Bill Graham — Network & Security Architect

About

I architect and secure the networks underneath demanding infrastructure — and I translate hard technical architecture into things people can actually understand and act on.

"The most valuable skill in technology isn't simply depth in any single domain — it's knowing when a wave has peaked and having the discipline to pivot before everyone else does — or it's too late."

Thirty years ago I started connecting companies to an internet that ran at 28.8K and had no roadmap for what it would become. Since then I've worked on some of the toughest infrastructure problems in the industry — mass-scale service provider and cloud network operators, disaggregated routing, and zero trust security models — across Juniper Networks, DriveNets, and Cisco.

That whole arc now points at one place: the networking and security layer of AI infrastructure. The hard problems there — scale, congestion, security at speed — are the same ones I've spent decades solving at carrier scale, in a new context.

I'm always open to conversations at the intersection of networking, security, and AI infrastructure.

Areas of Expertise

01 —

Mass-Scale SP Networking

Carrier-scale routing, MPLS, SRv6, and SP core architecture across some of the world's largest networks including Verizon's cloud infrastructure.

02 —

Cloud Security & Zero Trust

SSE, SASE, and Zero Trust architecture. Deep product-level expertise with Cisco Secure Access including direct engagement with engineering and product teams.

03 —

AI Infrastructure Networking

The emerging network and security challenges at the AI infrastructure layer — GPU cluster networking, scale-out fabrics, and what SP-grade thinking brings to AI.

04 —

Network Disaggregation

Cloud-native, whitebox, and disaggregated networking architectures. Hands-on experience with DriveNets' platform covering Verizon and T-Mobile.

05 —

Cloud Platforms

AWS and Azure cloud networking and security. Bridging the gap between traditional SP and enterprise networking with cloud-native infrastructure.

06 —

Enterprise Networking

Spanning financial services, insurance, and sports and entertainment organizations — each with distinct network and security requirements, including large campus design, SD-WAN, and SASE architectures.

Career

Cisco

Systems Architect

2022 — Present

Cover a diverse portfolio of enterprise accounts across financial services, insurance, sports and entertainment, and service providers — architecting solutions spanning networking, security, cloud connectivity, SSE/Zero Trust, and SRv6.

DriveNets

Senior Systems Engineer

2021 — 2022

Served as Senior Systems Engineer covering Verizon and T-Mobile, leading technical sales efforts for DriveNets' cloud-native disaggregated routing platform. Developed deep expertise in network disaggregation architecture, whitebox networking, and cloud-native SP network design at mass scale.

Cisco

Systems Architect

2018 — 2021

Covered enterprise accounts across financial services, insurance, and sports and entertainment — architecting solutions spanning networking, security, cloud connectivity, and Segment Routing.

Juniper Networks

Sr. Consulting Systems Engineer & Senior Manager, Systems Engineering

2012 — 2018 · 6 years

Six years on the Verizon account spanning Verizon Cloud, FiOS, and the Verizon Channel team. Served as subject matter expert in automation, software-defined networking, and cloud solutions at carrier scale.

Availity

Manager, Network and Security Services

2010 — 2012

Availity is a technology company operating the nation's largest real-time health information network. Responsible for the design, implementation, and management of network and security infrastructure supporting mission-critical healthcare data exchange.

Juniper Networks

Systems Engineer

2006 — 2010

Served as a Systems Engineer during a pivotal industry transition — helping tier 2/3 service providers migrate from TDM to Ethernet-based networking and pivot to IPTV and GPON residential broadband. Supported a diverse account base including Walt Disney Company and university research networks connected to the Internet2 backbone.

Writing & Projects

Substack

The Human Variable

Network infrastructure & security in the AI era — covering the technology shift and what it means for the professionals navigating it. Written for practitioners, not pundits.

Read on Substack

GitHub

Technical Projects

Lab automation, Junos in CML, network tooling and configuration examples from the intersection of SP networking and modern infrastructure.

View on GitHub

BillGraham

Let's talk about problems worth solving.

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