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The Art of Network Engineering

The Art of Network Engineering

Andy and Friends 203 Episodes Jun 17, 2026

The Art of Network Engineering blends technical insight with real-world stories from engineers, innovators, and IT pros. From data centers on cruise ships to rockets in space, it explores the people, tools, and trends shaping the future of networking. The podcast aims to keep content authentic, practical, and human, telling the human stories behind network engineering so every engineer feels seen, supported, and inspired.

Episodes

From Network Engineer to Product Marketing: A Career Path for Communicators Jun 17, 2026 2819 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 de
Networking for AI: Why Every Network Engineer Should Pay Attention in 2026 Jun 3, 2026 2720 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 requirementsGPU networking and lossle
Why Most Engineers Struggle to Build Visibility (And How to Change That) May 20, 2026 3141 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 e
Tech Careers Are Built on Relationships, Not Resumes May 6, 2026 1738 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 wa
You Don’t Need Python Anymore: Hello World For AI Apr 22, 2026 3200 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
Grow Your Career in 2026 Apr 8, 2026 4478 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.
Radia Perlman: You’re Solving the Wrong Problem Mar 25, 2026 3631 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, trad
Wi-Fi 7 Explained: What Network Engineers Need to Know Mar 11, 2026 2835 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, bet
The ABCs of AI Feb 25, 2026 3270 “AI Won’t Replace You, But Someone Using AI Might”AI is everywhere; stickers, marketing, hype. Network engineers are understandably skeptical.In this episode, Andy Lapteff is joined by longtime friend of the show John Capobianco (now Head of AI & DevRel at Itencho) and Mike Bushong for a practical, optimistic “ABCs of AI” discussion designed for working network engineers.We start with a blunt
Life-Saving Networks Feb 11, 2026 3803 What does “mission-critical networking” really mean?At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it’s not about uptime SLAs or dashboard metrics; it’s about supporting the research and care that helps save children’s lives.In this episode, we sit down with Remington Loose and Josh Morris to explore the architecture, scale, and responsibility behind one of the most meaningful networks in the world.We
Learn to Code With AI Jan 28, 2026 2377 Erika Dietrick (aka “Erika the Dev”) is back on the show, and she’s days away from a major life change (welcome, Baby Dev). In this follow-up conversation, we dig into the thing that keeps coming up in network engineering careers: programming is no longer a “nice-to-have.”Erika breaks down her free YouTube course designed specifically for network engineers: Level 1 is “programmatic thinking” (the
Why Projects Fail Jan 14, 2026 2902 We've all worked on those technical projects that felt doomed from the start. In this episode, we're joined by Eyvonne Sharp and Mike Bushong to dig into what actually derails technical projects, and why the root cause is usually people, not packets.We unpack:- Why 80–90% of project failures aren’t technical- What “executive sponsorship” is supposed to mean (and why most teams never use

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