Meet the AI networking tools and features that are helping to simplify and secure network operations for IT teams and channel partners.
That’s because AI networking is about simplifying network operations for IT teams and channel partners, while increasing efficiency, security and reducing costs — something that every business, regardless of size, is looking for. In fact, by 2028, 35 percent of enterprises will use AI to improve network operations and resilience, which is a major increase from less than 10 percent this year, according to market research firm Gartner.
The trend has prompted both networking market heavyweights and specialists to build out AI-powered platforms for network and security management, and AI features and custom dashboards that allow teams to work together in ways they haven’t before, including NetOps, SecOps, and DevOps teams.
The benefits of AI-powered networking are obvious, so here are a handful of the hottest AI networking tools and platforms that solution providers should know about right now.
Arista CloudVision
Arista Networks’ CloudVision platform offers multi-domain management to simplify the NetOps experience for IT administrators and channel partners across the data center, campus and multi-cloud environments. CloudVision, a NaaS platform, enables zero-touch network operations with consistent operations enterprise-wide, which helps to remove the complexity of siloed network management approaches, according to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company.
Arista said that CloudVision includes cognitive analytics, which leverages its network data lake source as the basis for training its AI/ML models to generate better recommendations and insights for operators.
Market research firm Gartner said in June that it expects Arista to continue to invest in its CloudVision integrated security and AI and ML capabilities.
Cisco AI Canvas
First revealed at Cisco Live 2025 in June, Cisco AI Canvas is a generative AI user interface for customer dashboards that lets NetOps, SecOps, and DevOps teams collaborate, optimize operations, while reducing IT strain, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based tech giant.
AI Canvas uses Cisco’s Deep Network model, one of the most advanced networking LLMs, according to Cisco. The domain-specific LLM has been fine-tuned and trained on more than four decades of Cisco expertise, from CCIE-level content to Cisco U. courseware, and the data is always being vetted for accuracy and will continuously learn based on telemetry that Cisco will constantly provide, the company said.
AI Canvas is now part of Cisco’s unified management platform that now brings together management of Meraki and Catalyst devices in one platform that supports any cloud, on-prem, or hybrid deployment that a business chooses.
Extreme Platform ONE
Networking specialist Extreme Networks in December introduced Extreme Platform ONE,an all-in-one AI-powered interface that simplifies network and security management by bringing the tools into one platform for enterprises, including products from third-party networking and security vendors, such as Microsoft.
Extreme Platform ONE has AI baked in to radically simplify the network management experience by “composing” a workspace unique to the user, with every application they need in one place, Morrisville, N.C.-based Extreme said. The company added that the platform can reduce up to 90 percent of manual work and resolution times can be cut by up to 98 percent.
The platform is generally available as of this month.
Fortinet FortiAIOps
Security and networking player Fortinet is continuing to invest in AI networking capabilities.
FortiAIOps is an AI and machine learning offering that simplifies LAN and WAN network management. FortiAIOps, according to the company, provides proactive network monitoring, troubleshooting, and insights and ensures quick data collection and identification of network anomalies.
The platform works by Fortinet network devices, including FortiAPs, FortiSwitches, FortiGates, SD-WAN and FortiExtender, feeding the FortiAIOps dataset, which in turn, provides insights and event correlation for the network operations center.
Fortinet was named a Leader once again in this year’s Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure report.
F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform
F5 in February launched its application delivery and security platform (ADSP) to “meet the moment” of application security and performance.
The ADSP converges F5’s three separate point products — BIG-IP, distributed cloud services, and NGINX technology — into a single place for complete delivery and security for every application, according to the company. The platform addresses high-performance load balancing, multi-cloud networking, full web app and API security, and AI gateway capabilities.
F5 has pledged to evolve its flagship ADSP. To that end, the company announced the addition of a new AI assistant and AI security features earlier this month. F5 AI Assistant is available now to partners and end customers, while the company’s new data leakage detection and prevention capabilities are slated to be available later this quarter, F5 said.
HPE Aruba Networking Central
HPE Aruba Networking Central, the company’s flagship, AI-powered management platform, in April got an injection of more zero trust security elements. HPE at the same time added network access control directly into the platform as the company bolsters security around connectivity and hybrid cloud operations for enterprises. The network access control feature joins the other security capabilities that are already baked into Central, including Intrusion Detection System (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) features, as well as AI-powered observability and microsegmentation.
Additionally, as a big benefit to customers, HPE Aruba Networking Central can now support four distinct deployment options, including virtual private cloud and on-premises, to help enterprises and government entities satisfy regulatory constraints and adherence to stringent security standards such as GDPR, FINRA, and SOX, the company told CRN in April.
Join Digital NaaS
NaaS specialist Join Digital, a company that addresses enterprises in commercial real-estate, high tech and financial services, comes to the market with several offerings for corporate offices, remote offices, and flexible working spaces. The one thing its offerings have in common is its consistent and proactive AI networking optimization and upgrade cycles, according to the Campbell, Calif.-based company.
Via its NaaS offerings, Join Digital continually enhances network performance with automated AI that proactively monitors and tunes networks for maximum reliability, efficiency, and performance. The company, which goes to market through channel partners, applies AI to maintain peak performance and commitment to its SLAs, the company said.
Nile Nav
Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) specialist Nile, which is backed by former Cisco CEO John Chambers, in January introduced a new application for iOS and Android called Nile Nav that lets qualified partners and end customers design, deploy and manage its Campus Network-as-a-Service offering, Nile Access Service.
The app allows users to design campus networks with more precision and more quickly, taking the deployment time from weeks or months for traditional network architectures to days with improved accuracy, the startup told CRN. The app can also help automate the entirety of the network life cycle and address issues that stem from design and deployment that impact about 60 percent of network issues, the company said.
Riverbed AI Observability Platform
Riverbed in 2024 launched an open, AI-powered observability platform aimed at filling in the blind spots that exist in complex IT environments that include public cloud and remote work environments, as well as zero Trust and SD-WAN architectures.
The resulting platform, available through partners, works by collecting full-fidelity data across a customer’s entire IT stack, including from networks, IT infrastructure, applications, user experience, endpoints, and the cloud. The flagship observability platform in April was expanded to include generative, predictive and agentic AI features, as well as a module for measuring unified communications performance and an expanded packet capture feature that includes visibility for packet connections outside an organization’s network.
