I’m proud to share that I’ve been recognized as a vExpert for the fifth consecutive year.
That milestone is meaningful — not because of the badge itself, but because of what it represents: consistent contribution, technical depth, and a commitment to giving back to the community that shaped my career.
First, thank you to Corey Romero and the global VMware vExpert Program team for continuing to champion technical voices across the ecosystem. And congratulations to everyone recognized this year — especially those carrying the vExpert Pro designation, who actively mentor and help grow the program regionally and globally.
Five Years In — What Changed?
When I first received vExpert, the conversation was primarily about:
- vSphere architectures
- NSX microsegmentation
- Storage modernization (vSAN vs. traditional arrays)
- Operational visibility with Aria Operations
- Automation through PowerCLI and API-driven workflows
Today, that conversation has expanded dramatically.
We’re now discussing:
- AI-ready infrastructure
- GPU scheduling and resource governance
- Model lifecycle operations
- AI workload isolation
- Data sovereignty in AI pipelines
- Agent-based automation
- Security implications of AI-native tooling
The center of gravity has shifted — but the fundamentals remain the same: solid architecture, operational discipline, and community knowledge-sharing.
Infrastructure + AI: The Real Shift
AI is not just another workload.
It introduces:
- New performance profiles (GPU-bound, burst compute, massive I/O)
- Data gravity concerns
- Security and compliance complexity
- Automation-first expectations
For those of us in virtualization and platform engineering, this means our role is evolving from “infrastructure operators” to infrastructure strategists.
We are now expected to:
- Design AI-capable clusters
- Balance performance and governance
- Integrate AI observability into traditional monitoring
- Secure API-first ecosystems
- Automate everything that can be automated
And here’s the key point:
AI does not replace infrastructure expertise.
It amplifies the need for it.
Why vExpert Still Matters
In a world full of hype cycles, influencer noise, and shallow takes, the vExpert community remains grounded in something that actually matters:
Experience.
Real-world deployments.
Real-world outages.
Real-world migrations.
Real-world mistakes.
The vExpert ecosystem is not about marketing — it’s about practitioners sharing lessons learned.
That culture is increasingly important as we navigate:
- Broadcom-era VMware changes
- Licensing model shifts
- Multi-cloud strategies
- Open-source alternatives
- AI integration pressures
The community remains the stabilizing force.
My Focus Going Forward
As a Senior System Engineer deeply involved in enterprise infrastructure, my focus continues to center around:
- Modernizing vSphere environments at scale
- Operationalizing NSX and microsegmentation
- Embedding automation into patching and lifecycle management
- Preparing clusters for AI and data-intensive workloads
- Strengthening governance in hybrid environments
At AngrySysOps, I’ll continue breaking down:
- Security incidents impacting virtualization
- AI risks in enterprise IT
- Automation strategies for infrastructure teams
- Real implementation lessons — not theory
Because the industry doesn’t need more surface-level hype.
It needs signal.
Gratitude
To:
- Corey Romero
- VMware
- Broadcom
- The entire vCommunity
Thank you for building and sustaining a technical ecosystem where contribution is valued.
And to fellow vExperts and vExpert Pros:
Let’s keep raising the bar.
The next era of infrastructure is already here — and it’s powered by automation, AI, and community-driven expertise.
—
Piotr Tarnawski
AngrySysOps
Senior System Engineer | vExpert (5x)**
Give me a follow on X: @TheTechWorldPod
