The Gartner Hype Cycle for Enterprise Networking, 2026 signals a clear inflection point: legacy WAN infrastructure is giving way to software-driven, cloud-native connectivity. Gartner places cross-cloud networking, alternative WAN backbone services (XBaaS), and AI network fabric among the highest-priority innovations in enterprise networking — driven by distributed AI workloads, multicloud architectures, and escalating security demands. Standalone categories like SD-WAN and multicloud networking software have been retired from the Hype Cycle altogether, absorbed into broader, more capable models.
Alkira was built for exactly this moment. As an AI-Native Network Infrastructure-as-a-Service platform, Alkira delivers a global cloud backbone with integrated security, built-in segmentation, and on-demand multicloud connectivity — unified under a single operational plane. No DIY stitching, no single-provider lock-in. Just the performance, policy control, and simplicity that next-generation enterprise networking requires.
