This week, we sat down with Lumen Technologies CEO Kate Johnson to delve into how AI is changing not just the network, but the culture inside telecom companies.

Just a few years ago, you’d have been forgiven for viewing Lumen as something of a company on the outs. Though company executives talked for years about transforming from a traditional telecom to a technology company, Lumen’s strategy was – to put it kindly – an enigma to analysts and investors alike. And the promised turnaround failed to materialize as the company battled declines in its legacy business segments.

When Johnson, a former Microsoft executive, took the helm in late 2022, things quickly felt different. Not only did she lean into hard changes – like cutting the dividend and reallocating capital from less successful initiatives to strengthen its core fiber backbone – but Johnson also articulated a new vision for the company – not just to investors but also employees. Soon after, the AI wave broke, setting the stage for Lumen to conveniently pitch itself as THE network needed to support the tech. A big Microsoft partnership and $5 billion worth of AI networking contracts later and voila. The tide has turned.

As telcos the world over grapple with AI, we set out to learn more about what went into developing Johnson’s strategy for the company, how AI is shaping its plans, and how Lumen is hoping to defend its position against fast followers to its playbook.

To learn more about the topics in this episode:
Exclusive: New CEO Kate Johnson talks what it’ll take to turn Lumen around
https://www.fierce-network.com/telecom/exclusive-new-ceo-kate-johnson-talks-what-itll-take-turn-lumen-around
Lumen’s CTO wants to weave a fresh fabric for the cloud’s future
https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/exclusive-lumens-new-cto-wants-weave-fresh-fabric-clouds-future
Lumen’s got its eye on the AI gold rush
https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/lumens-got-its-eye-ai-gold-rush
AI could breathe new life into Lumen
https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/lumens-saving-grace-may-be-long-haul-fiber-demand-driven-ai
Network is new scarce resource and that’s good news for Lumen
https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/microsoft-taps-lumens-fiber-network-help-it-meet-ai-demand

This week, we sat down with Lumen Technologies CEO Kate Johnson to delve into how AI is changing not just the network, but the culture inside telecom companies.
Just a few years ago, you’d have been forgiven for viewing Lumen as something of a company on the outs. Though company executives talked for years about transforming from a traditional telecom to a technology company, Lumen’s strategy was – to put it kindly – an enigma to analysts and investors alike. And the promised turnaround failed to materialize as the company battled declines in its legacy business segments.
When Johnson, a former Microsoft executive, took the helm in late 2022, things quickly felt different. Not only did she lean into hard changes – like cutting the dividend and reallocating capital from less successful initiatives to strengthen its core fiber backbone – but Johnson also articulated a new vision for the company – not just to investors but also employees. Soon after, the AI wave broke, setting the stage for Lumen to conveniently pitch itself as THE network needed to support the tech. A big Microsoft partnership and $5 billion worth of AI networking contracts later and voila. The tide has turned.
As telcos the world over grapple with AI, we set out to learn more about what went into developing Johnson’s strategy for the company, how AI is shaping its plans, and how Lumen is hoping to defend its position against fast followers to its playbook.
To learn more about the topics in this episode:
<ul>
<li>Exclusive: New CEO Kate Johnson talks what it’ll take to turn Lumen around <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/telecom/exclusive-new-ceo-kate-johnson-talks-what-itll-take-turn-lumen-around">https://www.fierce-network.com/telecom/exclusive-new-ceo-kate-johnson-talks-what-itll-take-turn-lumen-around</a></li>
<li>Lumen’s CTO wants to weave a fresh fabric for the cloud’s future <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/exclusive-lumens-new-cto-wants-weave-fresh-fabric-clouds-future">https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/exclusive-lumens-new-cto-wants-weave-fresh-fabric-clouds-future</a></li>
<li>Lumen’s got its eye on the AI gold rush <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/lumens-got-its-eye-ai-gold-rush">https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/lumens-got-its-eye-ai-gold-rush</a></li>
<li>AI could breathe new life into Lumen <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/lumens-saving-grace-may-be-long-haul-fiber-demand-driven-ai">https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/lumens-saving-grace-may-be-long-haul-fiber-demand-driven-ai</a></li>
<li>Network is new scarce resource and that’s good news for Lumen <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/microsoft-taps-lumens-fiber-network-help-it-meet-ai-demand">https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/microsoft-taps-lumens-fiber-network-help-it-meet-ai-demand</a></li>
</ul>

Join host Diana Goovaerts and other Fierce Network editors as they explore the stories behind some of the hottest topics in tech and telecom. Want the inside scoop on broadband, wireless, artificial intelligence and cloud? You'll find it here.

Join host Diana Goovaerts and other Fierce Network editors as they explore the stories behind some of the hottest topics in tech and telecom. Want the inside scoop on broadband, wireless, artificial intelligence and cloud? You'll find it here.

Host Alejandro Piñero leads in-depth discussions on 5G connectivity, AI, networking and more.

The Five Nine

Join host Diana Goovaerts and other Fierce Network editors as they explore the stories behind some of the hottest topics in tech and telecom. Want the inside scoop on broadband, wireless, artificial intelligence and cloud? You'll find it here.

Building a new network for AI with Lumen

This week, we’re returning to the intersection of AI and network transport.  

We recently spoke with Lumen Technologies CEO Kate Johnson about how AI is impacting the network, demanding ever-larger pipes for data transport and training. That’s, of course, a boon for a company like Lumen, which has now signed partnership deals with cloud companies and AI pioneers Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google. 

And yet, AI itself is rapidly evolving. Within the next few years, analysts have predicted AI will shift from being mostly training workloads to being mostly inferencing use cases 

So, we posed a new version of the question to Zayo chief product officer Bill Long: what happens when AI moves to the edge? 

We spoke with Long about what demand looks like now from various players in the market, how the landscape might shift with the rise of inference, and his prediction that a fresh wave of bandwidth demand could catch the industry off guard. 

This week, we’re returning to the intersection of AI and network transport.  
We recently spoke with Lumen Technologies CEO Kate Johnson about how AI is impacting the network, demanding ever-larger pipes for data transport and training. That’s, of course, a boon for a company like Lumen, which has now signed partnership deals with cloud companies and AI pioneers Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google. 
And yet, AI itself is rapidly evolving. Within the next few years, analysts have predicted AI will shift from being mostly training workloads to being mostly inferencing use cases 
So, we posed a new version of the question to Zayo chief product officer Bill Long: what happens when AI moves to the edge? 
We spoke with Long about what demand looks like now from various players in the market, how the landscape might shift with the rise of inference, and his prediction that a fresh wave of bandwidth demand could catch the industry off guard.

What happens to the network when AI moves to the edge? Featuring Zayo

This week, we're getting a behind the scenes look at the private networks that power our ports and industrial campuses and keep us connected both underground, in the subway, and inside stadiums. As consumers, we're used to being connected to sprawling cellular networks from the likes of AT& T and Verizon in the U. S., BT, and Deutsche Telekom in Europe. SK Telecom, Telstra, Vodafone, you know, all those big operators.

But private networks are a bit different. How? Well, though they use the same cellular equipment, they're generally smaller than commercial cellular networks. They also provide dedicated bandwidth and can be deployed by companies and venues to ensure that the data that flows over them is more secure than it might be on public networks.

Many companies are now moving away from traditional distributed antenna systems and towards private networks, whether those be 4G or 5G.  To make sense of it all and explain why the rising tide of private network deployments matters, we linked up with Boldyn Networks.

Here's what Justin Berger, Group Chief Strategy Officer, told us.

To learn more about the topics in this episode:
Boldyn’s CTO Marc Rohleder is on a mission to take tech to new frontiers
https://www.fierce-network.com/private-wireless/boldyns-new-cto-marc-rohleder-mission-take-tech-new-frontiers
Boldyn gains 50 private networks with Edzcom acquisition
https://www.fierce-network.com/private-wireless/boldyn-gains-50-private-networks-edzcom-acquisition
Private Wireless Networks

https://www.fierce-network.com/keyword/private-wireless-networks

This week, we're getting a behind the scenes look at the private networks that power our ports and industrial campuses and keep us connected both underground, in the subway, and inside stadiums. As consumers, we're used to being connected to sprawling cellular networks from the likes of AT&amp; T and Verizon in the U. S., BT, and Deutsche Telekom in Europe. SK Telecom, Telstra, Vodafone, you know, all those big operators.
But private networks are a bit different. How? Well, though they use the same cellular equipment, they're generally smaller than commercial cellular networks. They also provide dedicated bandwidth and can be deployed by companies and venues to ensure that the data that flows over them is more secure than it might be on public networks.
Many companies are now moving away from traditional distributed antenna systems and towards private networks, whether those be 4G or 5G.  To make sense of it all and explain why the rising tide of private network deployments matters, we linked up with Boldyn Networks.
Here's what Justin Berger, Group Chief Strategy Officer, told us.
To learn more about the topics in this episode:
<ul>
<li>Boldyn’s CTO Marc Rohleder is on a mission to take tech to new frontiers <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/private-wireless/boldyns-new-cto-marc-rohleder-mission-take-tech-new-frontiers">https://www.fierce-network.com/private-wireless/boldyns-new-cto-marc-rohleder-mission-take-tech-new-frontiers</a></li>
<li>Boldyn gains 50 private networks with Edzcom acquisition <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/private-wireless/boldyn-gains-50-private-networks-edzcom-acquisition">https://www.fierce-network.com/private-wireless/boldyn-gains-50-private-networks-edzcom-acquisition</a></li>
<li>Private Wireless Networks</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/keyword/private-wireless-networks">https://www.fierce-network.com/keyword/private-wireless-networks</a>

Here’s why private networks have become so popular

This week, we’re turning our attention to automation, and, more specifically, why exactly it hasn’t taken over yet.  

Fully autonomous networks are something of a holy grail for telcos and data center operators alike. And yet, progress has been slow at best. As AT&T CTO Jeremy Legg said in June of this year, “We’re a ways away from autonomous networks. But there are points within networks that are being made autonomous.” 

But why this piecemeal approach? 

Well, it has a little to do with the way networks are architected. But the biggest problem – at least according to Nokia exec Mike Bushong – is that vendors are trying to solve for the wrong problem.  

We sat down with Bushong to get the scoop on where automation efforts went wrong, where things stand today, and what can be done to get the industry on the right track. 

To learn more about the topics in this episode:
Nokia thinks there's a better way to do data center automation 
https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/nokia-thinks-theres-better-way-do-data-center-automation
Vendors are automating the network one tool at a time 
https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/vendors-are-automating-network-one-tool-time
Autonomous networks are CSPs 'North Star' but getting there is a challenge 
https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/telco-ctos-vendors-horizontals-are-verticals-are-out

This week, we’re turning our attention to automation, and, more specifically, why exactly it hasn’t taken over yet.  
Fully autonomous networks are something of a holy grail for telcos and data center operators alike. And yet, progress has been slow at best. As AT&amp;T CTO Jeremy Legg said in June of this year, “We’re a ways away from autonomous networks. But there are points within networks that are being made autonomous.” 
But why this piecemeal approach? 
Well, it has a little to do with the way networks are architected. But the biggest problem – at least according to Nokia exec Mike Bushong – is that vendors are trying to solve for the wrong problem.  
We sat down with Bushong to get the scoop on where automation efforts went wrong, where things stand today, and what can be done to get the industry on the right track. 
To learn more about the topics in this episode: 
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="·" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="7" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;·&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Nokia thinks there's a better way to do data center automation  <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/nokia-thinks-theres-better-way-do-data-center-automation">https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/nokia-thinks-theres-better-way-do-data-center-automation</a> </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="·" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="7" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;·&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Vendors are automating the network one tool at a time  <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/vendors-are-automating-network-one-tool-time">https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/vendors-are-automating-network-one-tool-time</a>  </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="·" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="7" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;·&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">Autonomous networks are CSPs 'North Star' but getting there is a challenge  <a href="https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/telco-ctos-vendors-horizontals-are-verticals-are-out">https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/telco-ctos-vendors-horizontals-are-verticals-are-out</a> </li>
</ul>

Building a new network for AI with Lumen

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