Work Smarter Than Harder FortiAI-Assist from Fortinet

At AI Field Day 7, Fortinet presented its FortiAI Assist technology, emphasizing its integration across the Fortinet Security Operations Center (SOC) platform. Max Zeumer, the speaker, highlighted the growing burden on security teams dealing with massive volumes of alerts and limited personnel. FortiAI Assist was designed to alleviate this pain by embedding AI-driven support directly into the SOC interface. The AI assistant can efficiently prioritize alerts, triage investigations, and enrich incident details using available threat intelligence and telemetry. Analysts can interact with FortiAI Assist via typed or spoken queries, enabling them to focus on higher-level strategic decisions while the AI handles data gathering and analysis. Additionally, Fortinet employs a blend of generative AI and pre-built playbooks to orchestrate actions like isolating compromised hosts and compiling incident reports while maintaining a “human-in-the-loop” model for oversight.

Beyond SOC capabilities, FortiAI Assist also extends to Network Operations Centers (NOC), as described by Maggie Wu during her portion of the presentation. In the NOC context, FortiAI aims to simplify and expedite day-one deployment tasks, such as auto-generating configurations from topology diagrams and validating configuration scripts. Day-two operations are boosted by real-time network health assessments, troubleshooting, and suggested fixes, all guided through AI-driven dialogue with the admin. The AI assistant is capable of identifying root causes—like VPN or Wi-Fi failures—and proposing remediations that can be executed upon user confirmation. The technology allows customizable interaction levels so that organizations can maintain compliance with their change management processes.

Fortinet also addressed the flexibility of FortiAI Assist within both Fortinet-exclusive and multi-vendor environments. While native Fortinet deployments offer full capabilities with deep cross-platform interoperability, approximately 80-90% of AI-based functionality is available in broader ecosystems thanks to comprehensive APIs and collaborative integrations with over 500 partners. Organizations can build or customize their own automation connectors, reinforcing Fortinet’s commitment to open systems and vendor interoperability. Furthermore, FortiAI Assist supports scalable adoption strategies, offering options such as detailed change plans and rollback capabilities, enabling organizations to gain trust gradually through staged automation. Fortinet envisions a future where its AI agents collaborate with partner AI solutions, creating a cohesive and intelligent security and network management ecosystem.