WWT at ONUG AI Networking Summit—Dallas 2025
WWT made a bold impression at ONUG AI Networking Summit 2025 in Dallas, held May 28-29, earning Best-in-Show honors and demonstrating enterprise AI in action.
Throughout the event, our experts delivered deep technical insights and practical strategies across a range of sessions, from AI infrastructure and security to deployment frameworks and real-world use cases. At our booth with Cisco, attendees engaged in hands-on demos powered by the AI Proving Ground, where we brought complex AI concepts to life.
Additionally, we were honored to be named Best-in-Show Winner for IT Infrastructure for our AI Proving Ground, a recognition that shows our commitment to helping enterprises move from AI exploration to execution.
To help you catch up—or dive deeper—we've recapped the expert-led sessions that defined our presence at the conference.
The Impact of Adopting GenAI on Existing Network Capacities, Topologies and Resiliency: Proactive Steps for Network Practitioners
Neil Anderson, WWT VP of Cloud, Infrastructure and AI Solutions, and industry leaders from NVIDIA, Citi, Cisco and Pure Storage came together to discuss AI's profound impact on network infrastructure. The panel highlighted the dramatic transformation occurring in networking, with speeds rapidly escalating from 100 to 400 gigabits per second and creating unprecedented challenges and opportunities.
Key insights emerged around the critical need for ecosystem collaboration, with experts emphasizing that AI is fundamentally reshaping how organizations approach computing, networking and data management. The discussion stressed the importance of time synchronization, edge computing and creating flexible, high-performance network architectures that can support massive AI workloads.
Panelists also shared practical advice for organizations beginning their AI journey, recommending a staged approach that starts with productivity tools and gradually advances to more complex, specialized AI implementations.
AI Use Cases: Cutting through the GenAI Hype with Practical Solutions and Real ROI
Kait Miller, Business Development Manager, Workforce AI, and Nani McDaniel, AI Advisor, led this session to cut through the noise surrounding generative AI. They showcased how organizations are rapidly deploying AI-powered applications that deliver measurable business value. With a focus on strategic implementation, data readiness and workforce enablement, attendees walked away with a clear roadmap to drive innovation and differentiation through AI.
Agentic AI in Practice: Architectures, Patterns and Pitfalls
In this forward-looking session, Jason Campagna, Senior Director of AI Practice Strategy, unpacked the evolution from passive AI tools to proactive, decision-making systems known as agentic AI. Unlike traditional chatbots or simple RAG-based solutions, agentic AI systems are designed to take initiative, operate autonomously and adapt to context. The session explored real-world architectures, challenges like tool sprawl and trust, and design patterns for building reliable, context-aware agents that can act on behalf of users and organizations.
Where to Run AI? Factors to Consider
Drawing on insights from over 200 customer engagements, Derrick Monahan, Principal Solutions Architect, AI and HPA, and Jason Campagna, Senior Director, AI Practice Strategy, delivered a strategic guide to AI deployment. Their session tackled the complexities of vendor lock-in, hybrid architectures and cost-performance trade-offs. With a focus on aligning AI infrastructure with business goals, they offered a practical framework for scaling AI responsibly and effectively.
Ethernet for AI Networking: How Does RoCEv2 Stack Up Against InfiniBand?
Eric Fairfield, Technical Solution Architect, HPA, brought deep technical clarity to one of AI infrastructure's most debated topics. His session debunked myths around InfiniBand's superiority, showing how RoCEv2 delivers comparable latency and bandwidth performance. He also introduced the promise of UltraEthernet, a next-gen evolution poised to scale AI networking to new heights. It was a must-see for anyone architecting high-performance AI environments.
Sizing of AI Clusters: What to Consider
In a session packed with real-world examples, Derrick Monahan, Principal Solutions Architect, AI and HPA, returned to demystify the process of AI cluster sizing. From compute and memory to storage and networking, he laid out the key considerations for building scalable, cost-efficient AI environments. His insights helped attendees avoid common pitfalls and future-proof their AI investments.
AI Deep-fakes: Strategies for Detection
Led by Chris Roberts, Technical Solutions Architect, this session explored the rapidly evolving threat of deep-fakes and the AI-driven tools designed to detect them. The session highlighted how synthetic media like images, video and audio are increasingly used in cyberattacks, misinformation campaigns and fraud. Chris also shared practical detection strategies and looked ahead to emerging technologies that will help organizations stay ahead of deep-fake threats in an AI-driven world.
Use of AI is Here to Stay: Enabling Innovation Responsibly and Securely
Security took the spotlight in Todd Hathaway's compelling session on responsible AI. As Global Head of AI Security and Cyber Innovation, Todd explored the risks of agentic AI, adversarial threats and the frameworks needed to protect AI systems. His message was clear: innovation must be paired with accountability, and WWT is leading the charge in secure AI adoption.
Conclusion
The spring ONUG AI Networking Summit was a testament to WWT's leadership in the AI space. Through insightful sessions and expert-led discussions, our experts showcased their deep understanding of AI's potential and the practical steps needed to harness it. As the industry continues to evolve, WWT remains at the forefront, driving innovation and ensuring that AI is implemented responsibly and effectively.