Some people choose a career in tech. Tal Rudnitsky says he never really chose it; he fell for computers the first day he saw one and never really recovered. Decades later, that curiosity has taken him through infrastructure, VoIP, SaaS, cloud operations, and now AI-powered operations as Monogoto’s Net Ops Manager. His job is to keep the invisible machinery behind connectivity running smoothly.
When he’s not staring at terminal windows, you’ll find Tal spending time with his family, getting outdoors, or listening to the sweet sound of a mechanical keyboard. In this edition of Monogoto Unplugged, learn how Tal is also becoming something of an AI whisperer, figuring out how to put AI agents to work on real network operations while knowing exactly when a human still needs to step in.
Q: What’s your role at Monogoto, and how would you explain what you do to someone outside the tech world?
I’m an all-arounder. On any given day, I’m managing the company’s cloud infrastructure, keeping the network healthy, and increasingly babysitting a bunch of AI agents.
For someone outside of tech: our customers have devices out in the world that need to stay connected, and my job is to make sure the invisible machinery behind that connection keeps running. If I’m doing it well, nobody notices I exist.
Q: Paint us a picture of your workspace? What do you have on your desk and why?
Avatar Aang is my wingman. He’s been on my desk through more late-night incidents than I’d like to count, floating there with his glider while I stare at logs.
The rest is honest working clutter, a monitor full of terminal output, headphones, a mechanical keyboard, and the usual pile of cables that every network person accumulates and can never quite throw away.
Q: What made you choose this career path? Has it been what you expected?
Honestly, I didn’t choose it so much as fall into it. I saw a computer for the first time, and that was that. I’ve been chasing the same curiosity ever since, through infrastructure, VoIP, and SaaS.
Has it been what I expected? I’m not sure I ever had expectations to measure it against. What I can say is that the field keeps changing faster than anyone predicts, and after all these years I’m still learning something new most weeks. That’s more than I could have asked for.
Q: What’s one skill you’ve developed since joining Monogoto?
I’ve become something of an AI whisperer. A big part of my work now is figuring out how to get AI agents to do real operational work reliably; knowing what to hand them, how to phrase it, and where they still need a human looking over their shoulder. It’s a new skill, and one I didn’t have two years ago.
There’s something else about it, too. I grew up watching Star Trek, where these futuristic characters would just talk to their computer and it would understand them, and suddenly I’m doing exactly that, at work, on a Tuesday. I’m so glad to be around to see that leap actually happen.
Q: Work soundtrack: silence, playlists, or podcasts?
The sound of a mechanical keyboard. Blue switches are music to my ears; no playlist has ever competed.
Q: What problem are you most excited to solve in your role?
I want us to know before the customer does.
In IoT, a device sitting in a field somewhere can’t pick up the phone and complain; it just goes quiet. The problem I care most about is catching degradation early enough that the customer never has to notice it happened. Getting from reacting to problems to spotting them before anyone reports them is the thing that keeps me interested.
Q: What Monogoto product, feature, or capability are you most proud of?
The AI agent layer we’re building into our operations. We’re getting to a point where a real amount of the routine network work, checks, investigation, the first pass at a problem, happens before a person is involved at all. It’s still early, and that’s exactly why it’s fun. Ask me again in six months, and the answer will probably be whatever I’m working on then.
Q: What does a typical weekend look like for you?
Family first, and then outside as much as possible. I’m keen on winter sports and generally happiest anywhere that counts as the great outdoors.
Monogoto Unplugged: Behind every connected device is a team making it happen. Interested in learning more about the team pioneering software-defined connectivity? Follow along as we continue to spotlight the people behind Monogoto.
Missed our last spotlight? Check out Monogoto Unplugged: Kfir Evgi, Head of Networking API
