The artificial boundary between Network Operations and Security Operations is collapsing under AI pressure. David’s 2026 prediction: unified AI-driven operations centers will render the traditional NOC and SOC divide obsolete, fundamentally changing how enterprises staff, tool, and measure their defense posture.
The unified ops center isn’t just an organizational change — it’s the infrastructure the Agentic SOC requires to operate at machine speed. The data on why this shift is coming was already visible in Splunk’s State of Security 2025 — analyst burnout and AI adoption curves that make the split model unsustainable.
