Extreme Networks Inc. used its Extreme Connect 2026 user conference this week to make a strong case that artificial intelligence-driven networking has finally arrived. Building on Platform ONE, the company rolled out a full-stack vision spanning new Wi-Fi 7 access points, enhanced fabric-ready switching and a second-generation artificial intelligence layer called Agent ONE, designed to act less like a chatbot and more like an operational co-worker for NetOps teams.
Major League Baseball opened the 2026 season with a technological first: the Automated Ball-Strike or ABS Challenge System, powered by T-Mobile’s private 5G network, is now deployed across all 29 U.S. ballparks. While headlines focus on umpire challenges and strike zones, the real story for information technology professionals lies beneath the surface — in the network infrastructure that enables split-second decisions in environments where failure simply isn’t an option.
The DP World Tour will become the first professional sports organization to use Amazon Leo as its official satellite connectivity partner, deploying low Earth orbit or LEO terminals at tournament venues starting in 2026. The network uses more than 3,000 LEO satellites to deliver high-speed internet to locations underserved — or completely unserved — by terrestrial infrastructure.
For years, the “wall” between storage and networking administrators has been a fixture of the enterprise data center. I spent the early part of my career as a network engineer and the arena of storage was a bit of a black box, and for most companies, that’s still the case. This is because these networks operated differently.
As one would expect, artificial intelligence was a top theme at the recent MWC conference in Barcelona, but 6G was certainly prominent as well. This year, the discussions has pivoted from the maturation of 5G wireless networks to the “seamless path” toward 6G. But for those of us who have spent the better part of two decades watching G-cycles come and go, there was a healthy dose of skepticism at the show.