By David Sloan, Solutions Architect

Learn how private connectivity, regional hubs, and AI-driven automation are defining the next evolution of enterprise networking in 2026.

2026 is shaping up to be a big year for networking.

We’re moving past the ideas of being simply connected – now, networks are becoming intelligent.

As we see our customers lean into AI, multicloud, and automation in every corner of their operations, the way they connect everything is changing just as fast. Based on conversations with our customers and colleagues, here’s what we think you should be watching in the year ahead. (Spoiler: agility, privacy, and intelligence are driving the next wave of NaaS.)

This blog summarizes a webinar we recently held on what’s new in NaaS, which is now available on-demand. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

1. Private connectivity is no longer optional

For most organizations, private connectivity is now non-negotiable. In fact, 71% of IT leaders say it’s essential for meeting compliance and security requirements.

Between data sovereignty laws, increasing regulatory pressure, and the growing sprawl of cloud services, more enterprises are pulling traffic off the public internet and into private, controlled environments. While security is a key motivation, the goal is to improve performance and predictability, too.

The key takeaway

Security and compliance are now shaping how networks are built, not just what they cost.

2. The enterprise standard is scaling up

Bandwidth expectations have shifted dramatically. Connections in the 10-100 Gbps range are now the enterprise standard, and private internal connections have surpassed 9,000 Gbps across Megaport’s network.

It’s not just growth, but preparation. Enterprises are scaling up to handle heavier workloads, from AI training to real-time data analytics. As networks evolve, larger data rates are becoming a must-have, not a nice extra.

The key takeaway

Speed and scale are the new normal.

3. Service growth and mobility are exploding

Believe it or not, companies are doubling their number of live services year over year.

It’s no longer enough to spin up cloud services quickly. In 2026, those services also need to move. Workloads are shifting fluidly into the cloud, back on-prem, and out again as organizations chase the perfect balance of performance, cost, and compliance.

That’s why data mobility has become a major theme for 2026 – the freedom to run workloads wherever they make the most sense is now a baseline expectation.

The key takeaway

Agility isn’t just about speed anymore – now, it’s also about choice.

4. Intelligent service chaining is taking off

Networks are becoming more modular and more intelligent.

The key takeaway

Service chaining is changing what “software-defined” network really means.

5. The rise of regional and remote deployments

The days of routing everything back to a central data center are ending.

Enterprises are now building regional hubs to stay closer to users, data, and cloud regions, and the growth numbers prove it. Singapore grew 68% year over year as an APAC hub, while Paris (+177%) and Quebec (+200%) are becoming key sovereignty anchors.

This shift toward local infrastructure is motivated by the need for low latency, resilience, and regulatory compliance. More organizations are also deploying in remote locations, bringing cloud-grade connectivity to places that used to be out of reach.

The key takeaway

The global network is becoming more local – and that’s a good thing.

6. AI workloads are reshaping the network

AI is delivering the ultimate bandwidth test.

From training massive language models (LLMs) to running inference at the edge, AI workloads demand throughput and resilience on a different scale. And industries are rising to meet it:

• Finance added +3,500 Gbps of capacity since mid-2023.
• Energy and Industrial sectors added +1,500 Gbps.
• Healthcare and Government grew 20–40% year over year.

Behind those numbers is a need for faster, smarter infrastructure. Megaport is supporting that evolution with larger on-ramps (up to 25 Gbps) and partnerships like HPE GreenLake Private Cloud AI, which brings GPU as a Service to the private cloud.

At the same time, new automation tools like the AI MCP Server are emerging (more on that below), making it possible to build and connect entire AI environments automatically, without ever touching a console.

The key takeaway

AI is doing a lot more than growing compute in 2026; it’s changing the way entire networks are built.

7. Automation and intelligence are taking over

If there’s one word that captures the next phase of NaaS, it’s automation – and the perfect example of this is the growing popularity of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

A MCP server uses a simple client-server model that provides AI agents with access to external data, tools, and functions using a standardized protocol; no custom integrations, no brittle scripts.

MCP gives AI the context it needs to make decisions and the ability to use tools directly, whether that’s spinning up a MCR or orchestrating cloud connectivity. For businesses, that means automation that’s safer, faster, and far easier to scale.

Automation also removes the complexity from scaling, giving teams the chance to work faster without working harder. And as AI becomes more integrated into network operations, intelligent orchestration will soon be the default.

The key takeaway

Automation is a must to give your operations a competitive edge.

What these trends mean for 2026

Right now, all signs point to a smarter, more adaptive network era in 2026.

Private connectivity, larger bandwidth, AI, and automation are converging to make networks faster, safer, and more flexible than we’ve ever seen.

At Megaport, we’re helping organizations around the world make that shift – connecting clouds, data centers, and workloads with a platform that’s built to keep pace with these changes.

2026 is the year networks grow up, and become more intelligent.

Hear more on where networking is headed in 2026 in our on-demand webinar.