The Summer of Turbulence: How AI Is Rewriting Infrastructure Operations

This episode is part of a seven-part sponsored series with Cisco focused on the technologies defining the next era of enterprise networking, with new episodes released each month.Networking is entering its "summer of turbulence."Frontier AI models can now identify and exploit vulnerabilities in massive, decades-old codebases faster than traditional security and operations teams can respond. Cisco's Tom Gillis and Murali Gandluru join Nick Lippis to discuss what that means for the future of infrastructure operations.The conversation explores the shift from centralized monitoring to distributed, agent-driven visibility, why infrastructure teams will need to adopt CI/CD-style software lifecycle operating models, and how organizations can keep pace with a growing wave of AI-discovered vulnerabilities. Tom and Murali also demonstrate how Cisco is approaching the challenge through technologies such as Cisco Cloud Control, Nexus Dashboard, and Live Protect.They also examine the organizational changes that come with AgenticOps, from evolving NOC and SOC responsibilities to rethinking how infrastructure teams manage risk, change control, and lifecycle management. The discussion concludes with a look at digital twins, smart switches, autonomous operations, and the path toward infrastructure that can increasingly manage and protect itself.New episodes of the Built for Trust Podcast come out every Thursday. Subscribe to get notified.