BTEX 2025: Rethinking Networks for an AI-Driven Future

“Your users are starting to use AI applications. And if you're getting in the way of controlling what they get access to, they'll find a workaround,” remarked Duggal.

“At the same time, some of your users are looking at working from anywhere but the network patterns to connect to the applications in a secure way have changed.”

Duggal opened the session highlighting how AI applications require a new approach to underlying networks. Earlier, most of the traffic was under the network administrator’s watch but as remote connections and access to unmonitored AI apps increase, it’s harder to ensure the same level of security.

He also emphasized the role of AI in enabling networking operations, saying, “Organizations are trying to find a way to augment networks with AI operations. They want a chatbot-like experience. They want information visualized to them so they can make improvements or troubleshoot faster.”

A long-prevailing belief among organizations is that a network refresh every few years, which involves upgrading the equipment, is sufficient. But Duggal, on the contrary, explained that with changing work habits, organizations need a strategic modernization plan rather than just a refresh.

“Now as we're starting to look at returning to the office, as we're starting to have important clients come to our offices, we're trying to give them a better experience. Now we're looking at how do I prepare my network for the next five years?

“So, when you think about modernization, you're thinking that in five years from now, is there going to be AI use? Are there going to be IoT applications? Am I going to have a different experience when you come in person instead if you phone into this space?

 “And so, when you think about refresh versus modernization, you want to think about how you bring your teams together so that they can prepare for anything next,” Duggal said.

Craig Siemens talked about how, since the onset of hybrid work, employees need to connect to the IT network in new ways. “If you rewind the clock to five to six years ago, most users would come into an office. They would sit down at a tower that was hardwired into a network.

“Then the pandemic kicked in, everybody went home, everybody got a laptop. Your user base has changed from being predominantly wired to being predominantly wireless.”

These changes have long-term effects on an organization’s network strategy. “Wireless is now becoming much more ubiquitous and it speaks to how users are changing your environment,” said Siemens.

Therefore, in the coming future, offices need to start preparing for a greater reliance on wireless networks. This includes stronger Wi-Fi that supports hundreds of connections at once and stretches security outside the office.

Siemens said there are two aspects to keep in mind when it comes to AI in networking. “There's what our users are using – they're putting more load on the network because they're doing more stuff with Gemini, with Copilot, all of these new large language models.

“And there's also how internally we're being asked to provide network infrastructure for AI applications. They are much more bandwidth-intensive than we've traditionally had with a greater sensitivity to latency.”

He also went on to speak about the role of AI in enabling network administration. “It’s less about how AI is replacing what we do. It’s about how it’s making networking quicker, easier, standardized and ubiquitous for all of us.”

In his view, AI-driven workflows improve efficiency, enable faster troubleshooting and standardize operations, making network management more effective.

Both speakers addressed the industry's substantial shift towards cloud-based applications, which is bound to change how they manage networks. Duggal explained, “When you had on-premises data centres, you'd send all your traffic to the data centre and make sure security is inspected, then you send it back.

“Now that's no longer needed because you might be hosting those applications that you're trying to connect to in the cloud.

“So now you’re doing a SASE type of architecture where you're doing security service inspection at the new edge, which could be a cloud edge that allows for more efficient, higher performing traffic patterns.”

This new approach can help organizations readily embrace cloud services without worrying about vulnerabilities or management concerns.

Concluding the session, Siemens and Duggal highlighted CDW’s role in assisting organizations throughout their network modernization journeys.

Siemens outlined CDW’s multifaceted approach, “We help organizations with technology selection, building the business case for modernization and providing hands-on or advisory services for implementation.”

Duggal spoke about CDW’s managed services, summarizing their value succinctly: “Managed services give you back your time, helping you introduce, implement, manage and support the latest technology.”

Overall, Siemens and Duggal reinforced the message that network modernization is critical for organizations aiming to stay competitive, secure and agile in an increasingly distributed world.