How AI-powered network observability is becoming essential for modern operations and why NetOps, SecOps, and Cloud teams are converging around it.
As AI-powered applications move into production, the network has become a critical dependency, and a growing risk. At the same time, hybrid, multi-cloud, and containerized environments have made visibility more fragmented and harder to manage.
Traditional monitoring tools are no longer enough. Organizations are turning to network observability, enhanced by AI and emerging agentic architectures, to deliver the context, intelligence, and automation required to keep digital operations running.
January 2026, Research by Jim Frey, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Networking, Omdia
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What the Research Reveals
This research explores how enterprises are responding—and where gaps still remain. The research highlights strong engagement from Security Operations, Cloud Operations, DevOps, and Platform Engineering, reinforcing observability as a shared foundation for cross-team collaboration. Many organizations now view network observability as a key pillar of broader NetSecOps initiatives,supporting faster incident response and improved security posture.
Download the report for a deeper dive into:
- Why AI-powered network observability is now considered operationally essential
- How agentic AI is reshaping visibility, automation, and troubleshooting
- Where enterprises are investing—and why spending is accelerating
- What NetOps, SecOps, and CloudOps leaders expect next
80%+
expect increased network observability
spending over the next two years
85%
say AI is meeting or exceeding
expectations in observability use cases
29%
say sharing observability data between
NetOps and SecOps is essential
What You’ll Learn
- Why network observability has reached “essential” status for modern IT operations
- The fastest-growing AI use cases in network observability, from performance optimization to threat detection
- How agentic AI is expected to simplify integrations and close skills gaps
- Which parts of the network demand the most observability focus (cloud, WAN, data center, containers)
- How organizations are using observability to drive cross-team collaboration and automation
- What spending and investment trends reveal about the future of network observability
Key Findings
AI-Powered Network Observability Is Essential
Networking and observability are now viewed as mission-critical foundations for AI-driven operations.
Agentic AI Is Gaining Real Traction
More than half of organizations are already using agentic AI for network observability, with broader adoption
expected.
NetOps and SecOps Are Converging
Network observability data is increasingly shared across security and operations teams to reduce risk and
improve response.
Complexity Is Still a Major Barrier
Most enterprises rely on three or more observability tools, driving integration and data challenges.
Get more insights on Network Observability’s AI Future!
Download the report to understand how AI-and agentic AI in particular – is redefining what network observability must deliver.
This report is based on a quantitative survey of 385 networking professionals from midmarket and enterprise organizations across North America, spanning industries including financial services, manufacturing,technology, and retail.