2026 EVENT OVERVIEW
Join network leaders and practitioners for interactive sessions designed to help you modernize operations with automation and AI, including:
- Customer stories from early Agentic NetOps deployments
- Expert sessions with leading network architects
- Practical roadmaps for adoption and scale
- Lessons learned from early adopters driving change
LOCATION INFO
Meet our speakers
Hear from the practitioners, analysts, and leaders defining what Agentic NetOps looks like in production.
Demetrio Leon Guerrero is a network technology expert currently serving as the Executive Director at MSCI, responsible for Infrastructure Engineering. He has extensive experience in the financial services and telecommunications industries, focusing on designing, transforming, and operating large-scale enterprise networks. Demetrio possesses deep expertise in Network AIOps, Hybrid-WAN, Cloud & Enterprise Networking, IT Service Management, and Data Center technologies. His work emphasizes automation, resiliency, performance, and operational excellence, dedicated to helping enterprises achieve optimal performance in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
Ray is a Senior IT Core Infrastructure Engineer at Geisinger Health with more than 35 years of experience in IT and networking. He is a member of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) team specializing in enterprise networking technologies, including routing, switching, SD-WAN, and Cisco Meraki solutions. He holds dual bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering, along with multiple industry vendor certifications. Throughout his career, Ray has focused on the design, implementation, and optimization of enterprise LAN/WAN infrastructure, delivering end-to-end network architectures for national and international clients. He brings deep technical expertise and a strong engineering background to designing and implementing reliable, scalable, and secure enterprise network infrastructures.
Dennis MacDougall is the Director of Network Engineering and Operations at Boston University, where he leads the strategy, engineering, and operations of the university’s multi-campus network infrastructure. With more than 25 years of experience spanning higher education and global financial services, Dennis has held leadership positions at Boston University and previously at Thomson Reuters, supporting mission-critical global network operations for one of the world’s leading financial information organizations. His expertise includes enterprise networking, network automation, cloud technologies, cybersecurity, and operational excellence, with a passion for building high-performing teams and delivering secure, resilient, and scalable infrastructure that enables innovation, research, and business.
Karen Brown is a Director Analyst at Gartner Research covering wide-area networking, including WANs, SD-WAN, SASE, enterprise Ethernet/MPLS, and emerging access technologies like LEO satellite and 4/5G fixed wireless. With 26 years of industry experience — including prior roles at One Touch Intelligence and as an editor for telecom trade publications — she brings deep expertise in carrier and vendor strategy. She holds a BS in Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Christoper Johnson is a Network Automation Engineer at Nsight Teleservices, where he specializes in network automation and performance monitoring for service provider environments. His primary technical expertise is in Cisco IOS XR, supporting carrier-grade networks. Chris is passionate about bridging network engineering, automation, observability, and API-driven integrations to deliver practical, scalable solutions that improve operational efficiency and network performance.
Bernadette Nixon is the CEO of NetBrain, where she leads the company’s mission to help global enterprises prevent network outages and reduce MTTR with AI-powered automation. She brings more than two decades of experience scaling high‑growth software companies and building customer‑centric, high‑performing teams across the infrastructure and content management markets. Previously, Bernadette served as CEO of Algolia, the AI‑powered search and discovery platform, where she drove global expansion, major funding, and strategic acquisitions. Before Algolia, she held senior leadership roles at Alfresco, SDL, OpenText, Metastorm, CA Technologies, and the United Nations in Geneva, consistently focusing on innovation, go‑to‑market excellence, and measurable business impact.
Song Pang serves as the Chief Technology Officer at NetBrain, where he leads the company’s technology vision and strategy to deliver innovative, scalable, and customer-focused solutions. Since joining NetBrain in 2016, he has played a pivotal role in ensuring customer success by driving adoption and value realization through Technical Support, Professional Services, and Customer Success initiatives.
Ways to Level Up
Come experience how the best network teams are running operations, driving change, and building toward agentic AI — pick the path that fits where you are today.
Proactive Operations
Drift Happens. Outages Don't Have To.
See how top teams catch problems before customers do.
Built for: Architects · Compliance Teams · NOC Leaders
Change with Confidence
Path to zero change induced outages efficiently at scale
The playbook for automating change validation and eliminating change-induced outages.
Built for: Senior Engineers · Change Managers
Diagnose with Automation and AI
Fix problems faster — and let automation do it.
Watch AI cut diagnosis time from hours to minutes.
Built for: Network Engineers · Operations Teams
Path to Agentic NetOps
Transform network operations with agentic AI you can trust
Gain insight on how leading organizations are adopting Agentic AI to transform network operations.
Built for: Leaders · Innovation Teams · Automation Champions
Explore the 2026 Conference Tracks
Day 1 & Day 2
Track 1 Proactive Operations
Catch drift before it becomes an outage. Sessions in this track cover continuous, intent-based verification, golden baselines, and rule discovery that keep your network standardized and audit-ready around the clock.
- The Path to Proactive Operations
- Agents Grounded by your Network Context
- One Standard, Verified Everywhere – On-Prem to Cloud
- Prove Compliance in Minutes, Not Weeks
- Turn Every Incident Into Prevention
- Real-Time Network Insights, Powered by AI
- Driving a Cleaner, Standardized Network
- The Self-Correcting Network: Assessment and Change in One Loop
- A Customer Story
- Follow the Application Down to the Wire
Track 2 Change with Confidence
Plan, validate, and push changes at scale with guardrails that catch problems before they ship — sessions cover change impact prediction and pre/post-change assessment built to stop drift, not just detect it.
- Modern Network Change with NetBrain
- Catch the Outage in Planning, Not Production
- Customer Story – Zero Touch Provisioning or Assessment -> Remediation
- The Self-Correcting Network: Assessment and Change in One Loop
- Pre-Approved, Pre-Verified, Pushed in Minutes
- Golden Config to Remediation
- Birds of a Feather Roundtable
- Triggered Diagnosis to Guarded Action
- Driving Safer Changes in CAB (Change Advisory Board) (Consultative)
- A Customer Story
Track 3 Troubleshooting with Automation and AI
See how AI Deep Diagnosis and a live digital twin resolve problems faster, cutting MTTR by putting automation, not manual triage, in the driver’s seat.
- A Vision for a Self-Healing Network
- AI Assisted Self-Healing
- Follow the Application Down to the Wire
- Training the Model: Closed Loop Learning
- Turn Every Incident Into Prevention
- Triggered Diagnosis to Guarded Action
- Driving Adoption in Operations (Consultative)
- A Customer Story
- Tokenomics: Right-Sizing Automation vs. LLM
- Make Diagnosis Agent an Expert on Your Network
Track 4 Path to Agentic NetOps
Smaller setting, roundtable format during which sessions ground agentic AI in real network context, map the roadmap from pilot to program, and work through the trust and governance questions leaders are asking before scaling autonomous ops.
- The Agentic Era of NetOps
- Agents Grounded by your Network Context
- Meet the Agent Team – Then Make Them Your Own
- Training the Model: Closed Loop Learning
- Integrating the Agent Team into your NetOps Org
- The NetBrain Harness – Architecting into your AI Ecosystem
- Your Agentic NetOps Roadmap: Pilot to Program (Consultative)
- Executive Roundtable: Governing Autonomous Ops
- A Customer Story
- Tokenomics: Right-Sizing Automation vs. LLM
Day 3 – Hands-On Workshop
- Building Agents That Get Smarter:
The Foundations of Agentic NetOps – Start with a blank agent and add context, tools, and skills live to see exactly what each one - Catch Issues Before They Spread:
Meet the Assessment Agent – Use AI to turn manual health checks into automated postmortems and golden-config compliance. - Surface Network Insights with AI Dashboard:
Ask questions about your network in plain English and get executive-ready views without writing SQL. - Drive Safer Changes with Change Agent:
Evaluate risk before a change, validate live as it runs, and protect the network once it’s complete. - Map Your Critical Applications with AI and Put the Map to Work:
Using AI to build an application dependency map, then use it to monitor, assess change impact, and troubleshoot. - Learn from the Past:
Turn Tickets into Faster Diagnosis: Every past incident is a clue to your next outage. Use AI to learn from history and prevent reoccurrence. - Maintain NetBrain Data Accuracy with Domain Doctor:
Learning to use AI Domain Doctor to keep your NetBrain digital twin accurate, automatically resolving the discovery and benchmark data quality issues.
NetBrain Live: Show Giveaway
Pick Your Perk
(Choose 1)
FREE SEAT LICENSE
1 free seat license per attendee — valid for 1 year.
AI TOKEN SPEND
$500 of AI tokens to use with NetBrain per attendee — valid for 6 months.
Agenda at a Glance
Tuesday, September 22
- 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM Conference Kickoff
- 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Welcome Cocktail Reception – Kick off NetBrain LIVE by connecting with peers, SMEs, and the NetBrain team over cocktails and light refreshments.
Wednesday, September 23
- 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Conference Sessions
- 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM Customer Appreciation Sunset Dinner Cruise – Join us for an unforgettable evening aboard a private cruise through Boston Harbor. Enjoy dinner, networking, and spectacular sunset views while celebrating with the NetBrain community.
Thursday, September 24
- 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM Hands-On Workshop – Deepen your expertise through instructor-led, hands-on technical workshops designed to help you maximize the value of NetBrain in your environment. Participate in interactive labs, learn best practices, and engage directly with NetBrain product experts.
Customer Appreciation Event
Sunset Dinner Cruise Aboard the Boston Odyssey
Join us for an unforgettable appreciation event on Wednesday, September 23rd! Sail through Boston Harbor as the sun sets over the skyline, with dinner, drinks, and great company all included. It’s our way of saying thank you for being part of the NetBrain community — come relax, network, and celebrate with us.
NETBRAIN LIVE 2026 · SEPT 22–24 · BOSTON, MA
Reserve Your Room
Before Rates Rise
Stay where the conference happens. Book your room at the NetBrain LIVE group rate — steps from every keynote, breakout, and evening event.
Rooms are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
GROUP RATE
$279 /night
Book by August 31, 2026
*Subject to availability. Rate increases automatically once the discounted block closes or sells out — reserve early to lock in $279/night.
Frequently Asked Questions
NetBrain’s annual flagship conference for network leaders and practitioners on September 22–24, 2026 at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf. Focused on Agentic NetOps: customer stories, expert sessions, automation roadmaps, and hands-on learning.
Network engineers, infrastructure automation engineers, NetOps directors, and IT decision makers looking to modernize with automation and AI, whether just starting or actively scaling an Agentic NetOps practice.
Tickets are $995 for three full days of keynotes, technical tracks, AI insights, and hands-on workshops.
Yes, a group rate is available at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf (the venue itself). Booking details come with your registration confirmation. Reserve early; Boston in September fills up fast.
You can reach the team directly at [email protected]
Business Casual is preferred.
No, seating will be sufficient for expected attendance at each breakout session, and additional seating will be added if demand exceeds estimates.
Fall weather in New England is typically mild to cool. Daytime temperatures average in the upper 60s°F (19–20°C), with nights running about 15 degrees cooler.
The closest airport is Boston Logan International (BOS). From there, the Marriott Long Wharf is about a 20-minute ride via taxi, Uber, or Lyft.
You can also take the Blue Line subway: board at the airport loop and ride two stops to the Aquarium Station. The hotel is just 500 feet from there.