The AI Wave Is Coming. Is Your Network Ready for It?
January 8, 2026
AI Factory
Introduction
In this episode of the Aviz Networks Podcast, we invited Ammar Hanafi, board member at Aviz, co-founder of Moment Ventures, and former Cisco leader, to discuss how networking is being reshaped by AI, open software, and the rapid shift in infrastructure demands. The conversation focused on what makes networks future-ready and why technologies like SONiC are becoming essential for modern workloads.
Ammar joined host Ilona Gabinsky, VP of Marketing at Aviz, to share insights from his journey as an investor and technology leader. Together, they explored how companies can prepare their networks for the massive growth in AI-driven applications and cloud-scale operations.
What this episode was about
The discussion centered on how AI is changing the global infrastructure landscape and why networking must evolve to keep up. Ammar explained how organizations are moving away from closed, expensive, hardware-defined approaches and toward open, flexible, software-powered options like SONiC. He highlighted how this shift enables better performance, lower cost, and true future-proofing.
The episode also explored how Aviz supports this evolution by providing tools that simplify operations, accelerate adoption, and help teams deploy open networking in production without disruption or vendor lock-in.
Key insights from the conversation
- AI is driving a major transformation in computing and infrastructure globally
- SONiC arrived at exactly the right moment as organizations need more flexible and cost-efficient networks
- Open networking gives enterprises the freedom to scale without depending on proprietary hardware
- SONiC allows companies to increase performance while keeping infrastructure budgets under control
- Future-ready networks must work with existing environments while preparing teams for what is coming next
- Aviz's approach to simplifying SONiC adoption aligns with how modern infrastructure teams operate
- Market timing, execution, and leadership are critical factors behind SONiC's industry momentum
- Open ecosystems make innovation faster, more affordable, and more collaborative across vendors
- AI workloads require networks that are high performance, adaptable, and easy to automate
- Aviz is helping organizations transition smoothly with a platform built for openness and real-world operations
Why this episode matters
- Explains how AI is reshaping infrastructure demands worldwide
- Highlights why open networking and SONiC are gaining rapid adoption
- Shows how organizations can lower cost while increasing performance
- Breaks down what makes networks truly future-ready
- Demonstrates Aviz's role in helping teams adopt open networking without friction
More Conversations That Shape the Future
This episode reveals how AI and open networking are setting the pace for tomorrow's infrastructure. Stay tuned for more insights from the people driving real change in the industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is AI changing what organisations need from their network infrastructure?
AI workloads are high performance, adaptable, and need networks that can be automated easily. Traditional closed hardware-defined approaches were built for predictable workloads and fixed capacity. AI does not work that way. Ammar explains that organisations are moving away from expensive proprietary hardware toward open flexible software-powered options because the old model simply cannot keep up with what AI-driven applications demand.
Why did SONiC arrive at the right moment for the industry?
Organisations needed more flexible and cost-efficient networks at exactly the time SONiC became mature enough to deliver them. The shift away from proprietary hardware was already happening and SONiC gave teams a practical open alternative that worked in production. Market timing, execution, and leadership are called out as the critical factors behind SONiC's momentum rather than just the technology being good on paper.
How does open networking let organisations scale without depending on proprietary hardware?
Proprietary hardware locks organisations into one vendor's roadmap, pricing, and upgrade cycle. SONiC runs on hardware from multiple vendors so teams pick what fits their performance requirements and budget rather than what one supplier decides to offer. Scaling means adding the right hardware for the workload rather than being forced into a single vendor's solution regardless of whether it is the best fit.
What makes a network truly future-ready according to the episode?
Future-ready networks must work with existing environments while preparing teams for what is coming next. It is not about ripping everything out and starting fresh. It is about building something that does not break what is already running while creating a foundation that can handle AI-driven applications and cloud-scale operations as they grow. Aviz's approach to simplifying SONiC adoption is positioned as aligned with how real infrastructure teams actually operate.
How does SONiC help organisations increase performance while keeping infrastructure costs down?
Open ecosystems make innovation faster and more affordable because multiple vendors contribute rather than one vendor controlling everything. SONiC lets companies run high-performance networks on commodity hardware rather than paying premium prices for proprietary gear. The episode frames it as getting better performance and lower cost at the same time rather than having to choose between the two.
Why does market timing matter as much as the technology itself in open networking adoption?
A great technology that arrives before the market is ready for it does not succeed. SONiC became a serious option at exactly the moment organisations were feeling the pain of expensive proprietary stacks and needed a credible alternative for AI-era workloads. Ammar calls out market timing alongside execution and leadership as the three factors behind SONiC's industry momentum, not just the quality of the code.
How do open ecosystems make networking innovation faster and more collaborative across vendors?
When one vendor controls a platform, innovation moves at that vendor's pace. Open ecosystems spread contribution across many organisations so improvements come from multiple directions simultaneously. Vendors, enterprises, and community contributors all build on the same foundation. The result is faster feature development, broader hardware support, and solutions shaped by real-world deployment experience rather than one company's roadmap assumptions.
What role does Aviz play in helping organisations adopt open networking without disruption?
Aviz provides tools that simplify operations, accelerate adoption, and help teams deploy SONiC in production without vendor lock-in. The approach is framed as working with existing environments rather than forcing a full replacement. Organisations get the benefits of open networking without the risk of a painful transition that breaks what is already running. The platform is built for openness and real-world operations rather than theoretical best practice.
Watch the full episode to learn how AI, SONiC, and open networking are shaping future-ready infrastructure.
