Megaport Connect Cloud Networking Summit
A first-of-its-kind virtual summit built to help network engineers and IT leaders upskill, share ideas, and connect around the future of cloud and hybrid networking
Featured Sessions
Megaport Connect 2026 is a full day of presentations from networking experts at Canva, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, VAST Data, and more, covering cloud, architecture, AI, and the infrastructure behind it. Get insights on the key trends, changes, and challenges in the industry today.
Jeremiah Johnson
US Cloud Engineering Manager, Fortinet
Building Secure Hybrid Multicloud Architectures
As infrastructure expands across clouds, data centers, and the edge, complexity grows. This session explores practical strategies for designing secure, scalable multicloud architectures that balance performance, governance, connectivity, and operational simplicity.
Richard Olson
Tech Lead (Networking and Compute), Canva
The Full Stack Network: From Multi-Cloud to Bare Metal (And Everything We Broke Along the Way)
What does it take to build a global hybrid multicloud network? Richard Olson, Tech Lead at Canva, shares the architectural decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons learned scaling infrastructure across clouds, regions, and bare metal at global scale.
Robert Benoit
Vice President, WW Solutions Engineering, VAST Data
David Boland
Vice President Cloud Strategy, Wasabi Technologies
The Next Cloud Is AI Infrastructure: GPUs, Storage, and High-Performance Networking
AI is changing infrastructure design. Rob Benoit from VAST & David Boland from Wasabi will explore how GPUs, high-performance storage, and networking work together to support AI at scale, and why modern infrastructure can no longer treat compute, storage, and networking separately.
AI Infrastructure
Roy Chua
Founder and Principal, AvidThink
Keynote: Cloud Networking for AI Architectures
AI is changing how networks are designed and operated. This session explores how GPU infrastructure, AI workloads, and automation are reshaping enterprise and cloud networking, and what these shifts mean for network architecture and the future role of network engineers.
Robert Benoit
Vice President, WW Solutions Engineering, VAST Data
David Boland
Vice President Cloud Strategy, Wasabi Technologies
The Next Cloud Is AI Infrastructure: GPUs, Storage, and High-Performance Networking
AI is changing infrastructure design. Rob Benoit from VAST & David Boland from Wasabi will explore how GPUs, high-performance storage, and networking work together to support AI at scale, and why modern infrastructure can no longer treat compute, storage, and networking separately.
Michael Reid
CEO, Megaport
Alexis Bertholf
Global Technical Evangelist, Megaport
Beyond Networking: Building the Infrastructure Platform for AI
AI is reshaping infrastructure. Discover Megaport's vision for unifying compute, networking, and storage into a single software-defined platform, and why this model is becoming the foundation for AI, hybrid cloud, and modern infrastructure.
Cloud Connectivity
Holly Podbielak
Solutions Consultant, Palo Alto Networks
Cloud Networking 101: How Cloud Changes Traditional Network Architecture
Cloud has transformed networking. This session explores the fundamentals of cloud networking, including software-defined infrastructure, automation, APIs, infrastructure as code, and cloud connectivity, providing a practical foundation for modern network engineers.
William Collins
Director of Cloud Architecture, Humana
The On-Ramp Illusion: Connecting to AWS, Azure, GCP
Direct Connect, ExpressRoute, Cloud Interconnect - which should you use, and when? Learn the strengths, limitations, and real-world tradeoffs of today's cloud connectivity options, and how automation is reshaping hybrid and multicloud networking.
Kori Rongey
Leader, Solutions Engineering - Federal Scientific, Cisco
Internet vs Private Connectivity: Choosing the Right Architecture for Cloud
Not every cloud workload needs private connectivity. This session compares internet and private cloud connections, exploring the tradeoffs in performance, security, reliability, cost, and operations to help you make informed architecture decisions.
Hybrid Multicloud Architecture
Jeremiah Johnson
US Cloud Engineering Manager, Fortinet
Building Secure Hybrid Multicloud Architectures
As infrastructure expands across clouds, data centers, and the edge, complexity grows. This session explores practical strategies for designing secure, scalable multicloud architectures that balance performance, governance, connectivity, and operational simplicity.
Richard Olson
Tech Lead (Networking and Compute), Canva
The Full Stack Network: From Multi-Cloud to Bare Metal (And Everything We Broke Along the Way)
What does it take to build a global hybrid multicloud network? Richard Olson, Tech Lead at Canva, shares the architectural decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons learned scaling infrastructure across clouds, regions, and bare metal at global scale.
Featured Sessions
Megaport Connect is a first-of-its-kind virtual summit built to help network engineers and IT leaders upskill, share ideas, and connect around the future of cloud and hybrid networking. With three focused tracks - Fundamentals, Advanced Technical, and Executive Strategy - you’ll find sessions tailored to your role, your experience level, and your goals.
Cloud Networking 101- How Cloud Changes Traditional Network Thinking
Learn the core differences between on-prem and cloud networking, and get familiar with the essential components used across cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Architecting a Global WAN Across Clouds and Data Centers
Explore design strategies for building global WANs that span multiple cloud providers, regions, and colocation facilities while maintaining resilience, performance, and scalability.
Cost Optimization & ROI in Hybrid/Multi-Cloud Strategies
A business-first approach to cloud networking economics—what’s worth investing in, and how to measure success.
Fundamentals Track
Cloud Networking 101- How Cloud Changes Traditional Network Thinking
Presented by: Eyvonne Sharp, North American Platform Engineering Manager, Infrastructure at Google.
Learn the core differences between on-prem and cloud networking, and get familiar with the essential components used across cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Getting Into the Cloud Internet vs. Private Connectivity
Presented by: Russ White, Architect at Akamai.
Explore the differences between accessing the cloud over the public internet versus using private options like Direct Connect or ExpressRoute, and when to use each.
Demystifying Direct Connect, ExpressRoute & Cloud On-Ramps
Presented by: Kevin Dresser, Solutions Architect at Megaport.
A practical explanation of what cloud on-ramps really are, what they do, how they’re provisioned, and how they impact cloud networking performance.
Routing Inside and Into the Cloud: The Basics of VPCs and Transit Gateways
Presented by: William Collins, Director, Technical Evangelism at Itential.
Understand how routing works inside cloud environments, how cloud networks talk to each other, and how to connect on-prem networks to cloud resources.
Network Redundancy in the Cloud: Design Patterns That Keep You Online
Presented by: Nick De Cristofaro, Network Specialist - Customer Engineer at Google.
Learn the basics of high availability in cloud networking, including how to design for fault tolerance and avoid common failure scenarios.
Q&A Panel: Cloud Networking Questions You Were Afraid to Ask
Presented by: Alexis Bertholf, Linda Haviv, Chris Williams, and Tim McConnaughy.
A candid panel session with engineers addressing foundational questions about cloud networking in a beginner-friendly environment.
Multi-Cloud Networking Basics: Integrating Across Clouds Without Losing Control
Presented by: Dan Pfyl, Solutions Architect at Megaport.
An approachable overview of what it means to operate across multiple clouds, and what to consider when building your first cross-cloud design.
Customer Story: How I Broke Into Cloud Networking
Presented by: Chris Miles, Enterprise Solutions Architect at Fortinet.
A personal journey from someone who transitioned into cloud networking—what they learned, how they learned it, and advice for others.
Advanced Technical Track
Architecting a Global WAN Across Clouds and Data Centers
Presented by: Tim McConnaughy, Technical Marketing Engineer at Cisco.
Explore design strategies for building global WANs that span multiple cloud providers, regions, and colocation facilities while maintaining resilience, performance, and scalability.
Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Topologies: What Works and Why
Presented by: Britton Anderson, Senior Speciality Solutions Architect at AHEAD.
Analyze popular hybrid and multi-cloud topologies, and examine the trade-offs of different design approaches across major providers.
Cloud Networking for AI Architectures
Presented by: Riggs Goodman, Principal Partner Solutions Architect - AI Security and Networking at AWS.
AI workloads are reshaping how we design networks—introducing new demands for bandwidth, latency, and east-west traffic patterns. This session breaks down how to design cloud and hybrid network architectures that can handle AI training and inference at scale.
Network Automation at Scale: Patterns, Tools, and Pitfalls
Presented by: Chris Grundemann, Executive Advisor at Khadga Consulting, & Founder of Network Automation Forum.
How to automate cloud and hybrid networking infrastructure using Terraform, Ansible, and other IaC tools—plus what to watch out for as complexity grows.
Case Study: Migrating a Global Enterprise to Multi-Cloud
Presented by: Steve Mikulasik, Manager, Global Network Engineering at Civeo.
A behind-the-scenes look at how a large enterprise re-architected its network for a multi-cloud strategy—what they learned, what broke, and how they solved it.
Q&A Panel: Architect-Level Problems and Real-World Lessons
Presented by: Will Collins, Daniel Dib, and Chris Miles.
A candid panel discussion with senior architects who have dealt with scale, complexity, outages, and weird edge cases.
Demystifying On-Ramps: DX, ExpressRoute, and Transit Gateways
Presented by: Chris Gunn, Solutions Architect at Megaport.
A focused technical walkthrough of cloud on-ramps, transit gateways, and the dependencies and routing behaviors you need to account for when designing enterprise connections.
Cloud Security Architecture: Securing at Scale Across Providers
Presented by: Shawn Nunley and David Gargan.
Designing secure networks across multiple clouds while minimizing complexity and preventing drift—aligned to enterprise risk and compliance requirements.
Use Case Spotlight: Shaving Milliseconds in a Multi-Stack Application
Presented by: Marko Sluga, Delivery Lead, Enterprise Skills Transformation at AWS.
A real-world case study showing how network design impacted application latency and the technical levers used to fix it.
Wrap-Up: Future-Proofing Your Cloud Network Architecture
Presented by: Alexis Bertholf, Technical Evangelist at Megaport.
Key takeaways from the day and a forward-looking view of where cloud networking is headed—from AI workloads to programmable infrastructure.
Executive Strategy Track
Cost Optimization & ROI in Hybrid/Multi-Cloud Strategies
Presented by: Corey Quinn, Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group.
A business-first approach to cloud networking economics—what’s worth investing in, and how to measure success.
Cloud Connectivity Trends Shaping the Enterprise
Presented by: Rishi Katdare, Leader, Core Networking & GTM at AWS.
Explore how providers, CSPs, and enterprises are evolving connectivity, architecture, and security to meet 2025 multi-cloud demands.
Panel: Infrastructure Shifts in where workloads live: cloud, edge, colo, on-prem
Presented by: Michael Reid, Chris Sharp, Raul Martynek, and Jason Carolan.
Leaders from major colo and edge infrastructure providers discuss how enterprise needs are shifting and what that means for data center strategy.
Why Private Connectivity Matters: Performance, Risk, and Strategic Advantage
Presented by: Justin Giardina, CTO at 11:11 Systems.
Explore why leading enterprises are moving away from internet-based access to private connectivity for cloud workloads—and what that means for performance, reliability, and business risk.
Networking for AI: Infrastructure Readiness and Strategic Impact
Presented by: Kevin Wollenweber, SVP/GM, Data Center and Internet Infrastructure at Cisco.
AI changes the rules—from how much bandwidth is needed to where data must reside. This session unpacks what AI means for your networking roadmap.
Wrap-Up: Strategic Takeaways + Community Launch & Next Steps
Presented by: Alexis Bertholf, Technical Evangelist, and Michael Reid CEO of Megaport.
Closing thoughts to tie together the day’s insights and introduce opportunities to stay involved through community, partnerships, and education.