In this first episode of Carrier 2.0, host Steve Saunders sits down with Ryan Asdourian, EVP and Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Lumen, to discuss how Lumen is reinventing itself as a technology infrastructure company. From preparing networks for the demands of AI to breaking down silos and building a culture of trust, Ryan shares what will define the next era of telecom.
Steve Saunders:
What do the people running the world's largest networks really think? We're exploring how traditional telcos are transforming from bandwidth providers into agile digital platforms by adopting new technologies like 5G, Open APIs and edge computing. We'll examine what it takes to compete and thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape and how new revenue models are emerging. Well, in today's episode, I'm joined by Ryan Asdourian, who's the EVP and Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Lumen.
Ryan Asdourian:
You can have the best tech in the world, but if your culture isn't ready, none of it matters. We're turning into a technology infrastructure company and that is where we're investing in fiber edge computing, secure data movement. The future belongs to those who evolve into strategic enablers of AI.
Steve Saunders:
Hey, Ryan, it's clear that the role of telecom in the world in global society is changing. How are you and Lumen reinventing yourself for that responsibility?
Ryan Asdourian:
If you think about today, most enterprises, they're not fully prepared for the demands of AI. It's come at us really quickly and we see it as our mission to close that ravenous gap and give businesses, public sector organizations really the next gen infrastructure that they need. It could be all of these places where you might have thought traditionally that Lumen was a traditional telco, but really what we're doing is we're turning into a technology infrastructure company and that is where we're investing in fiber edge computing, secure data movement, and we've got this physical network. We've got a digital network and we've got this connected ecosystem.
And just on the physical network, we're expanding to 47 million U.S. intercity miles by 2028, and the speeds have to be AI ready. We have speeds up to 400 gigs, and so then it's about how do we actually create this digital platform? How do you understand the needs that customers have and give them the control, the cloud-based controls, so they control performance, capacity, intelligence, and then finally, just as we put it all together, this world relies on companies working together and we're developing that connected ecosystem. It's strategic partnerships and it starts with hyperscalers, but it's got ISVs, technology integrators, data center operators, all of these companies that have to come together and give you integrated solutions. This is what is offering this idea that you can have this frictionless world.
Steve Saunders:
Well, you mentioned the enterprises and public sector. Are they coming to you and saying, "Hey, we need a network which needs this, which can do this?" Or are you going to them and having to educate them about what they're going to need?
Ryan Asdourian:
Here's a truth that we know, customers help shape the future and we listened to them. We didn't have a crystal ball as to where AI was going to go, but we saw the signs. We understand the new data needs that frankly haven't existed in 25 plus years, and we know that with anything, you're going to be in this hybrid world of super early and customers that are going to wait and see a little bit more, but the signs are really showing us that customers are recognizing that the future is full of innovation and it requires faster, more flexible and more intelligent connectivity.
Steve Saunders:
Well, I mean you say you don't have a crystal ball. Are you sure? Because actually in order to serve the needs of this industry, you need a couple of things more than AI, actually more than chips and data centers and code. You need 5G. That's the lingua franca of the new industrial revolution and you need edge computing and you spent a lot of money on those technologies five years ago. Was that when you first identified AI as the driver or was it just part of another shift that you were looking at?
Ryan Asdourian:
We're always trying to invest in the areas that we think the future needs. One of the things that has, I would say evolved is even the types of fiber on speed, on latency, on capacity, you really have to design for latency that is less than five milliseconds at the edge, and we've been making investments across our entire network to make sure that the power you need for AI applications is something that Lumen delivers every time, and there is a redundancy path that's important, a reliability. It's amazing to see the progress we've had with AI. It's happens faster than I think most people would predict with or without a crystal ball. It's going to continue. That's the one thing that we believe is it's going to continue to grow at an incredible pace.
Steve Saunders:
Let's talk about that growth though and where it's going to come from. Is it consumer or is it vertical industry or is it both?
Ryan Asdourian:
It is growing everywhere. One of the things that we are really focused on is how do we go power the commercial industry? Because you are building for scale, you are building for multi-site operations, you are building for this critical infrastructure that then goes and powers all of those workloads. And really as technology infrastructure, our role is to make sure whatever needs you have, the customer doesn't see how that backbone is running, but our backbone is that infrastructure that is multi-cloud and AI ready because those customers are also building in different ways than they have built before and making sure that they can serve the needs of their customers.
Steve Saunders:
Well, we've talked a lot about technology so far. Let's talk a little bit about culture. What has changed there? Did you have to shift the culture in order to move more quickly for your customers?
Ryan Asdourian:
Steve, I love this question and absolutely, because you can have the best tech in the world, but if your culture isn't ready, none of it matters and we're really focused on how do we play to win and how can we break down, I would say the silos and outdated systems and culture of the past that as you say, this industry has not always had that. Sometimes we talk about it as building from the people up. It's human-centric. It's also using AI inside. When we say we're the trusted network for AI, guess what? We also have to be using that ourselves that have this real AI-powered workplace. People are something that is super important to me and we look at our employee satisfied. I think we've got an 81% employee satisfaction. We are focused on how do we build this transparent, focused on well-being culture that wants to thrive and think about the tools, the people, the skills to really go and rethink what it means to be a critical infrastructure and technology infrastructure company.
Steve Saunders:
Ryan, you mentioned silos. Those have been a problem I think historically and today with some carriers both for technology reasons and cultural reasons, i.e. departments competing with each other rather than acting as part of one company. Have you eliminated the silos at Lumen?
Ryan Asdourian:
Silos are a problem for every company in every industry. I don't think you can ever say that you've eliminated all the silos, but what you can do is work with employees and your teams to ensure that they feel empowered, they feel the power of working together, and that's one of the things that we really focus on. It is doing trainings. It is understanding what is our common language to talk about how we can rumble together, to give each other permission slips to fail fast, to do all these things that bubble up to this play-to-win culture. That's what I wake up every single day and wonder about is, are we moving fast enough? Are we building the right change? But will we ever eliminate silos? Will any company ever eliminate silos? I don't think so, but we'll try every single day.
Steve Saunders:
You see, it's really interesting listening to you talk because some of the philosophies that you're espousing here are resonant of what you hear from big tech, from hyperscalers. But for me personally, what I think we need, I think the perfect, I won't even call it a carrier, the perfect service provider should be a combination of that world, but also with the trust mechanisms and the sense of responsibility that service providers and carriers have given to the world for over a hundred years. We don't want to lose that.
Ryan Asdourian:
100%. Speed of trust is something I've believed in for a long time and our customers can't trust us from an external point of view if we don't trust each other internally, and it goes back to the silo question. We're building that trust internally and our customers see it, they feel it. They know that when there's a problem, Lumen is there to do everything we can to fix it, and having that permission to go have that conversation with the customer knowing that internally we're going to be able to support each other, it makes a difference. And if you're a technology infrastructure company like us, it's table stakes.
Steve Saunders:
I mentioned big tech and cloud hyperscalers. When they first emerged, there was this sense that, oh, this is going to be the end of traditional carriers, but carriers actually are having a renaissance now. I mean, and with the emergence of an AI opportunity at the edge of the network of the importance, this critical zone of innovation around the edge with edge computing and pervasive 5G and the whole digital transformation market is going to be so reliant on that platform that you are delivering, although their key strategies that you are looking to over the next few years to remain relevant and vital and competitive in this new world which we're entering.
Ryan Asdourian:
I think of a couple pieces. One is how do we re-architect the network to keep pace with cloud and AI? I think about these cloud-powered controls that you see in technology companies. We're bringing that to Lumen and having a network that's programmable, that has network as a service that allows you to turn up and down services as you need and give you more flexibility than telco and carriers have ever given, and then it's about securing this digital foundation we're building through our threat Intel team. You mentioned hyperscalers. We're integrating with hyperscalers. So when we think about what is this era of the carrier, it's about how do we go own and integrate? It is about how do we build these edge zones, it's about how we offer differentiated services around connectivity because that is really what we're driving here that help us differentiate for customers.
Steve Saunders:
I mean, you said you are integrating with hyperscalers. Actually, they're integrating with you, but that's not how the universe of communications and media looks at that. Do you think the hyperscalers have realized that they need you?
Ryan Asdourian:
I do really think about this as a partnership because when we think about their needs, their customer, they're also telling us their needs, then enterprise customers, non-hyperscaler enterprise customers are telling us their needs and we're able to figure out what are the assets we have, what are the ones that we need to go build and how do we bring more cloud control to these customers? So it's really a partnership. The speed of AI and what we are building as a world, I would say, there's no way to do it without true deep partnerships, and I don't use the word lightly. When we think about really spending time with the hyperscalers on their needs, we are building together. And when you have a industry and when you have partnerships that feel less like vendors and more like partners, that's when you change the world.
Steve Saunders:
What I'm hearing from you, Ryan, is that this isn't a combative, competitive mission that the companies, whether they're hyperscalers or carriers or communications vendors are involved in. Actually, we're trying to create a peaceable kingdom of collaboration to drive forward this new digital global economy, and you're sitting right in the heart of it. It's very exciting.
Ryan Asdourian:
When I talk about technology infrastructure and what a leader should be, that speed, intelligence and scale and enabling customers, that is what it means to be the trusted network for AI. It sounds simple, but we're getting deeply embedded with CIOs, CTOs that are building infrastructure that has to keep up with their AI ambitions and it has to be real solutions, not just promises. That's what Lumen is here for.
Steve Saunders:
It's time to separate the signal from the noise and talk about what's real versus what's hype. So I'm going to fire some words at you and you're going to tell me signal or noise. AI.
Ryan Asdourian:
Signal.
Steve Saunders:
Quantum computing.
Ryan Asdourian:
I think this is the signal that is just starting to emerge and it's the next big thing.
Steve Saunders:
6G.
Ryan Asdourian:
It will be important, I'm sure, but I don't know if we're there yet, so we'll go more noise for right now.
Steve Saunders:
Okay. Absolutely. And holographic communications.
Ryan Asdourian:
Holographic communications.
Steve Saunders:
Princess Leia coming out of R2-D2 telling you to, I can't remember what she said now because it's like 50 years ago.
Princess Leia:
Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.
Ryan Asdourian:
Can I dream of a signal? But might still be noise for now.
Steve Saunders:
100%. Perfect answer. Up next, the carrier question. What's the biggest challenge service providers are facing today? What is the key characteristic or technology that will define the Carrier 2.0 era that we are entering now? You're only allowed one. Can't be uninterruptible power supplies. Not allowed.
Ryan Asdourian:
We talked about trust, the trust in the systems that are technology, infrastructure, AI has to work every time.
Steve Saunders:
Let's speak some truth to power. What's behind the current AI bubble? Well, here's a clue. It's not artificial intelligence. Confused? Let's break it down. AI itself isn't new. The first commercial AI neural networks debuted in the 1980s before disappearing again, after people realized that they were unreliable. Sounds familiar? Well, then AI reappeared at the start of the two thousands when Google, Amazon and a whole bunch of telcos started deploying it to improve their businesses. Wait, you thought big tech was behind the whole AI trend? You see, that's another misconception. Telcos and big tech have actually both been using AI for about the same amount of time, so what was the huge breakthrough in AI that triggered the current AI madness? Well, actually it was something remarkably mundane. In 2022, OpenAI took a chatbot, which isn't AI and they glued it to an AI agent, which is, and that allowed everyone to have a go with AI, not just engineers, but in investors and consumers, and that created awareness of artificial intelligence, which is what has inflated the current bubble.
There is no Eureka moment here, or if there was, it occurred way back in the 1940s when Alan Turing and Claude Shannon originally invented the concept of artificial intelligence. The truth is that the current bubble is based on the same fundamental and imperfect AI technology we've had for 40 years since the 1980s. Now, like AI, the VCs, PE bankers, and big tech execs hyping it up are very good at pretending to know everything while actually being surprisingly clueless. AI is an important technology, but it doesn't perform miracles. And ultimately, while it will facilitate the emergence of a new global digital economy, that's going to take time, probably another 25 years and a huge amount of work, a little bit more than a chatbot, in other words. We'll close with one bold prediction. Our guest's fearless take on what to expect in the telecom industry. Finally, a prediction, a bold prediction, something that maybe people haven't realized yet, something that's going to happen in the next five or 10 years in our industry, Ryan. Any thoughts on that? Something which you think is going to happen, which maybe other people haven't thought about?
Ryan Asdourian:
The future belongs to those who evolve into strategic enablers of AI and I think that there's some special things, autonomous manufacturing, predictive healthcare, intelligent logistics at the edge. I think about the humanoid revolution and all of that requires such large amounts of data, but the telco of the future won't just connect data, it will think, it'll have a cognitive network, it will interpret, act, and also keep secure in real time the world's next era of business.
Steve Saunders:
Amazing. What a pleasure to talk to you today, Ryan. Thank you so much.
Ryan Asdourian:
It was an absolute pleasure to talk to you. I really enjoyed this conversation.
Steve Saunders:
And I leave you with this exclusive footage of how one carrier reacted when a vendor tried to hand them a contract for a 6G upgrade. That was Carrier 2.0. Please subscribe, share, or just join the conversation because the future of telecom is happening today.