The biggest difference this year: AI and automation will deliver measurable operational value, not just theoretical promise.
With these big shifts ahead, we asked a few leaders at Extreme Networks to share their predictions on the year to come:
Networks Become a Top Use Case for AI
In 2026, the network industry will undergo a major transformation as AI-powered platforms move into large-scale production. Organizations are likely to see AI and network automation achieve levels of autonomy and agency never seen before. With agentic automation, we can expect a major shift toward proactive and predictive AI capabilities, enabling systems to anticipate needs, make intelligent decisions, and optimize operations in ways that go beyond anything we’ve seen so far. Additionally, AI-native systems built on multi-agent technologies will demonstrate the true potential of intelligent, agent-driven automation. This agentic automation will surpass traditional robotic process automation (RPA) by offering more adaptive, context-aware capabilities that support the operations lifecycle end-to-end. – Markus Nispel, Head of AI Engineering and EMEA CTO
AI Becomes a True Operational Teammate
By the end of 2026, AI won’t be just a useful tool. It will be an additional team member, running networks autonomously with human network administrators simply approving AI actions-something we refer to as human-in-the-loop. IT will shift from reacting to problems to preventing them before they even occur. Autonomous and agentic AI will take over repetitive tasks, predict failures ahead of time, and continuously optimize performance and security without the need for continuous human input. This isn’t about replacing people, it’s about freeing them to focus on strategy, innovation, and delivering real business outcomes. In short, we’ll move from firefighting to forward-thinking network management. – Roy Verboeket, VP of Systems Engineering
From Observability to Operability
In 2026, we’ll move from observability to operability, shifting from “agents that know” to “agents that act.” Agents won’t just summarize telemetry, they’ll pull context from clients and APs, run targeted diagnostics, and create or annotate ServiceNow tickets with supporting evidence-then track issues through resolution. Expect closed-loop runbooks where agents will handle the repetitive 80% of tasks-for example, triage, enrichment, and first actions-while escalating edge cases with clear, actionable handoffs to human team members. The result is faster MTTR, fewer handoffs, and safer change windows as agent actions are policy-guarded, versioned, and fully auditable. Security follows the same pattern: agents detect misconfigurations or anomalous behavior and execute pre-approved containment steps, which require explicit human approval for high-risk changes. – Kurt Semba, Senior Principal Software Systems Engineer
Trust and Results, Not Novelty, Will Drive AI Adoption
In 2026, we’ll firmly enter a phase of “AI Fatigue.” With AI being the buzzword and main directional shift of every vendor in every space, not just networking or IT, buyers and users are burned out by lots of promises and hype. The real winners will be those that can demonstrate tangible, repeatable, provable value from their AI tools. We’ll also likely see some consolidation as AI blurs the lines between different “swim lanes” across manufacturers and changes the value equation between partners, distributors, and MSPs. – Justin Hurst, Head of OCTO, APAC
Abandon the Narrative that AI will replace Humans
The fear of AI replacing humans and taking over jobs is greatly overstated, especially when it comes to enterprise networking. When IT teams start to use AI, they see the direct benefits of having an intelligent agent that can take over mundane tasks. These repetitive but necessary tasks are all too often so time-consuming, and when AI takes over, it provides the gift of time, which is so precious. One thing to keep in mind is that networking is complex, and while AI can help, there will be a certain level of human thought, tribal knowledge, and intuition that cannot be replaced. Hence, we will continue to see businesses establishing “human-in-the-loop” systems the foreseeable future, where AI actions must be approved and verified by human teams. AI is another tool in the toolbox, but it cannot replace human judgement. – Dan DeBacker, Chief Product Officer, Infrastructure
From Prediction to Practice in 2026
The next year will be less about experimenting with new technologies and more about operationalizing them at scale. AI for networking is becoming a business priority, where it improves performance, strengthens security, reduces time spent on tedious manual tasks, and helps to reduce human error.
The benefits of AI for networking will continue to accelerate at breakneck speeds, learning and applying intelligence while continuing to build trust with network administrators. Organizations that invest in high-performance, secure networks-powered by AI designed to work alongside humans-will be best positioned to handle the demands of an always-connected world.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dan DeBacker is Chief Product Officer at Extreme Networks, where he leads product management and engineering teams across wireless, wired, SD-WAN, and security solutions, including Alliances, Commercialization, and Services product management. In this role, he drives strategy and vision across all aspects of the business, from solution development and engagement with industry analysts to providing insights that address customer requirements and advance Extreme’s long-term technology vision and product strategy.
With more than 36 years of experience in technology, Dan has held senior leadership roles spanning systems engineering, product and solution management, and the office of the CTO. Throughout his career, he has partnered with large global customers to solve complex challenges, guided cross-functional teams in strategic planning and innovation, and developed solutions that deliver measurable business impact.
