10 essential articles to guide your hybrid cloud modernization playbook

The technology roundup is being redefined by a confluence of critical priorities: Securing the software supply chain, finding a definitive playbook for virtualization, and making the strategic leap into enterprise AI governance. This roundup highlights the articles that have proven most essential for executing these priorities. We’ve collected the most strategically relevant insights covering everything from new AI assistant features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to the governance models needed for GitOps and infrastructure modernization. Use this list as your guide to making well-informed decisions across your hybrid cloud footprint.

1. The evolution of Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed
   AI isn’t just for code generation anymore. This article announces the formal release of the Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed intelligent assistant, a gen AI service embedded right into the platform’s user interface (UI). It serves as an instant subject matter expert (SME) for administrators and operators, using Red Hat documentation to streamline troubleshooting and onboarding processes. Read how it cuts down on operational friction by answering critical questions like "How do I manage user access?" and provides transparency with referenced links—all without leaving the automation platform.
   
2. Fedora 43 Beta now available
   The release of Fedora 43 Beta provides a crucial early look at the innovations that will ultimately shape the RHEL family. Learn more about how this release is focused on improving the day-to-day experience for sysadmins and developers. Key updates include moving the installer to the modern Anaconda WebUI by default and the introduction of DNF5 for package management. For developers, the updated GNU toolchain and new language versions like Python 3.14 and Golang 1.25 provide a reliable platform for building modern applications.
   
3. Why upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 or 10 now
   If you’re still running an older version of RHEL, this post is your strategic guide for making the jump now. Upgrading to RHEL 9.6 or 10 unlocks 3 critical advantages immediately: The RHEL Lightspeed AI assistant for faster troubleshooting, image mode for building and managing your OS like a container to simplify updates, and proactive post-quantum cryptography (in RHEL 10, coming to 9.7) to secure your infrastructure against future threats. This is the clearest path to a modern, efficient, and Linux foundation ready for the future.
   
4. Use the RHEL command-line assistant offline with this new developer preview
   For our customers operating in air-gapped or completely disconnected environments, accessing AI guidance has been a major challenge—until now. This article announces the new developer preview of the RHEL command-line assistant, powered by RHEL Lightspeed, available to Red Hat Satellite subscribers. This powerful new feature delivers the assistant as a self-contained application that runs locally, providing AI-powered troubleshooting and RHEL assistance without needing any external network connection. It’s a significant leap forward in bringing the power of AI to your most secure, isolated infrastructure.
   
5. Is your RHEL installation getting old? Here's what to do
   Staying current with your RHEL version is about more than just security; it’s about making sure your business is ready for the future. This critical guide breaks down the RHEL lifecycle (full, maintenance, and extended support) and outlines your options for modernization. It explains how to use options like the Extended Update Support (EUS) and Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) add-ons for short term flexibility, but emphasizes that the real value lies in upgrading to a fully supported release. Whether you choose an automated, in-place upgrade via Leapp and Ansible content or a clean redeploy, staying current is the only way to access crucial innovations for a modern Linux foundation.
   
6. Do you still need GitOps in the era of gen AI?
   The short answer is a resounding yes—you need it more than ever. This post argues that even the most advanced AI infrastructure is vulnerable to human error, which can lead to catastrophic outages and runaway costs (e.g., accidentally provisioning 1,000 GPUs instead of 10). To mitigate these risks, the author advocates for treating your entire AI stack—from GPU quotas to model definitions—as code managed through a GitOps workflow. Read how adopting GitOps enforces compliance, enhances security, and enables a single git revert to instantly restore a known-good state, delivering AI-era velocity without sacrificing non-negotiable enterprise control.
   
7. AI-assisted development: Supercharging the open source way
   The rise of gen AI is a seismic shift, and Red Hat believes the key to using it is through open source principles: collaboration, transparency, and human oversight. This post, the first in a new series, outlines our strategic approach to using AI not as a replacement for developers but as a powerful new collaborator to handle tedious tasks and accelerate innovation. It emphasizes our "upstream-first" philosophy and confronts the critical challenges of this new era: Enabling provenance, security, and quality. We commit to working with communities to define the frameworks and standards for responsibly integrating AI, so that every line of code—human or AI-assisted—is rigorously reviewed.
   
8. Understanding AI agent types: A guide to categorizing complexity
   As AI agents move into production environments, IT leaders need a clear framework for assessing implementation effort and risk. This post provides an essential guide to categorizing AI agents into 8 types, ranked by complexity—from low-level functional agents (simple API wrappers) to the high-level multi-agent systems (distributed, collaborative networks). Read how this taxonomy helps you evaluate agents based on key traits like planning depth, learning ability, and multi-agent coordination, helping you select the right complexity for your use case and effectively scale your AI strategy.
   
9. The virtualization game has changed: A new playbook for IT leaders
   The virtualization market is in motion, with 70% of organizations reporting they are moving VM workloads to a new platform or actively planning to switch due to rising costs and management complexity. This post, backed by Red Hat's "The State of virtualization" report, argues that simply replacing a hypervisor is not a winning strategy. Instead, IT leaders need a new playbook that treats virtualization as a strategic enabler. Read why the future requires a unified platform that brings traditional VMs, containers, and serverless workloads together onto a single control plane, using solutions like Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization to accelerate automation, AI readiness, and long-term modernization.
   

10. The EU Cyber Resilience Act's impact on open source security
    The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is quickly transforming open source security from a communal effort into a legal mandate. This post highlights how the Cyber Resilience Act, which requires "manufacturers" (including commercial entities using open source) to prioritize security throughout the lifecycle, is creating a shared responsibility model that heavily burdens consumers of open source. Read how Red Hat is actively engaged in defining security standards that are practical for maintainers, such as the Open Source Project Security (OSPS) Baseline. The article emphasizes that passive consumption is no longer viable and calls on all organizations to embrace stewardship—by contributing fixes and resources back upstream—for the fundamental health and resilience of the entire open source ecosystem.

    
    What’s next?

    The core takeaway is clear: The path to a future-ready strategy lies in platform unification and control. By treating AI as a managed collaborator with tools like Ansible Lightspeed, simplifying your VM and container worlds with a unified virtualization playbook, and embracing proactive security measures, you ensure your infrastructure is focused on accelerating business value. We are committed to providing the open source guidance you need to make these transitions. Now, it’s time to share your expertise. Submit your session proposal today for Red Hat Summit 2026 and lead the conversation on the future of the open hybrid cloud.

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