BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:IEEE vTools.Events//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261101T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260904T194154Z UID:7110DD5D-80ED-45AB-B205-D5F78D547B62 DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260913T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260913T150000 DESCRIPTION:The central question today\, whether to keep adapting existing networks for AI or rethink the architectures\, protocols\, and infrastruct ure underneath them — is rarely answered as a single yes/no choice in th e real world. In practice\, it is a portfolio decision made based on workl oad\, budget cycle by budget cycle\, and it is frequently not optimal: the solution is either by default to incremental upgrades because they are fa miliar and low-risk\, or chase clean-slate rebuilds without a credible tra nsition path.\n\nThis talk presents a practitioner-oriented decision frame work for making that call deliberately. Drawing on process and digital tra nsformation methodology rather than just protocol design\, it maps workloa ds against two axes — AI-intensity of the traffic pattern and the organi zation's growth trajectory — to produce four distinct postures: adapt an d optimize\, adapt now while planning to rethink\, selectively rethink cri tical paths\, and rethink the foundation outright. Each posture carries di fferent implications for cost\, risk\, talent\, and speed to value\, which the talk lays out side by side.\n\nWhile the presentation covers examples that can apply across industries\, two illustrative examples ground the f ramework in practice include - In healthcare\, a regional hospital network deploying real-time diagnostic AI — imaging triage\, sepsis prediction — across facilities sits in the "selective rethink" quadrant: patient-sa fety latency requirements justify a purpose-built\, low-latency fabric for the diagnostic pathway itself\, while the broader hospital IT network con tinues to adapt incrementally\, with resilience and forensic auditability of AI-assisted decisions treated as first-class design requirements rather than afterthoughts. In education\, a university research computing center scaling distributed AI training across departments and connecting to nati onal research and education networks sits in the "rethink the foundation" quadrant: sustained growth in AI-driven research and curricula justifies a n AI-native fabric purpose-built for collective communication\, decoupled from — but still interoperable with — the general campus network.\n\nT he session closes with a phased roadmap (instrument and baseline → pilot AI-optimized fabrics on critical workloads → architect purpose-built do mains) intended to help infrastructure leaders sequence investment without freezing the organization mid-transition — directly addressing the work shop's stated goal of identifying what should be retained\, what should be redesigned\, and what should be invented.\n\nCo-sponsored by: AI-Native N etworking & Systems Technical Community LinkedIn Group\n\nSpeaker(s): Swap na \, \n\nVirtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/575151 LOCATION:Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/575151 ORGANIZER:nxsvks@rit.edu SEQUENCE:30 SUMMARY:Adapt or Rethink? A Decision Framework for AI Network and Infrastru cture Leaders URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/575151 X-ALT-DESC:Description: <br /><p class="gmail-font-claude-response-body">Th e central question today\, whether to keep adapting existing networks for AI or rethink the architectures\, protocols\, and infrastructure underneat h them &mdash\; is rarely answered as a single yes/no choice in the real w orld. In practice\, it is a portfolio decision made based on workload\, bu dget cycle by budget cycle\, and it is frequently not optimal: the solutio n is either by default to incremental upgrades because they are familiar a nd low-risk\, or chase clean-slate rebuilds without a credible transition path.</p>\n<p class="gmail-font-claude-response-body">This talk presents a practitioner-oriented decision framework for making that call deliberatel y. Drawing on process and digital transformation methodology rather than j ust protocol design\, it maps workloads against two axes &mdash\; AI-inten sity of the traffic pattern and the organization's growth trajectory &mdas h\; to produce four distinct postures: adapt and optimize\, adapt now whil e planning to rethink\, selectively rethink critical paths\, and rethink t he foundation outright. Each posture carries different implications for co st\, risk\, talent\, and speed to value\, which the talk lays out side by side.</p>\n<p class="gmail-font-claude-response-body">While the presentati on covers examples that can apply across industries\, two illustrative exa mples ground the framework in practice include - In <strong><span style="f ont-family: 'Aptos'\,sans-serif\; mso-bidi-font-family: Aptos\;">healthcar e</span></strong>\, a regional hospital network deploying real-time diagno stic AI &mdash\; imaging triage\, sepsis prediction &mdash\; across facili ties sits in the "selective rethink" quadrant: patient-safety latency requ irements justify a purpose-built\, low-latency fabric for the diagnostic p athway itself\, while the broader hospital IT network continues to adapt i ncrementally\, with resilience and forensic auditability of AI-assisted de cisions treated as first-class design requirements rather than afterthough ts. In <strong><span style="font-family: 'Aptos'\,sans-serif\; mso-bidi-fo nt-family: Aptos\;">education</span></strong>\, a university research comp uting center scaling distributed AI training across departments and connec ting to national research and education networks sits in the "rethink the foundation" quadrant: sustained growth in AI-driven research and curricula justifies an AI-native fabric purpose-built for collective communication\ , decoupled from &mdash\; but still interoperable with &mdash\; the genera l campus network.</p>\n<p class="gmail-font-claude-response-body">The sess ion closes with a phased roadmap (instrument and baseline &rarr\; pilot AI -optimized fabrics on critical workloads &rarr\; architect purpose-built d omains) intended to help infrastructure leaders sequence investment withou t freezing the organization mid-transition &mdash\; directly addressing th e workshop's stated goal of identifying what should be retained\, what sho uld be redesigned\, and what should be invented.</p> END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR