Automation gets a lot of attention these days – and for good reason. Operators see automation technologies as crucial to helping them scale capacity and deliver greater agility while keeping networking costs down. But although they acknowledge automation's promise, operators can be tight-lipped about how they are actually using it and what their future plans entail. North American multiple-system operator (MSO) Cox Communications' automation story stands out in part because the operator is very candid not only about its plans, but also about sharing detailed metrics illustrating the benefits. Cox's dedicated Network Automation and Services team After addressing automation for several years in a siloed and ad hoc fashion, in 2020 the company formed a dedicated Network Automation and Services team led by executive director Matt Hayes. It announced a mandate to work closely with all engineering groups to develop and implement networkwide automation. The team built the company's automation strategy based on three pillars: