Enterprises are increasingly turning to open networking and they need guidance to ensure the right choices are being made. A great partner can ease the transition. In this episode of the Tech Field Day podcast, brought to you by Cisco, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Scott Robon, Ryan Booth, and Cisco’s Surbhi Paul explore how AI infrastructure demands are pushing organizations to rethink their network architectures. The consensus is that while SONiC was once primarily a hyperscaler and experimental technology, it has matured significantly and is now appearing in real enterprise and U.S. government deployments. Cisco’s position is to meet customers where they are, supporting both their established NX-OS/ACI platforms and Sonic on Nexus 9K hardware, giving organizations the flexibility to shift software strategies without replacing physical infrastructure.Open networking isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires honest assessment of a team’s internal skill set and operational maturity. Cisco frames its SONiC offering around three pillars: the Cisco 8000 series for hyperscale and web-scale use cases, the Nexus 9K for enterprise AI fabrics, and Nexus Hyperfabric for organizations that want the benefits of SONiC without the complexity of managing it themselves. Cisco differentiates itself by backing Sonic deployments with 24/7 TAC support and lifecycle management tools, bridging the gap between open-source flexibility and the reliability enterprises depend on.