The enterprise network is evolving from a static infrastructure into an AI-ready, dynamic, and programmable platform. Cisco Live Las Vegas 2026 is where you’ll master the tools, techniques, and innovations driving this transformation. This year’s Cisco Live spans from May 31st to June 4th, 2026. This guide provides an overview of the enterprise networking automation sessions including 9 sessions, hands-on labs, workshops, and walk-in labs. Programmability and automation are precursors to AgenticOps paving the way for an AI-ready future.
Automation Session Schedule
To empower AI-ready enterprise networks and automation, we leverage Cisco IOS XE. This year’s Cisco IOS XE programming track centers on five game-changing themes that are reshaping enterprise networking:
- AI-Ready Infrastructure: Build networks that feed intelligent pipelines and AgenticOps initiatives including AI-powered anomaly detection, predictive fault analysis, and automated remediation.
- The Atomic Shift: Minimize configuration drift and partial failures by moving beyond incremental configuration changes to atomic, all-or-nothing operations with Atomic Configuration Replace (ACR).
- Beyond SNMP: Embrace Model-Driven Telemetry (MDT) with gRPC dial-out and gNMI streaming, delivering real-time, structured data that scales with modern networks.
- Edge Computing Unleashed: Deploy applications directly on switches with the new C9350’s application container hosting framework, transforming network devices into extensible compute platforms.
- Modern Automation Stack: Master NETCONF/YANG, RESTCONF, Ansible, Terraform, and Python to orchestrate networks.
Whether you’re taking your first steps in network programmability or pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, this guide organizes 9 core sessions plus hands-on labs across 4 curated learning paths from complete beginner to advanced practitioner.
Note: Be sure to sign up for sessions in advance, as they do tend to fill up (especially the hands-on opportunities!) Also, know that you can sign up for individual meetings with Cisco presenters & team members through the Meet The Expert option. Cisco Live Las Vegas, here we come!
Instructor-Led Lab: LTRENS-1680: Unlock the Foundation, Explore the Future: Hands-On with Cisco IOS XE Programmability
Level: Introductory
Duration: 4 hours
Sessions: Two options: Wednesday, June 3: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT &Thursday, June 4: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT
Abstract: Ready to transform the way you manage your network? Join this power-packed, hands-on lab and get ahead of the curve with the latest enterprise switching innovations in Cisco IOS XE. Explore onboarding and device lifecycle management, harness advanced telemetry, and streamline workflows with powerful tools such as YANG Suite, Ansible, Terraform, and pyATS. This session will introduce you to the latest IOS XE capabilities, including in-depth coverage of atomic operations—a groundbreaking feature that enables reliable, all-or-nothing configuration changes for greater network consistency and operational efficiency. Through hands-on exercises, you’ll gain the skills to automate, monitor, and manage your enterprise switches with confidence, while leveraging the newest IOS XE innovations to simplify and secure your network operations.
What You’ll Learn: – Day 0: Device onboarding with Secure Zero Touch Provisioning (SZTP) – Day 1: Configuration management with Atomic Config Replace (ACR) – Day 2: Advanced telemetry and monitoring with OpenTelemetry & Splunk – Infrastructure as Code with Terraform – Automation with YANG Suite and Ansible – Network validation with pyATS.
DEVNET-2233: Application Hosting with the Cisco C9350 Switch: Unlock Network Innovation
Level: Intermediate
When: Wednesday, June 3 | 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM PDT
Duration: 45 minutes
Abstract: Discover the capabilities of the new Cisco C9350 Switch as a platform for hosting applications directly on the network edge. This technical talk will explore the architecture and features of the Cisco C9350’s application hosting framework, including container support and management tools. Learn how to deploy, manage, and monitor applications running on the switch, enabling new use cases such as enhanced telemetry, security, and automation. Gain insights into how this innovation transforms network infrastructure into a programmable and extensible platform, driving operational agility and business value.
BRKOPS-2594: Navigating the SNMP Free Journey: Unlock Real-Time Insights with Model Driven Telemetry
Level: Intermediate
When: Monday, June 1 | 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PDT
Duration: 90 minutes
Abstract: Are you ready to move beyond the limitations of SNMP and embrace a modern, scalable, and efficient network telemetry solution? Join us to explore Cisco’s Model Driven Telemetry (MDT), a powerful alternative that leverages YANG data models and streaming telemetry to provide real-time, granular insights into your network infrastructure. This session will cover the fundamentals of MDT, including its architecture, data encoding, and transport mechanisms such as gRPC dial-out and gNMI dial-in. You will learn how MDT offers consistent, reliable, and secure telemetry data delivery, enabling proactive network monitoring and automation. We will also demonstrate practical deployment examples using Cisco IOS XE devices, Docker-based telemetry collectors, and visualization tools like Grafana. Whether you are just starting your journey to be SNMP-free or looking to deepen your understanding of model-driven telemetry, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools to transform your network operations.
BRKDEV-1006: The Atomic Shift: Understanding Atomic Configuration Replace (ACR) for Modern Network Management
Level: General (Beginner)
When: Tuesday, June 2 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PDT
Duration: 60 minutes
Abstract: Still relying on incremental configuration changes that leave your network vulnerable to drift and partial failures? Atomic Configuration Replace (ACR), built on NETCONF/YANG, eliminates these risks with an all-or-nothing approach — every deployment either succeeds completely or doesn’t get applied at all. In this session, we’ll describe how ACR works under the hood, walk through the end-to-end workflow — validation, rollback, and failure recovery — and demonstrate a real-world automation pipeline using Ansible and NetBox as the Source of Truth to deploy configurations atomically to Catalyst devices. Whether you’re just starting with network programmability or scaling automation across your enterprise, this session gives you the knowledge to adopt ACR with confidence. Pair it with our companion hands-on workshop to put these concepts into practice.
BRKDEV-2416: AI Network Management with CML and the C9KV Virtual Switch
Level: Intermediate
When: Wednesday, June 3 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM PDT
Duration: 90 minutes
Abstract: Explore how artificial intelligence can supercharge your network design and testing workflows using the Catalyst 9000 virtual switch in Cisco Modeling Labs (CML). This hands-on workshop demonstrates how to integrate AI-driven insights into simulated environments, enabling rapid prototyping, anomaly detection, and intelligent configuration validation. Attendees will walk away with practical knowledge on deploying C9KV in CML and using AI to optimize network behavior before it hits production.
BRKOPS-2223: The Network of the Future is Here – Let’s Automate Your IPv6 Deployment with Python!
Level: Intermediate
When: Thursday, June 4 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM PDT
Duration: 90 minutes
Abstract: IPv6 marks a new horizon in the world of networking, promising limitless IP addresses and enhanced network performance. It is time to embark on this journey – but let’s do it the right way from the beginning: using automation! In this 90 minute breakout you will learn how to plan your IPv6 transition and how to use Python to automate setting the plan into action. You will learn about the must knows of IPv6 as well as useful Python libraries that can help you on this journey, and see practical real life Python examples of deploying IPv6 configurations in your network. Workflow decisions such as automated testing and sources of truth will also be covered. This session is designed for network engineers who have a need to start implementing IPv6. The session’s target audience has little or no prior experience with Python automation and is fairly new to IPv6 as well.
Hands-on Workshop: DEVWKS-2810: The Atomic Shift: Modernizing Your Network Management using Atomic Configuration Replace (ACR)
Level: Intermediate
When: Tuesday, June 2 | 10:30 AM – 11:15 AM PDT
Duration: 45 minutes
Abstract: Are you still relying on incremental configuration changes that leave your network vulnerable to drift and partial failures? It’s time for a change! Join us for this interactive, hands-on workshop as we explore the “Atomic Shift”—a modern approach to network configuration management with NETCONF/YANG. In this session, we will move beyond legacy manual methods and dive deep into Atomic Configuration Replace (ACR). You will learn how to achieve all-or-nothing deployment success. Through guided lab exercises, you will simulate failure scenarios and master the techniques required to ensure your network remains consistent, stable, and resilient.
DEVNET-1232: Swagger Into RESTCONF: Navigating the IOS XE API & DevNet Sandboxes
Level: Introductory
When: Tuesday, June 2 | 10:30 AM – 11:15 AM PDT
Duration: 45 minutes
Abstract: Discover the recently published IOS XE Swagger RESTCONF API documentation, now live on GitHub Pages, and learn how it transforms the way you interact with IOS XE devices programmatically. This session walks through the documentation structure, demonstrates how to navigate and engage with API endpoints directly from your browser, and showcases practical examples that simplify RESTCONF-based automation workflows. We’ll also highlight the Cisco DevNet Sandbox environments available for hands-on practice — including Always-On and Reservable options featuring IOS XE platforms such as the Catalyst 9300, Catalyst 9200 stacks, and the virtual Catalyst 9000v (C9Kv). Whether you’re getting started with network programmability or looking to sharpen your automation skills, this session will equip you with the tools and resources to accelerate your journey. Join live to follow along and ask questions in real time.
DEVLAB-2100: YANG Suite Learning Lab in DevNet Zone Studio
Level: Beginner
Duration: 45 minutes
Sessions: – Monday, June 1: 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM PDT – Tuesday, June 2: 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM PDT – Wednesday, June 3: 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM PDT
Description: Hands-on experience with YANG Suite, Cisco’s HTML5-based tooling for exploring and working with YANG models on IOS XE devices.
What You’ll Learn: – YANG Suite installation and setup – Exploring YANG models from IOS XE – NETCONF operations (get, get-config, edit-config) – RESTCONF API testing – Creating gRPC telemetry subscriptions – Generating Python code from YANG Suite
Prerequisites: None, beginner-friendly
DEVLAB-2200: Ansible Learning Lab in DevNet Zone Studio
Level: Beginner
Duration: Self-Paced
Schedule: Monday through Wednesday in the World of Solutions, Walk-in Labs: 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM – Thursday: 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Description: Introduction to network automation with Ansible for Cisco IOS XE devices.
What You’ll Learn: – Ansible architecture and concepts – Cisco IOS XE Ansible modules – Writing playbooks for configuration management – Inventory management and variables – Jinja2 templates for dynamic configurations – Error handling and validation
Prerequisites: Basic YAML knowledge helpful
Walk-In Labs (All Week)
LABDEV-3000: Building AI-Ready Network Monitoring with gRPC Dial-Out Telemetry on IOS XE
Level: Advanced
Duration: Self-paced
Schedule: Monday through Wednesday in the World of Solutions, Walk-in Labs: 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM – Thursday: 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Abstract: As networks become more distributed and dynamic, traditional polling-based monitoring methods such as SNMP and CLI fail to provide the scale, speed, and intelligence required for modern operations. This session demonstrates how to build an AI-ready monitoring architecture using Model-Driven Telemetry (MDT) and gRPC Dial-Out on Cloud IOS-XE devices. Attendees will learn how to configure streaming telemetry for real-time visibility, integrate data flows into AI and AIOps pipelines, and enable predictive fault detection and automated response. Through practical demonstrations, the session highlights the performance advantages of the push model, showing how continuous, structured data improves troubleshooting efficiency and reduces mean time to resolution (MTTR). Designed for network and security engineers, this session equips participants with the tools and configuration models to evolve from reactive monitoring to proactive, intelligent, and automated observability across Cloud IOS-XE environments.
Recommended Learning Paths
Stay Connected
No matter where you are on your programmability and automation journey there is always new and exciting content to help you to dive even deeper while learning about new technologies and capabilities for enterprise networking.
Browse the full session catalog and register for Cisco Live here. Looking forward to seeing you at Cisco Live!
Not able to attend Cisco Live this time? No worries! Check out Cisco IOS XE programmability sessions from the previous Cisco Live Events:
2026 – Amsterdam
- Atomic Config Replace on Catalyst: A New Era in Network Management – BRKDEV-2188
- Become a Catalyst Image Upgrade Expert using Programmability – DEVNET-2295
2025 – San Diego
- Atomic Config Replace with Cisco Catalyst 9000 – BRKENS-2604
- Cisco IOS XE: Telemetry, Automation, and YANG — Oh My! – BRKOPS-1401
- gRPC, gNMI, gNOI… Oh My! An Enterprise Network Automation Journey – BRKDEV-2017
- Modern approaches for IOS XE network device management on Cat9k – DEVNET-1110
- Observability at TorIX: Custom Telemetry Solutions on Next-Gen Campus Switching – CISCOU-1059
2025 – Amsterdam
- Atomic Config Replace with Cisco Catalyst 9000 – DEVNET-2385
- Automate Cisco IOS XE Device Configuration Using Terraform – DEVLIT-2083
- Configure IOS XE Using the CLI – DEVSKL-1110
- Configure IOS XE Using Automation – DEVSKL-1111
- Getting Started with Secure Zero Touch Provisioning – DEVLIT-2062
- Maximizing Cisco IOS XE Efficiency with YANG Suite – CISCOU-1043
- Secure Zero Touch Provisioning (SZTP) with Cisco Catalyst Switches – DEVNET-1249
Additional Resources
Programmability Guide: Cisco IOS XE 26.1
DevNet Sandboxes
- Sandboxes search for the following:
- Catalyst 9000 Always-On Sandbox
- Cat9200CX
- Cat9300
