In this webcast, Masarra Mohamed, Senior Research Analyst, CPaaS at IDC, and Kunal Shukla, SVP & GM, Head of Network APIs at Vonage join Tara Neal of The Fast Mode to discuss the growing challenge of digital identity fraud and how network APIs are transforming identity verification.

They explore how:

• Identity fraud has become automated, AI-driven and increasingly convincing, making traditional authentication methods such as passwords and OTPs insufficient
• Telcos can use trusted, real-time network intelligence through network APIs to enable continuous identity verification
• Nnetwork APIs are evolving telcos beyond connectivity providers into trusted digital identity layers
• Widespread adoption depends on industry-wide standardization, interoperability and simpler commercial models

To learn more, visit www.vonage.com and www.idc.com

#DigitalIdentity #NetworkAPIs #Cybersecurity #FraudPrevention #DigitalTrust #OpenGateway #CAMARA #Telecom #AI #AgenticAI

In this episode, Tara Neal of The Fast Mode speaks to Ergün Mercan, VP of Strategic Account Development, Sales at Etiya about how multi-agent AI orchestration is enabling autonomous operations and helping telcos deliver measurable business value through intelligent automation.

They explore how:

📌 Multi-agent AI is transforming CX by replacing rigid chatbots with intelligent, collaborative AI agents

📌 Specialized AI agents can leverage multi-agent orchestration to work together like a digital workforce, delivering greater operational efficiency and better CX

📌 Telcos are seeing higher first-contact resolution, lower support costs, reduced churn, and human-level customer satisfaction through agentic AI

📌 Successful AI adoption requires a phased approach with strong governance, cost management, high-quality data, and human oversight

Learn more at: www.etiya.com

#AgenticAI #MultiAgentAI #CustomerExperience #Telco #Telecommunications #GenerativeAI #DigitalTransformation #Automation #CX #AIInnovation #AutonomousOperations #EnterpriseAI

In this episode of The Fast Mode Podcasts, Prianca Ravichander, CMO & CCO of Tecnotree speaks to Principal Analyst Ariana Lynn about how:

- Telcos need to evolve from selling connectivity to monetizing intelligence, AI, and digital services

- Legacy business models are preventing telcos from realizing the full value of their investments in 5G, AI, and cloud

- Success in the AI era depends on orchestrating fragmented systems and enabling real-time, outcome-driven monetization

- The telecom industry needs a collaborative ecosystem of operators, vendors, partners, and analysts to unlock AI-driven growth

In this podcast, Tara Neal of The Fast Mode speaks with Sam Bednall, Head of Product Solutions Development at Telstra Digital Infrastructure, about how AI is reshaping global network architecture, the evolving priorities for enterprise connectivity, and the key trends driving networking demand across the rapidly growing APAC region.

Sam discusses how:

- AI is driving a fundamental redesign of global networks, with distributed architectures, edge computing, and autonomous, programmable infrastructure becoming the new standard

- Predictable network performance has become the top priority, with latency, throughput, and resilience tailored to different AI and enterprise workloads

- Software-defined, on-demand connectivity is essential as enterprises increasingly move workloads across cloud, edge, and hybrid environments

- APAC's rapid digital growth, AI adoption, and data sovereignty requirements are fueling demand for resilient, high-performance global networking solutions

#AI #Telecommunications #Networking #DigitalInfrastructure #CloudComputing #APAC

In this episode of The Fast Mode Podcasts, Vijay Anand, SVP of Cognizant speaks to Tara Neal following the company's win at The Fast Mode Awards in the Analytics & Intelligence Champion category.

Vijay discusses how:

- Successful AI requires redesigning business processes, not just adding AI on top of existing workflows

- The real AI advantage comes from building the enterprise AI “harness” — governance, trust, guardrails, monitoring, and human oversight

- AI will transform customer experience by improving visible interactions and enabling invisible improvements like self-healing networks and proactive service

- Telcos have a major opportunity to become AI-powered platforms by using their network infrastructure and edge computing capabilities to create new revenue streams

- Cognizant is becoming an AI builder company, helping telcos move from AI experiments to enterprise-scale adoption

Learn more at: www.cognizant.com

#Cognizant #AINative #AI #AIHarness #AIAdoption #SelfHealingNetworks

Ahead of DTW Ignite 2026 in Copenhagen, Executive Editor Tara Neal speaks with Ryan O'Hanlon, VP of Sales and Marketing at MDS Global on how cloud-native BSS platforms can help operators remain agile, reduce complexity, and unlock new revenue streams in an increasingly interconnected telecom landscape.

In this episode, Ryan also discusses how:

- Composable BSS is becoming a critical enabler of digital telco growth, as many operators are struggling with fragmented "Frankenstein" BSS environments

- Future telco revenues will come from diversified connectivity offerings, including API monetization, Network-as-a-Service, private networks, IoT services, and eSIM

- eSIM is reshaping customer onboarding and digital experiences, but operators still need to improve orchestration and activation processes to deliver seamless user journeys

- MDS Global's strategy centers on creating a unified commercial and operational layer, bringing together connectivity management and BSS capabilities to provide a single source of truth

Learn more at: www.mdsglobal.com

In this episode of The Fast Mode Podcasts, Executive Editor Tara Neal speaks with Susan White, AVP of Strategy of Netcracker following the company's win of the OSS & Automation Leader title at the The Fast Mode Awards.

In this episode, Susan discusses how:

- Challenges around widespread closed-loop automation remain, with organizational structure, data quality, inventory accuracy, and AI governance continuing to slow progress

- Agentic AI is set to radically transform network operations, eventually autonomously detecting, diagnosing, and resolving network issues

- Netcracker's Domain Automation links network operations directly to business outcomes, enabling operators to understand not just faults, but also the affected customers, services, SLAs, and revenue impact.

- The company's Blueprint approach accelerates automation deployment, enabling operators to replicate proven automation frameworks across multiple network domains and significantly reduce implementation times

- Low Earth Orbit satellite networks are emerging as a major growth area for domain automation, driven by increasing complexity, stringent SLA requirements, and the convergence of 5G and NTN

Ahead of DTW Ignite 2026 in Copenhagen, The Fast Mode's Executive Editor Tara Neal sat down with Vasanth Raju, Head of AI Products at Rakuten, to discuss how leading digital organizations are moving beyond AI experimentation to deliver measurable business outcomes.

In this episode, Vasanth explores how:

- Telcos are at a crossroads, with declining ARPU despite growing data usage, forcing operators to rethink their business models and how AI can create measurable value

- AI should not be treated as a bolt-on feature, and must be built into products and operations from the ground up to deliver scalable business outcomes

- Rakuten is deploying AI at scale across its ecosystem, expecting over US$29 million in cost savings from AI-powered customer service tools in 2026 alone

- Competitive advantage comes from a strong data foundation—unified data, a single customer identity, and breaking down silos enable AI to deliver meaningful results

- AI must be viewed as an amplifier, and the real differentiator is its ecosystem, loyalty loop, and unique customer data that connect services and drive higher customer value