Fortinet Xperts 2025

It was cold outside, but Fortinet brought the fire!

Fortinet Xperts was an experience with some cold shoulders and some freezing veins. Not due to the technology talk, social interactions or great workshops. Fortinet Xperts started at 38 degrees in Orlando, Florida, which was not typical of the "Sunshine State". However, the warm welcome from Fortinet resources and technical staff helped the cause. 

The opening general session was typical for a technical conference. The presenters discussed their topics without any jaw-dropping news or enhancements that we were not aware of. Below, you can explore some standout topics from the Fortinet Xperts conference:

FortiAIGate

We were hoping for some more details around the FortiAIGate solution, the soon-to-be-released version 8 and other topics. We did get some details around how FortiAIGate is to be deployed, use cases and other details, but nothing deep in the weeds. This is understandable as Fortinet is not known for roadmap discussions until the product is finalized and ready for prime time. It is sounding like the general release of FortiAIGate is targeted for early 2026 or more toward Q2.

FortiOS

Details around FortiOS version 8 enhancements did not disappoint, but again, they did not go too deep in the weeds. Since this version is not scheduled for release until Q1 or Q2 of 2026, we still have time to gather information for customers before their upgrade. 

Fortinet did provide details from the released AI data center hardware that looks very promising. WWT will be publishing details about this new hardware and the use cases that best fit our customers in the next couple of weeks. 

FortiSOC

There had been rumors that a security platform was being developed, but no actual news about it. Although Fortinet has some very formidable products in this space, including FortiSOAR, FortiSIEM and FortiEDR, just to name a few, there has not been a platform element that brings all of them together. That is about to change. FortiSOC will be released in the first half of 2026, and it will essentially bring FortiSOAR, FortiSIEM and FortiAnalyzer together in a product that unifies management of these products, as well as leveraging AI and machine learning to provide analytical insights into threats throughout the network. More details will be forthcoming at the beginning of 2026.

Fortinet workshops

The agendas for the workshops ranged from 101 level to more advanced 201 levels for some subjects, and there was a large section of topics to choose from. WWT's Fortinet Partner Solution Architects opted for the following sessions:

• The Fortinet AppSec Cloud solution, SASE and OT offerings (Dave Pisarek)
• Sessions focusing on SOC capabilities, integrating FortiNDR cloud and FortiSOAR, deep dives on FortiAnalyzer and FortiEDR, as well as deployment models around FortiDeceptor (Warren Jackson)

Fortinet Ultimate Fabric Challenge (UFC)

The Fortinet UFC competition this year was pretty fierce. WWT's team did well for their first time attending the event, but did not move on to the finals. It was a learning experience, and we will be bringing our A game to the battle at the next Xperts. Good luck to those teams moving on!

Conclusion

We were both impressed with the details provided, and the lab tasks at this Xperts were the best to date. Feedback to the Fortinet technical team was very positive, and we are hoping that this trend continues to next year's event. The "Meet the Experts" sessions were fantastic, with a lot of interaction with the top CSEs in their solution areas, and the food was spot on. Chances to win prizes and have some refreshments added to the atmosphere. We hope that they can continue to enhance this conference when we attend in Nashville next year. Oh, and also hope for warmer temperatures.