Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Abstract
Modern large-scale networks have grown beyond what human-driven operations can reliably manage. Increasing scale, multi-vendor environments, complex protocols, and real-time network state have pushed traditional operational models past their limits. At the same time, operators must continue to improve availability, reduce MTTR, and prevent failures—without increasing risk.
This talk presents T-Mobile’s operational journey from manual workflows to automation-first operational foundations. We focus on how automation was introduced incrementally to absorb high-volume incidents, reduce repetitive human intervention, and create consistent, repeatable operational behavior. The session covers both reactive and proactive automation use cases, including safe auto-mitigation with guardrails, service redundancy validation, and early detection of degradation before customer impact.
We will discuss how automation is treated as production software, why accurate state and engineering discipline are critical, and what lessons were learned building automation at scale. Finally, we address the role of AI in operations, framing it as an assistive capability layered on top of strong automation foundations—not a replacement for operator judgment.
This session is intended for network operators looking to scale operations safely, improve reliability, and build automation systems that operators trust.
Issa Abu Eid:
Issa R. Abu-Eid (CCIE #23629) is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at T-Mobile USA with over 18 years of experience designing, evolving, and operating large-scale Tier-1 service provider networks. He is a Triple Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (Routing & Switching, Service Provider, and Data Center) and a former NANOG speaker, having presented at NANOG 68.
Issa’s work centers on network architecture evolution and automation at scale, with a focus on building highly resilient, observable, and operable networks. His expertise spans IP/MPLS and EVPN/VXLAN fabrics, traffic engineering, load balancing, and large-scale ECMP designs, combined with deep hands-on experience developing network automation, validation, and path analysis tooling.
A strong advocate for operational simplicity, Issa focuses on automating complex service workflows, improving end-to-end visibility, and reducing mean time to resolution through data-driven network operations. His work bridges traditional network engineering and modern software-driven approaches, enabling faster change, safer deployments, and more predictable network behavior in production.
Udaya Tadikonda:
Uday Tadikonda (CCIE#39065 R&S) is a Principal Network Engineer with 18+ years of experience in large-scale service provider environments, specializing in network operations troubleshooting, automation, and reliability engineering. He leads IP network automation initiatives that reduce alarm noise, correlate incidents, eliminate duplicate incidents, and accelerate troubleshooting across multi-vendor networks.
He has designed and built various automation tools, along with a centralized internal webpage platform used by 1,300+ engineers. His work integrates deeply with various internal systems to improve MTTR and operational efficiency.
Uday collaborates closely with Operations, Engineering, and Cyber Security teams, provides senior-level escalation support for complex wireless and wireline networks, and is passionate about building secure, scalable automation and mentoring engineers.
nanog.org/events/nanog-96/content/5556
Abstract
Modern large-scale networks have grown beyond what human-driven operations can reliably manage. Increasing scale, multi-vendor environments, complex protocols, and real-time network state have pushed traditional operational models past their limits. At the same time, operators must continue to improve availability, reduce MTTR, and prevent failures—without increasing risk.
This talk presents T-Mobile’s operational journey from manual workflows to automation-first operational foundations. We focus on how automation was introduced incrementally to absorb high-volume incidents, reduce repetitive human intervention, and create consistent, repeatable operational behavior. The session covers both reactive and proactive automation use cases, including safe auto-mitigation with guardrails, service redundancy validation, and early detection of degradation before customer impact.
We will discuss how automation is treated as production software, why accurate state and engineering discipline are critical, and what lessons were learned building automation at scale. Finally, we address the role of AI in operations, framing it as an assistive capability layered on top of strong automation foundations—not a replacement for operator judgment.
This session is intended for network operators looking to scale operations safely, improve reliability, and build automation systems that operators trust.
Issa Abu Eid:
Issa R. Abu-Eid (CCIE #23629) is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at T-Mobile USA with over 18 years of experience designing, evolving, and operating large-scale Tier-1 service provider networks. He is a Triple Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (Routing & Switching, Service Provider, and Data Center) and a former NANOG speaker, having presented at NANOG 68.
Issa’s work centers on network architecture evolution and automation at scale, with a focus on building highly resilient, observable, and operable networks. His expertise spans IP/MPLS and EVPN/VXLAN fabrics, traffic engineering, load balancing, and large-scale ECMP designs, combined with deep hands-on experience developing network automation, validation, and path analysis tooling.
A strong advocate for operational simplicity, Issa focuses on automating complex service workflows, improving end-to-end visibility, and reducing mean time to resolution through data-driven network operations. His work bridges traditional network engineering and modern software-driven approaches, enabling faster change, safer deployments, and more predictable network behavior in production.
Udaya Tadikonda:
Uday Tadikonda (CCIE#39065 R&S) is a Principal Network Engineer with 18+ years of experience in large-scale service provider environments, specializing in network operations troubleshooting, automation, and reliability engineering. He leads IP network automation initiatives that reduce alarm noise, correlate incidents, eliminate duplicate incidents, and accelerate troubleshooting across multi-vendor networks.
He has designed and built various automation tools, along with a centralized internal webpage platform used by 1,300+ engineers. His work integrates deeply with various internal systems to improve MTTR and operational efficiency.
Uday collaborates closely with Operations, Engineering, and Cyber Security teams, provides senior-level escalation support for complex wireless and wireline networks, and is passionate about building secure, scalable automation and mentoring engineers.
nanog.org/events/nanog-96/content/5556
