Extreme Networks Inc. is riding a wave of market recovery, competitor upheaval and the launch of a new artificial intelligence-driven networking platform to position itself for continued growth, Chief Executive Ed Meyercord said in an interview with SiliconANGLE following the company’s strong quarterly earnings report.

The Morrisville, North Carolina-based networking firm earlier this week reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $307 million, up 20% from a year ago. Its stock is up 14% for the week.

Meyercord (pictured) attributed the strong performance to a trio of converging factors: improving macroeconomic conditions, disruption among larger rivals and the company’s success penetrating large enterprise accounts while competitors are distracted.

“Two years ago, the market was in a condition of oversupply. All of that has been cleaned up, and we’re back to normal buying,” Meyercord said. Government spending has resumed in markets such as Germany, where political gridlock had stalled budgets, and Extreme is seeing momentum in the Asia-Pacific region, capped by two recently signed multimillion-dollar deals with the Japanese government.

No tariff impact

Although the U.S. government’s trade policy is in constant flux, Meyercord said Extreme has modeled multiple scenarios and is prepared for anything. The company’s product category has so far been exempted from tariffs, “so it’s business as usual, but we’re ready,” he said.

Meyercord said competitors are also creating openings. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.’s acquisition of Juniper Networks Inc. will present HPE with the task of cutting 4,000 jobs and rationalizing overlapping products. “They’re creating disruption to our advantage,” Meyercord said. “A lot of people are hanging around, not knowing their fate.”

Cisco Systems Inc., meanwhile, has been investing in adjacent markets such as security with its $28 billion acquisition of analytics provider Splunk Inc. and has been restructuring its channel program in ways that some networking-focused partners find less profitable. “Core networking partners are not happy,” he said. “We become a great alternative for Cisco partners or for HP-Juniper partners.”

Extreme’s competitive edge is its fabric networking technology, cloud offerings and now Extreme Platform One. The fabric, designed for large enterprise campus environments, is a single network that spans campuses, data centers, branches, wired and wireless environments to enable simpler deployment and management. Extreme has been touting the experience of one large customer that estimated that a setup task that took six hours on Cisco gear required just six minutes with Extreme’s technology.

The company has also promoted its cloud management platform as a differentiator. The fabric spans both on-premises and software-defined wide area networks with the ability to segment networks quickly in software.

Extreme Platform One adds multimodal, conversational and agentic AI for network management. It allows customers to create composable workspaces and customized dashboards while automating many formerly manual tasks. The system was showcased running live at Extreme’s recent Connect conference in Paris. “Meanwhile, Cisco’s and HPE’s demos are PowerPoint and canned videos,” Meyercord said.

Targeting Cisco

Though Cisco has long enjoyed strong loyalty among enterprise customers and its large installed base of certified engineers, Meyercord said cracks are forming as the company has pressed its channel partners to increase sales of non-networking products. He cited Japan’s judicial branch, The Kroger Co. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. as examples of recent “Cisco takeouts.” One unnamed prospect represents a potential nine-figure deal.

Meyercord called Cisco’s expansive certification program “brilliant,” but said it’s now indirectly benefiting his company. “All that Cisco training works perfectly for Extreme,” he said. “They can take what they’ve learned and manage an Extreme network with our new platform.”

Extreme Networks expects to aggressively enhance Platform One with new features every 60 days. “As we add more capabilities, there’s going to be very little reason for people to stay on an old platform,” Meyercord said. Platform One pulls sales of the hardware that makes up more than 60% of Extreme’s business because its management features work best with Extreme’s gear.

Looking ahead, Meyercord believes AI will transform network design, deployment and management. He envisions systems being able to automatically design a network from building floor plan while generating cost estimates and a bill of materials in minutes. Over time, AI service agents will handle more remediation tasks autonomously, guided by humans.

“Running a network is going to get a lot more efficient and easier,” he said. AI will also make networking more strategic by providing complete visibility into applications and connected devices, and by enhancing security. “You’ll see a fundamentally different paradigm for networking,” he said.

Photo: Extreme Networks/livestream