Is ansible the end of line in network automation?

I would like to start a little discussion about today's network automation

I have been working in network operations since 1995. As a Linux fan from the beginning it was always normal for me to automate configuration tasks in script languages like bash, perl or python. At a large German service provider I worked for in the early 2000s, it was common to generate configs for large customer rollouts using the MS-Word mail merge function o_O. There I was already an alien with my bash and perl scripts; and that's how I felt there.

Nowadays, when you hear the keywords "network automation" you inevitably stumble upon "Ansible", as if it's the de facto standard for this. Is that the case?

In short: I really hate it!

I can't get these "data-model driven" YAML definitions as an abstraction of sequential jobs through my head. I don't know what advantages Ansible brings me. I have done an automation task with python and common and well known software modules like paramiko, XML, JSON, requests and pyEzNC 10x faster than with a collection of Ansible modules each using different authentication mechanisms and task methodologies. Without having the Ansible reference open all the time, I don't have the slightest chance of logging in to just one router.

Am I the only one here? Is Ansible only a tool for the Word mail merge users i mentioned before? Or should Ansible really be the de facto standard for the automation future? - I hope that is not the case.

I can't see that happening.