A hands-on workshop teaching network engineers how to leverage AI and LLMs for practical network automation, monitoring, and operations.
Duration: 5.5 hours | Format: Online, hands-on | Date: January 24, 2026
Instructor: William Collins
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Understand LLM fundamentals using network engineering concepts
- Use Claude Code to accelerate Ansible playbook development
- Build MCP servers that invoke Ansible playbooks via natural language
- Deploy AI-powered monitoring with Prometheus alerting tools
- Create agentic AI workflows for autonomous network operations
Key Concept: Each lab builds on the previous one:
- Lab 1: Create Ansible playbooks with Claude Code
- Lab 2: Add MCP tools that invoke those playbooks ("Add VLAN 15 to leaf2")
- Lab 3: Extend MCP with Prometheus alerting tools
Building something cool? Check out the Community Showcase to see what others are doing or share your own work.
All tools are free and open-source:
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Network Lab | Containerlab, Arista cEOS-lab |
| Automation | Ansible, Python 3.10+ |
| AI/LLM | Claude Code, Model Context Protocol (MCP), OpenAI/Anthropic/Ollama |
| Monitoring | Prometheus, Grafana |
| Development | VS Code, Docker, Git |
Total cost: $0-20 (all tools free; optional API credits)