Lingping Gao, Founder, Ceo And Chairman Of Netbrain Technologies – Interview Series

Lingping Gao, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of NetBrain Technologies, established nan institution successful 2004 pinch a ngo to simplify web management. Prior to founding NetBrain, Mr. Gao was nan Chief Network Architect astatine Thomson Financial, wherever he managed nan complexities of ample endeavor networks and knowledgeable nan challenges of maintaining web performance.

Mr. Gao has acquisition wrong aggregate areas of business, including management, engineering, and world business wrong nan networking, software, and automotive industries. He holds a BS and a BA successful Automotive Engineering from Tsinghua University and an MS successful Engineering from Yale University.

Founded successful 2004, NetBrain is nan marketplace leader for web automation. Its exertion level provides web engineers pinch end-to-end visibility crossed their hybrid environments while automating their tasks crossed IT workflows. Today, much than 2,400 of nan world’s largest enterprises and managed services providers usage NetBrain to automate web documentation, accelerate troubleshooting, and fortify web security—while integrating pinch a rich | ecosystem of partners. NetBrain is headquartered successful Burlington, Massachusetts, pinch labor located crossed nan United States and Canada, Germany, nan United Kingdom, India, and China.

What inspired you to commencement NetBrain successful 2004? Were location immoderate circumstantial challenges you faced astatine Thomson Financial that led you to spot a spread successful web management?

Early successful my career, I spent 5 years arsenic a web technologist astatine Thomson Financial. I retrieve getting pulled into nan NOC connected my measurement retired of nan building 1 time and spending each nighttime helping troubleshoot a problem. It turns retired that a Cisco move had been upgraded and, it changed an important configuration. I retrieve wondering why it took truthful long, moreover though we had a full squad of smart engineers moving connected it. Surely, location must beryllium a amended way.

I realized that nan logic troubleshooting was truthful difficult was a deficiency of data. During those agelong nights, engineers ever inquire nan aforesaid fewer questions. What devices is my web made of? What does nan baseline look like? Who made this, and why is it configured this way? I started NetBrain to make it easier to reply those questions.

I knew that if web information was much easy accessible, problems could beryllium solved overmuch much quickly. At that first job, you’d person to return a pager and a stack of web diagrams pinch you whenever you went connected vacation! My imagination for NetBrain was to springiness engineers accelerated and easy entree to nan web information they request to lick problems and a measurement to easy automate their tasks truthful they tin beryllium scaled up and done proactively alternatively of reactively. If we tin drawback and hole an rumor earlier it affects an end-user past nary 1 has to walk each nighttime troubleshooting! Now, 20 years later, my imagination is coming to fruition pinch NetBrain.

NetBrain pioneered no-code automation for web management. What was nan thought process down processing a no-code solution alternatively of accepted scripting aliases programming-based automation?

We wanted to lick nan captious challenges facing web operations teams by lowering nan obstruction to adopting and utilizing web automation while making it accessible to each levels of IT skillsets. We spot automation arsenic harnessing nan expertise of web engineers to create automation, making nan level much useful and ingrained successful nan civilization of web operations.

Script-based DIY web automation requires an technologist who knows coding specified arsenic Python and has a precocious level of networking and CLI knowledge. There are conscionable not capable group pinch that peculiar accomplishment group (and they’re expensive!). Projects that brace coders pinch web engineers extremity up producing comparatively fewer automations that tin only reside a constricted group of problems alternatively of stopping recurrences.

No-code automation makes it easy capable to deploy and standard automation crossed hybrid networks that it tin beryllium utilized for galore problems – really immoderate repetitive task. This leads to a alteration successful mindset wherever NetOps and different IT teams will look to automation arsenic their first solution for astir problems, alternatively than a “last resort” reserved for only a fewer high-priority issues.

AI is progressively shaping endeavor IT operations. How does AI heighten NetBrain’s web automation capabilities, peculiarly successful troubleshooting and information enforcement?

AI-powered features were a awesome update successful NetBrain’s astir caller version, Next-Gen Release 12 (R12). One of these capabilities includes a GenAI LLM Co-Pilot, which tin assess, orchestrate, and summarize web automation results utilizing earthy language. This AI Co-Pilot serves arsenic a exertion translator, enabling users to prosecute pinch no-code automation without nan request for extended training. We scheme to proceed expanding our AI capabilities successful upcoming releases.

Our chatbot besides functions arsenic a virtual self-service tool, allowing operations and information teams to stitchery basal web information, thereby conserving valuable NetOps resources for much strategical activities. Users tin airs questions successful earthy language, facilitating intuitive problem solution and automating troubleshooting, alteration management, and appraisal workflows.

Broadly, we spot automation arsenic nan measurement to standard NetOps processes up to instrumentality standard and AI arsenic nan measurement group tin interact pinch those automations and nan web overall. Together, they thief span nan knowledge spread wrong IT teams by capturing years of master acquisition and making it disposable to engineers of each levels. Nearly each endeavor has an technologist who knows really to lick each networking issue. But what do you do erstwhile that personification is connected vacation, successful a different country, aliases unavailable? Automation and AI thief stock that person’s knowledge pinch nan remainder of nan IT squad without requiring heavy engineering and coding skills.

Can you locomotion america done really NetBrain's Digital Twin exertion useful and really it benefits organizations managing hybrid and multi-cloud networks?

NetBrain’s Digital Twin is simply a unrecorded exemplary of a client’s multi-vendor networks that incorporates Intent, postulation forwarding, topology, and instrumentality information and supports no-code automation and move maps. Unlike different integer twins, our intent furniture houses a ample postulation of web configurations and service-level designs basal for efficaciously delivering immoderate and each exertion requirements.

Another unsocial characteristic of our integer copy is that it provides real-time information crossed each layers, creating a much seamless, integrated system. Our customers are guaranteed unrecorded calculations of baseline and humanities forwarding paths crossed multi-cloud and hybrid environments, arsenic good arsenic real-time topology and configurations of ​​traditional, virtual, and cloud-based components pinch our hybrid network. This, mixed pinch Network Auto-Discovery, removes nan necessity of manually creating fixed web maps and continuously updates each constituent of nan connected multi-vendor network. The use of real-time information is nan expertise to activity much efficiently internally without nan interest of quality correction while moving successful a azygous instrumentality that supports nan find of traditional, virtual, and cloud-based devices.

Many companies struggle pinch web downtime and troubleshooting. How does NetBrain’s AI-driven automation thief trim Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)?

NetBrain reduces MTTR by making troubleshooting much businesslike and streamlined. Our AI-powered automation does this successful respective ways:

• Automatically create shareable incident summary dashboards.
• Conduct automated monitoring to observe troubleshooting issues earlier they impact a user
• Automatically behaviour basal diagnostic tests whenever a summons is opened
• Automatically adjacent tickets
• Suggest remediations aliases imaginable causes for issues
• Give different IT teams easier entree to web data

Even mini clip savings compound quickly astatine standard – 1 of our customers estimated that NetBrain saved them 16,000 troubleshooting hours successful 2022 connected astir 63,000 tickets by automating a bid of regular diagnostic tests. All successful all, these capabilities make troubleshooting much businesslike and trim MTTR directly. They besides alteration level 1 engineers to lick much problems connected their ain and trim escalations. This is often called “shifting left.” It frees up much clip for elder engineers to walk connected much difficult troubleshooting.

With nan emergence of hybrid unreality and SDN environments, really does NetBrain guarantee end-to-end web observability and compliance crossed divers infrastructures?

NetBrain ensures broad web observability and compliance crossed hybrid unreality and SDN environments. We seamlessly support multi-cloud infrastructures for illustration AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, arsenic good arsenic accepted networks, SD-WAN, and SDN deployments.

Our level enables clients to show unreality configuration changes successful existent time, automate continuous compliance assessments, and way evolving web configurations done an intuitive dashboard. Additionally, NetBrain provides multi-layered information observability, continuously evaluating unreality information crossed network, server, data, and exertion layers.

For SDN fabrics, NetBrain enhances visibility and makes SDN knowledge easy shareable crossed teams. By leveraging automation, organizations tin standard SDN expertise while accelerating incident response. Our “Shift Left” attack proactively identifies guidelines causes and resolves information halfway issues earlier successful nan web support lifecycle, importantly reducing MTTR.

How has NetBrain adapted to caller cybersecurity challenges, particularly pinch increasing concerns astir web information vulnerabilities?

Cyber threats are evolving rapidly, and traditional, reactive information approaches tin nary longer support up. NetBrain has adapted by making web information proactive and automated, helping IT find misconfigurations and vulnerabilities earlier they tin beryllium exploited by attackers.

We connection Triple Defense Change Management, which validates each web alteration against information policies before, during, and aft implementation. This ensures compliance and prevents unintended exposure. Our automation besides continuously audits configurations, detects drift, and integrates pinch ITSM and information platforms to enforce champion practices successful real-time.

By leveraging AI and automation, NetBrain helps enterprises trim quality error, amended consequence times, and forestall information gaps, ensuring networks stay unafraid without adding operational overhead.Given NetBrain’s expertise to destruct outages and amended information enforcement, do you spot a early wherever AI-driven networks go afloat autonomous?

As AI-driven networks proceed to advance, they are gradually replacing accepted networking methods. However, afloat autonomy remains a early anticipation alternatively than an contiguous reality.

AI plays a important domiciled successful streamlining NetOps by automating labor-intensive tasks. For example, identifying and cataloging IT infrastructure components—traditionally a time-consuming process—can now beryllium importantly accelerated. With AI-powered Digital Twin technology, tasks for illustration diagnosing a BGP passageway rumor tin beryllium reduced from 2 hours to conscionable 10 minutes. AI besides helps span nan knowledge spread wrong IT teams by capturing and distributing years of master acquisition to engineers of each levels. When an rumor arises, AI tin not only assistance pinch test but besides urge corrective actions, adjacent steps, and follow-up procedures—dramatically reducing consequence times and enabling teams to resoluteness problems faster.

That said, AI still has limitations. While it tin analyse data, propose optimizations, and automate definite processes, it cannot make decisions, return accountability, aliases o.k. web changes without quality oversight. Given nan complexity and precocious stakes of endeavor networking, AI’s recommendations must beryllium validated by engineers to forestall costly errors and downtime. Until AI tin show greater reliability and contextual decision-making, afloat autonomous networks will stay an aspiration alternatively than a reality.

NetBrain now serves complete 2,500 endeavor customers, including one-third of Fortune 500 companies. What do you deliberation has been nan cardinal to your occurrence successful scaling and gaining endeavor adoption?

Our occurrence comes from fundamentally transforming really enterprises negociate their networks. Traditional, reactive troubleshooting nary longer scales, truthful we pioneered no-code web automation to make web operations proactive, not conscionable reactive.

A cardinal differentiator is our Digital Twin, which provides real-time visibility into nan full hybrid network, allowing teams to automate diagnostics, enforce aureate engineering standards, and forestall outages earlier they happen. Combined pinch our ITSM-integrated troubleshooting and Triple Defense Change Management, enterprises tin standard automation crossed moreover nan astir analyzable environments—without requiring an service of developers.

Ultimately, NetBrain makes automation accessible, enabling teams to resoluteness issues faster, enforce creation intent, and support business-critical applications moving smoothly. Automation mixed pinch meticulous web mapping and deeper web penetration lets america lick galore NetOps challenges without further overhead.

Looking up 5 years, really do you spot nan scenery of web automation evolving, and what domiciled do you envision NetBrain playing successful shaping nan early of AI-driven web operations?

Over nan adjacent 5 years, web automation will move beyond scripted tasks and reactive troubleshooting to AI-driven, intent-based automation that dynamically adapts to changing web conditions. The days of manual diagnostics and fragmented devices are numbered — automation will beryllium nan backbone of web operations, ensuring resilience, security, and agility astatine scale.

AI will make that automation accessible and little nan obstruction to usability astatine each levels successful operations. It will make it easier to get and tailor web information into digestible and meaningful accusation truthful teams tin trim consequence and summation efficiencies faster.

NetBrain is astatine nan forefront of this evolution. Our Digital Twin provides a unrecorded exemplary of nan network, allowing AI to understand its creation intent and enforce it proactively. We are pioneering GenAI-driven troubleshooting, self-healing networks, and deeper ITSM integrations truthful enterprises tin displacement from manual involution to afloat autonomous operations. Our imagination is simple: make web automation intuitive, scalable, and indispensable — turning each technologist into an automation master without requiring them to code.

In nan adjacent fewer years, AI-driven web operations won’t beryllium a luxury, it will beryllium a necessity. NetBrain is starring that charge, ensuring enterprises enactment up of complexity while keeping networks secure, compliant, and ever available.

Thank you for nan awesome interview, readers who wish to study much should sojourn NetBrain.