Networking as a buy-side analyst

I'm still trying to wrap my head around networking when already working. I have managed to secure a buy-side role in an infrastructure and have been there for around 2 years now but I landed here as a result of being recruited at my previous role where I was advising for firms such as the one I work at now. I'm perhaps not the most socially savvy, I don't have many close friends but get along with a lot of people so networking never really made sense to me in uni so I never bothered with it. I'm lucky in the sense that I've landed a great role in spite of this but it is unfortunate that I was never pushed to get out of my comfort zone in order to find a job. I'm trying to make up for this now as a professional but I'm at a loss as to what is the purpose of intentional networking for me. Is there even a point in it? I'm not the best at relationship building so not sure how I would even go about it after the first introduction. Does anybody have any experience with this or tips on building a network when you're not the most sociable person?