Advancing Network Management with Generative AI

This report presents findings on the security and data challenges associated with the deployment of generative AI (GenAI) in networking environments. It highlights the critical importance of fine-grained traffic analytics in enhancing the effectiveness of GenAI-based network functions. The report identifies significant concerns, including security risks from GenAI-related threats and inadequate data mechanisms, which are major barriers to the adoption of GenAI technologies. It details that a majority of vendors are not equipped to handle these threats, with inaccurate data categorization and conflicting information being prevalent issues. The report also discusses the role of deep packet inspection (DPI) in addressing these challenges, emphasizing its potential to improve network visibility and performance. Furthermore, it outlines the expected growth in DPI adoption among networking vendors over the next five years. The document is based on a survey of 75 leading networking vendors and includes insights into the implications of GenAI workloads on network performance and security.