--- title: "AI & Automation" id: "26818" type: "page" slug: "network-automation-and-aiops" published_at: "2026-09-09T03:11:56+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-10T21:41:35+00:00" url: "https://ipfabric.io/network-automation-and-aiops/" markdown_url: "https://ipfabric.io/network-automation-and-aiops.md" --- # AI & Automation Govern a connected system of automation workflows using cloud network data you can actually trust. [Contact Us](https://ipfabric.io/company/contact/) [Self-Guided Demo](https://ipfabric.io/ip-fabric-guided-demo/) [Transcript](#side-by-side-block_eec13bd16d7dbc84fcdd8b6dcbe3c481-transcript) Transcript: AI & Automation IP fabric is a readonly digital twin providing an evidence-grade data foundation for AI and automation and easily provides pre and post change validation. IP fabric does not automatically make changes which provides the separation of duties required for governance. So, in this demo, we’re going to actually jump to a self-service portal that we created with Cloud Code and several MCP servers, including uh IP Fabric, of course. And what we’re going to show here is just a a representation of how our customers are doing their automation practices with things like self-service portals. So, I’m going to jump into VLAN provisioning here and just show some of the ways that IP Fabric is really the foundation of the the automation here. And so we’re going to select a site. This information all comes from IP fabric from the latest snapshot. I’m going to say that I want VLAN 100 on some of these switches. Um the VLAN name should be ERP in this case. And then again automatically we’re given some uh IP ranges that we can use. And maybe we’re just uh implementing new micro scanners. and we’ll put that it’s requested by admin. So now we’re going to validate this with IP fabric and actually netbox and this this validation failed which was expected. So IP fabric confirms that VLAN 100 is not present in the current network. We can actually jump into IP fabric. This is that validation piece that I was speaking about. So VLAN 100 is in fact there but it’s not at the Helsinki site. So we’re we’re good there. However, it is showing that we are using VLAN 100 in Netbox, which could mean a couple of things. Maybe it’s stale data or maybe someone has legitimately uh called Dibs on that uh VLAN and so we can’t use it. So, we’ll go ahead and we’ll say VLAN 101 is okay and we’ll validate with IP fabric. So, again, now we’ve validated everything. We’re good to go and we can confirm and think about provisioning. So what we’re doing here because we can’t automatically just um run changes right we have to make requests to change things. So um we have a netbox validation here of course IP fabric has a plugin with netbox and then we can also automate uh population of a service now or other um change management ticket. So again this is all using automation and templates. There’s no AI in this, but I’ve been able to automatically populate a risk at impact analysis, a plan, a backout plan, which includes IP Fabric’s config backup uh capability, and a test plan. And then, of course, we’ve created playbooks. So a pre-change snapshot from IP fabric what happened before the actual VLAN provisioning using Ansible and then again using Ansible we’ll create a postchange snapshot that we can compare to the pre-chain snapshot and make sure everything is copacetic. IP fabric is a trusted data source and governance layer for AI and automation. Reach out to learn more. ## AI Agents Can’t Reason Over Fragmented Data IP Fabric’s structured, end-to-end insights are the foundation for reliable AIOps and network automation. Use those insights to fuel every tool and AI agent in your cloud, network, security, and application stacks. > If I had budget to buy only one product that would immediately benefit both network engineers and accelerate network automation projects, it would be IP Fabric. Jeremy Schulman Senior Director of AI Initiatives & Solution Engineering @ Major League Baseball [Read Customer Story](https://ipfabric.io/resource/major-league-baseball-a-network-automation-home-run/) ## Start With AI-Ready Data IP Fabric’s application-aware digital twin is the key for getting real value from AI-driven operations. It’s [100% validated](https://ipfabric.io/network-intelligence-and-validation/) and vendor-neutral, so any human or AI agent can use it to make decisions without putting critical services at risk. ## Fuel Every Workflow With a Trusted Model Integrate IP Fabric into automated any workflow via our open API model and enterprise-grade [MCP server](https://ipfabric.io/unlock-aiops-with-ip-fabric-enterprise-mcp-server/) . Every team, tool, and AI agent can query your network in natural language—no extra licenses required. ## Govern With a Separation of Duties Continuously validate that your automated workflows and AI agents are behaving as you intend them to. Use the MCP server to generate custom reports and timestamped evidence of [compliance](https://ipfabric.io/regulatory-compliance/) . ## Resources Downloadable ### MCP Server Guide & Prompt Library Get 10 expert-tested prompts to detect compliance drift, accelerate troubleshooting, and more. [Read Now](https://ipfabric.io/unlock-aiops-with-ip-fabric-enterprise-mcp-server/) Webinar ### Ask Your Network Anything With IP Fabric’s MCP Server Give every team and tool a clear picture of cloud and network behavior in a programmatically accessible form. [Watch Now](https://ipfabric.io/resource/ask-your-network-anything-with-ip-fabrics-mcp-server/) Blog ### Unlocking AIOps: How Red Hat Got Started With Dependency Mapping Visualize your network from end to end, and standardize data for AI readiness. [Read Now](https://ipfabric.io/blog/unlocking-aiops-and-infrastructure-automation/) ## FAQs What Kind of Data Do You Need For Reliable AI & Automation? In order to trust AI and automation, you must build on top of network data that is: 1. Free of errors. 2. Normalized across vendors. 3. Contextualized by the dependencies between devices, apps, and services. 4. Available on demand. IP Fabric’s network digital twin meets all the above requirements, so you can trust that your automated workflows and AI agents will be able to make reliable decisions. Why Do I Need IP Fabric If I Already Have a CMDB or SoT? [Configuration Management Databases](https://ipfabric.io/blog/cmdb-health-ip-fabric-servicenow-integration/) (CMDBs) and [Sources of Truth](https://ipfabric.io/source-of-truth-accuracy/) (SoTs) can discover the network using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), but have significant gaps in visibility. For example: - CMDBs and SoTs can only discover certain vendors, so you could be missing [20-40](https://ipfabric.io/blog/cmdb-health-ip-fabric-servicenow-integration/) % of your network. - CMDBs and SoTs can’t reliably map Layer 2–Layer 3 topologies, which means they might miss IPSec tunnels, transparent firewalls, and other elements of network behavior. IP Fabric takes a different approach to network [discovery](https://ipfabric.io/network-discovery-and-context/) by using Command Line Interface (CLI) and API calls to read device data. It then hops to neighboring devices until 100% of the network is found. The end result is an interactive digital twin of Layer 1–Layer 3 topologies across your on-prem and cloud environments. This digital twin can be used to automatically validate the contents of your CMDB and SoT, so that you can always trust the workflows that are built on top of them. How Does IP Fabric’s MCP Server Work? IP Fabric’s [MCP server](https://ipfabric.io/get-a-demo-of-ip-fabric-enterprise-mcp-server/) is built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard that lets any human or AI tool query your network data in natural language. Plug it in to any LLM, and aks for help with tasks like: - Detecting & remediating compliance drift - Accelerating troubleshooing & MTTR - Running “what-if” simulations - Correlating underlay & overlay analysis in SD-WAN environments Every response is informed by a complete, accurate, and vendor-neutral digital twin of your network’s behavior at that point in time. What Automation Tools Does IP Fabric Integrate With? IP Fabric has an [open API](https://ipfabric.io/network-ecosystem-and-extensibility/) , so it’s easy to share deterministic, vendor-neutral insights with any team, tool, or AI agent that needs them. Integrate with tools like [Illumio](https://ipfabric.io/blog/illumio-partnership-network-application-visibility/) , [ServiceNow](https://ipfabric.io/blog/cmdb-health-ip-fabric-servicenow-integration/) , [NetBox](https://ipfabric.io/blog/level-up-netbox-automation-with-ip-fabric/) , [Nautobot](https://ipfabric.io/resource/from-tech-debt-to-trusted-automation-smarter-safer-firewall-management-with-network-to-code-and-ip-fabric/) , and [Ansible](https://ipfabric.io/blog/5-steps-aiops-ansible-dynamic-inventory-plugin-servicenow-cmdb/) via API, or expose validated network intelligence to any LLM via our enterprise-grade MCP server. IP Fabric doesn’t charge by the seat, so there’s no limit on how you share your network data. How Does IP Fabric Handle MCP Security? IP Fabric’s MCP server is shipped inside your local Virtual Machine (VM) so that you’re always in control of your own network data. You must [explicitly opt in](https://ipfabric.io/local-mcp-terms/) to use the MCP server. Why Does IP Fabric Use Read-Only Access? Read-only access is sufficient for IP Fabric to discover your cloud and network environments. IP Fabric also does not push any changes in your environment, so you can maintain a Separation of Duties (SoD) for proper governance. ## See IP Fabric in Action Our expert team is here to help you get started. [Contact Us](https://ipfabric.io/company/contact/) [Self-Guided Demo](https://ipfabric.io/ip-fabric-guided-demo/)