What happens when a network engineer realizes their biggest strength isn’t just technology, it’s communication?

In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down with Patrick McCabe to discuss the transition from network engineering into product marketing and other vendor-side technical roles.

Pat shares stories from:

• carrier-scale networking,
• tier 3 operational support,
• IPTV deployments at AT&T,
• systems engineering,
• sales,
• and eventually product marketing leadership.

Together, they discuss:

• why some engineers naturally gravitate toward communication-focused roles,
• how soft skills accelerate technical careers,
• the realities of outages and operational burnout,
• the difference between engineering and product marketing mindsets,
• and why AI is changing how technical professionals work.

This episode is especially relevant for engineers who enjoy:

• teaching,
• storytelling,
• customer interaction,
• content creation,
• mentoring,
• or translating technical complexity into business value.

If you’ve ever wondered what comes after network operations, this conversation offers an honest look at one possible path forward.

Topics discussed:
Product marketing, vendor careers, systems engineering, AI, technical communication, networking careers, maintenance windows, IPTV, AT&T networking, soft skills, sales engineering, and career growth in IT.

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AI infrastructure is reshaping networking faster than most engineers realize.

In this episode, Andy Lapteff sits down with Scott Robohn to discuss why traditional network engineers should start paying attention to AI networking, GPU infrastructure, and the massive changes happening inside modern data centers.

They explore:

• Why AI workloads are changing networking requirements
• GPU networking and lossless Ethernet
• Ethernet vs InfiniBand
• The rise of NeoCloud providers
• Co-Packaged Optics (CPO)
• Ultra Ethernet and emerging transport technologies
• Why AI infrastructure behaves like “one giant computer”
• How network engineers can start learning this technology today

This conversation cuts through the hype and focuses on what actually matters for engineers trying to stay relevant as AI continues transforming the industry.

Whether you're a traditional network operator, automation engineer, architect, or someone curious about the future of networking, this episode will help you understand where the industry is heading next.

Guest: Scott Robohn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottrobohn/

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Andy Lapteff sits down in person with Tom Hollingsworth ahead of Networking Field Day 40 for a wide-ranging conversation about Tech Field Day, what makes a great delegate, how great technical conversations happen, and why curiosity remains one of the most important traits in networking.

Tom shares the “secret sauce” behind Field Day: strong content, the right audience, and logistics that make the experience valuable for both vendors and delegates. Andy and Tom also discuss AI in networking, the difference between AI for infrastructure and infrastructure for AI, how new voices get discovered in the tech community, and why putting yourself out there can change the trajectory of your career.

If you want to grow your presence in the networking industry or learn how to ask better technical questions, this episode is for you.

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In this episode, we break down why traditional job applications are failing and how networking communities like USNUA are becoming the fastest path to career growth in IT.

You’ll learn:

• Why applying online isn’t working
• How real opportunities come from real conversations
• Why community matters more than certifications

You don’t get hired through applications. You get hired through people.

If you want to grow your career, this is the shift you need to make.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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 standard
• Why wireless feels so different from wired networking
• How contention, collisions, and airtime shape wireless performance
• What OFDMA and resource units actually do
• What makes Wi-Fi 7 different from Wi-Fi 6/6E
• How MLO changes the wireless conversation
• Why deterministic wireless matters
• Where Wi-Fi 7 fits in the enterprise
• When it makes sense to upgrade — and when it doesn’t

The 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.

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