Find the real problem
Trace the actual process across people, spreadsheets, APIs, ticket queues, and legacy systems before anyone spends six months automating the wrong bit.
Process archaeology, but with fewer little brushes.Reykjavík, Iceland · online & opinionated
I help AI survive contact with the business for money.
I’m Steinn Örvar Bjarnarson — Steinzi is easier. I turn messy processes, legacy systems, and ambitious AI ideas into useful automation that real teams can trust.
CCIE #60715less AI theatre,more working systems
15+years in real systems
#60715CCIE, earned at 27
5AutoCon appearances
11podcast episodes
The Steinzi pitch, since you asked
I know what happens after the clever demo.
I am at my most useful when the process is messy, the systems are old, and somebody has already said, “couldn’t we just use AI?”
Fifteen-plus years in infrastructure taught me to care about failure, access, operations, and the people on call. Product development taught me to make all of that usable. AI is the newest tool in the box, not an exemption from reality.
Build the useful version
Turn the good idea into an operable system: agents, MCP tools, APIs, workflows, tests, approvals, observability, and very clear places where the AI is not allowed to improvise.
The demo is allowed to become infrastructure.Make it safe enough to respect, not trust
Keep credentials out of model context, gate access by session and role, put humans on the consequential decisions, and design failure as a normal operating condition.
Useful autonomy. Adult supervision included.Get humans to use it
Polish the interface, fit the tool to the team, teach the why, document the awkward bits, and listen when the people doing the work say the clever solution is annoying.
Adoption is a feature. Apparently.The long version, still aggressively abridged
From soldering irons to AI agents.
The through-line was never “networking.” It was taking complicated systems, making them safer and easier to operate, and then convincing humans the new way is less painful.
Hardware first. Consequences included.
Started in electronics, physical security, CCTV, and IT services before moving deep into network operations. The machines were physical, the customers were real, and a bad change could ruin everyone’s afternoon.
Expertise, then a deliberate escape from the box.
Joined Advania as a principal network engineer, became Iceland’s youngest CCIE at the time, taught networking, earned a computer-science degree at night, and learned enough software to stop accepting repetitive work as a law of nature.
Automation became a product, not a folder of scripts.
Moved into lead product development, built cross-vendor automation and source-of-truth systems, replaced legacy tooling, and learned that the hard part is rarely the API. It is the process, the ownership, and Gary’s spreadsheet.
AI met the business. Both survived.
Started speaking publicly about generative AI in 2023 and now builds controlled AI automation across infrastructure and business processes: internal MCPs, authorized sessions, human approval, secret-safe tooling, and systems people will actually use.
Selected work
The public bits
I can show you.
Open-source tools, a podcast, community building, and enough public material to prove this is not a very elaborate LinkedIn phase — plus one suspiciously blank file.
01 / Podcast2025—now
Network Automagic
A long-form show with Urs Baumann about AI, automation, infrastructure, the people building the tools, and what survives outside a demo environment.
11 episodesvideo + audiointerviews
Explore the show 02 / Community2025—now
ISNOG
I founded the Icelandic Network Operators Group to give the local infrastructure community a room, a stage, and a reason to meet. Event zero brought together roughly 100 people.
Icelandcommunity~100 at ISNOG #0
Visit ISNOG 03 / Open source2024—now
Network Automation Landscape
A community-maintained map of the sprawling tools, products, and projects that make up modern network automation.
50+ GitHub starscommunity-maintainedlandscape2
Open the landscape 04 / Open source2026
netlab-mcp
An MCP server that wraps netlab so language models can work from rendered, lab-tested network configurations instead of confident guesses.
PythonMCPcontainerlab
View on GitHub 05 / Classified[redacted]—now
The actually cool stuff.
I wish I could tell you about the coolest stuff I work on, but the lawyers made me sign an NDA and took my firstborn son. I miss him.
Approved by absolutely nobodyNetwork Automagic
AI, automation, and infrastructure —
with the varnish removed.
Urs Baumann and I talk to the people building the tools — from Temporal and Pulumi to agents, MCP, and everything between “nice demo” and production. Occasionally somebody says “agentic” and we make them explain what they mean.
Watch on YouTube011Netlab, ACLs and AI-Generated Configs with Ivan Pepelnjak 010The Future of Platform Engineering with Stuart Clark 009The Square Table — AI, Hype, and the Future of Network Engineering 008AI and Automation: MCP vs CLI with Calvin Remsburg 007Pulumi with Scott Lowe 006AI Hype with Peter Sprygada 005HPE Juniper Mist Automation and the SSR400 Launch 004AutoCon 3 Hallway Track 003NUTS with Marco Martinez 002Infrahub with Damien Garros 001Temporal with Ryan Shaw
2018 — now · independently clickable
The public record.
Talks, workshops, releases, guest appearances, articles, and community work — each linked to a public source. Not every commit or LinkedIn thought; the durable things worth making another human click. Because vibes are not a citation.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 011 — Netlab, ACLs and AI-Generated Configs Network Automagic 011 — Netlab, ACLs and AI-Generated Configs
Hosted Ivan Pepelnjak for a practical discussion of netlab, multi-vendor abstraction, and where AI-generated network configuration goes wrong.
Build
View Released netlab-mcp Released netlab-mcp
Published an Apache-2.0 MCP server that turns network intent into rendered configurations and can validate them in a netlab + containerlab environment.
Speaking
View “It Works on My Machine” — (Py)Test Your Automation “It Works on My Machine” — (Py)Test Your Automation
Co-proctored an AutoCon 5 workshop in Munich with Urs Baumann and Bart Dorlandt on testing automation logic, mocking devices and APIs, and CI/CD.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 010 — The Future of Platform Engineering Network Automagic 010 — The Future of Platform Engineering
Hosted Stuart Clark for a conversation about internal developer portals, AI in production, DevRel, and the reality behind golden paths.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 009 — The Square Table Network Automagic 009 — The Square Table
Convened a seven-person roundtable on AI hype, code quality, critical thinking, and the future of network engineering.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 008 — MCP vs CLI Network Automagic 008 — MCP vs CLI
Hosted Calvin Remsburg to examine deterministic CLIs, probabilistic tool use, agent security, and how network engineers should prepare.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 007 — Pulumi Network Automagic 007 — Pulumi
Hosted Scott Lowe for a frank look at Pulumi, infrastructure as code, provider quality, and why network automation remains harder than cloud automation.
Speaking
View Network Testing with NUTS at AutoCon 4 Network Testing with NUTS at AutoCon 4
Co-proctored a sold-out hands-on workshop in Austin covering NUTS, pytest, custom test cases, reports, and the INPG stack.
Podcast
View Heavy Networking 803 — How to Start a Networking Meetup Heavy Networking 803 — How to Start a Networking Meetup
Returned to Packet Pushers to unpack how ISNOG went from a bought domain to a 100-person inaugural event — venues, sponsors, recording, pizza, and all.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 006 — AI Hype Network Automagic 006 — AI Hype
Hosted Itential chief architect Peter Sprygada to separate practical AI, MCP, and deterministic execution from the industry hype cycle.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 005 — HPE Juniper Mist & SSR400 Network Automagic 005 — HPE Juniper Mist & SSR400
Hosted Daniel Petrov and Thomas Munzer for a technical tour of SSR, Mist APIs, automation tooling, security, and the SSR400 launch.
Writing
View HPE Juniper Mist’s Agentic AI Play — and the bigger story HPE Juniper Mist’s Agentic AI Play — and the bigger story
Published an opinionated analysis of Mist agentic capabilities and the shift from AI features toward autonomous network operations.
Community
View Founded and ran ISNOG #0 Founded and ran ISNOG #0
Brought roughly 100 Icelandic network professionals together for the country’s first Network Operators Group meeting, with speakers from Nokia, NetBox Labs, academia, local operators, and vendors.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 004 — AutoCon 3 Hallway Track Network Automagic 004 — AutoCon 3 Hallway Track
Produced a three-part field episode from AutoCon 3, capturing the conference conversations that happen away from the formal stage.
Speaking
View Network Testing with NUTS at AutoCon 3 Network Testing with NUTS at AutoCon 3
Co-proctored a sold-out four-hour workshop in Prague with Urs Baumann, teaching NUTS, pytest, custom reporting, and the INPG stack.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 003 — NUTS Network Automagic 003 — NUTS
Hosted Marco Martinez for a deep dive into the Network Unit Testing System, testing architecture, integrations, and pre/post-change validation.
Podcast
View Network Automagic 002 — Infrahub Network Automagic 002 — Infrahub
Hosted OpsMill CEO Damien Garros to discuss flexible schemas, source-of-truth architecture, and whether Infrahub replaces NetBox.
Podcast
View Launched Network Automagic with an episode on Temporal Launched Network Automagic with an episode on Temporal
Started the podcast with co-host Urs Baumann and guest Ryan Shaw, exploring durable execution, workflow reliability, and automation war stories.
Writing
View The EX4000: Entry Level Never Looked So Good! The EX4000: Entry Level Never Looked So Good!
Published a practical review of Juniper’s EX4000 access switch: fast boot, perpetual PoE, Mist operations, and the feature trade-offs behind the price point.
Podcast
View Heavy Networking 762 — A Network Automation Roadmap Heavy Networking 762 — A Network Automation Roadmap
Joined Packet Pushers to explain the Network Automation Landscape, how to navigate its tool categories, and why automation must begin with the use case.
Writing
View Contributed practitioner perspective to NetBox Labs’ Mist integration launch Contributed practitioner perspective to NetBox Labs’ Mist integration launch
Shared operational context on why maintained NetBox–Mist integrations matter and how they reduce the long-term cost of home-grown synchronization scripts.
Speaking
View “I Downloaded NetBox, Now What?” at AutoCon 2 “I Downloaded NetBox, Now What?” at AutoCon 2
Delivered a rapid-fire lightning talk on what to do — and what not to do — after adopting a network source of truth.
Speaking
View “Networks Are Critical Infrastructure” at Advania’s security conference “Networks Are Critical Infrastructure” at Advania’s security conference
Spoke in Reykjavík about secure network operations, continuity, current technology, and the practices that keep business-critical infrastructure stable.
Speaking
View “MVP — The Keys to Automation” at AutoCon 1 “MVP — The Keys to Automation” at AutoCon 1
Told the unvarnished story of replacing a legacy IPAM with NetBox: the architecture, the wrong turns, the useful rules, and why getting started beats waiting for the immaculate platform.
Speaking
View Explained practical AI at Garðabær Library Explained practical AI at Garðabær Library
Ran a public session on what AI is and how ordinary people can use it — part technology briefing, part community service, and unusually low on enterprise architecture diagrams.
Speaking
View Spoke about generative AI before every meeting had an AI slide Spoke about generative AI before every meeting had an AI slide
Presented at Morgunblaðið’s Kompaní breakfast on practical uses of generative AI, public access to the technology, its limitations, and the inconvenient fact that outcomes still depend on people.
Speaking
View Network Automation Big Picture at NetDevOps Days London Network Automation Big Picture at NetDevOps Days London
Mapped automation for an organization operating as an MSP, data center, and ISP: composable orchestration, imperative versus declarative systems, and NetBox as a source of truth.
Speaking
View MSP automation at Juniper’s Product Strategy Summit MSP automation at Juniper’s Product Strategy Summit
Presented in Nice on using Mist APIs and AI-driven operations to make enterprise networks behave more like well-run data centers. The slides survived; the hotel coffee is unconfirmed.
Podcast
View The Hedge 169 — Network Address Translation The Hedge 169 — Network Address Translation
Joined Russ White to discuss the history, legitimate uses, creative misuses, and design trade-offs of NAT after researching rather more translation tables than is medically advisable.
Build
View Published Hotsarch, the BSc project with a NAT problem Published Hotsarch, the BSc project with a NAT problem
Co-built a secure web platform that normalized live NAT data from multiple firewalls and load balancers without giving end users direct access to the devices. Also wrote the long history of NAT hiding in the appendix.
Milestone
View Finished a BSc in computer science — at night Finished a BSc in computer science — at night
Went back to university while working full time to add proper software and computer-science foundations to years of infrastructure experience. “It works” was no longer a sufficient design document.
Milestone
View Became Iceland’s youngest CCIE at the time Became Iceland’s youngest CCIE at the time
Earned Cisco CCIE Routing & Switching #60715 at 27, becoming the youngest person in Iceland to hold the certification at that point — useful proof that stubbornness can occasionally be productized.
About
Builder.
Teacher.
Professional skeptic.
I’m a Lead Product Development Engineer at Advania, working where AI, software, operations, legacy systems, and business processes collide — usually at speed.
I started in electronics and physical security, spent years designing and operating business-critical networks, taught networking on the side, and went back to university at night for a BSc in computer science. Along the way came CCIE #60715, CKAD, RHCSA, and a suspicious number of other certifications because apparently I used to enjoy exams.
Now I use models, agents, MCP, APIs, and dependable workflows to remove friction from infrastructure and business processes. Away from the confidential work, I host Network Automagic, founded ISNOG, maintain open-source projects, teach workshops, and occasionally explain that automating a bad process only makes the bad process faster.
Conferences, workshops & questionable panel decisions
Put me on a stage.
I’ll bring the useful skepticism.
I speak about AI automation that works beyond the demo, agents and MCP, business processes, infrastructure, integrating modern ideas with legacy systems, and the much harder problem of getting teams to actually use the tooling. If your audience likes practical ideas and honest failure stories, we should talk.
AI beyond the demoHow not to automate a messAgents, MCP & toolsLegacy systems, modern automationGetting teams to actually use the thingFrom networks to everything
Not a conference?