We kicked off the year with momentum. January set the tone with real customer outcomes, sharper peer conversations, and clear signals that the NetBrain community is growing in both scale and substance.
Company news: investment, leadership, and what’s next
January closed with a major milestone for NetBrain. The company announced the completion of a previously announced majority investment by funds managed by Blackstone. The investment is focused on accelerating global expansion and advancing NetBrain’s AI-powered network automation platform.
Alongside the transaction, NetBrain announced several leadership updates to support its next phase of growth. Bernadette Nixon has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and will join the Board of Directors. Founder Lingping Gao will transition from CEO to Chair of the Board after more than two decades building NetBrain from concept to category leader. Gus Malezis and Jerry Guo also join the Board, adding deep experience in scaling enterprise and infrastructure software companies.
With a strong leadership bench and Blackstone’s backing, NetBrain is positioned to accelerate innovation, expand into new global markets, and meet rising demand for intelligent, intent-based network automation as AI becomes central to modern NetOps.
Community Highlights
Question of the Week: integrations that actually matter
We sparked a strong discussion around which NetBrain integrations have delivered the biggest operational impact. ServiceNow, monitoring tools, custom APIs—the answers made one thing clear: value shows up when tools stop acting like strangers and start sharing context.
Exchange Groups Spotlight: Automotive, Manufacturing & Industrial
We also kicked off a weekly spotlight highlighting Exchange Groups—starting with Automotive, Manufacturing, and Industrial. These groups are shaping into spaces where operators compare notes, swap use cases, and talk about automation in environments where downtime isn’t just inconvenient—it’s expensive.
Customer impact, quantified
One of the biggest highlights this month was a customer story showing how NetBrain helped reduce MTTR and network downtime by up to 50% year over year. This wasn’t about shiny features—it was about faster troubleshooting, fewer blind spots, and teams getting hours (and weekends) back.
NetBrain University: updated end-user training is live
January also marked the launch of updated end-user training in NetBrain University. The new content is built around real operational workflows—troubleshooting, network assessment, and change management—so users can apply automation directly to day-to-day work, not just learn features in isolation.
Fresh reads: automation, evolved
January also brought two new blog posts that dig into where automation is headed and why it matters now:
The Evolution of Automation looks at the shift from static scripts to intelligent, intent-driven systems that adapt as networks change.
How to Cut Downtime Every Year breaks down practical ways teams can continuously reduce outages instead of reacting to the same incidents on repeat.
January made one thing clear: NetBrain is scaling—its platform, its leadership, and its community. That momentum is already carrying straight into February.