2025 Conference Agenda

Emcee: Stan Hubbard, Mplify, Principal Analyst
Kevin Vachon, Mplify, Chief Operating Officer

Kevin Vachon, Mplify, Chief Operating Officer

Executive, AT&T

James Feger, Lumen, SVP Office of CTO

AI workloads and exabyte-scale data flows are outpacing the internet’s aging infrastructure. To meet this demand, enterprises must reimagine connectivity for the Cloud 2.0 era—built on direct-universal access and API-driven, self-service consumption. In a visionary session, Lumen’s SVP Office of CTO outlines how a programmable fabric, lower latency, and smarter provisioning are driving a full-scale network reset—one as disruptive as the internet itself.

Pascal Menezes, Mplify, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer

Sunil Khandekar, Mplify, Chief Enterprise Development Officer

Executives from Mplify’s Enterprise Leadership Council share how leading enterprises across various industry verticals are evolving network strategies for agility, security, and AI-readiness.

Executive, Global Retail Enterprise (TBA)

Dan Snyder, UPMC, Chief Principal Architect

Nabil Bitar, Bloomberg, Head of Network Architecture, Office of the CTO

Jeff Hulse, Verizon Partner Solutions, President
Interviewed by Kevin Vachon, Mplify, Chief Operating Officer

Bob Victor, Comcast Business, Chief Product Officer

Benjamin Vigouroux, Orange Business, VP Digital Infrastructure

Paul Gampe, Console Connect by PCCW Global, Chief Technology Officer

Moderator: Darius Singh, STL Partners, Director, Consulting & Enterprise Platforms Lead

• Franck Morales, Orange Wholesale International, Senior VP, Marketing & Business Development
• Salma Bezrati, Bell Canada, Director, Product Management – Network, Data Center & SD-WAN
• Executive, Nile

Service providers are reshaping enterprise networking and wholesale ecosystems with NaaS experiences that are on demand, observable, manageable, programmable, modular, flexible, and secure. This session will show how these attributes elevate the customer experience by simplifying consumption, enabling agility, and aligning networks with business outcomes. It will also highlight how providers are creating new revenue opportunities through innovative wholesale solutions that extend value across mobile and B2B markets. Strategic decisionmakers will gain insight into how NaaS is redefining competitive advantage by giving customers greater control over how they consume, manage, and scale their networks.

Emcee: Ray Mota, ACG Research, Chief Executive Officer & Principal Analyst

Moderator: Ray Mota, ACG Research, Chief Executive Office & Principal Analyst

• Benjamin Vigouroux, Orange Business, VP Digital Infrastructure
• Mirko Voltolini, Colt Technology Services, Vice President, Innovation 
• Henry Calvert, GSMA, Head of Network

As demand accelerates for GenAI, agentic AI, and edge intelligence, enterprises require agile, high-performance connectivity across cloud environments, data centers, and the edge. In this new era, AI agents tap into network APIs to request, configure, and optimize resources on demand. Modern NaaS solutions—built on standardized, validated service components and powered by LSO APIs—deliver programmable connectivity for real-time data flows, distributed inference, and federated orchestration. Join industry leaders as they explore how NaaS forms the foundation for deploying and scaling AI, accelerating insights, ensuring performance, and powering the intelligent digital economy.

Moderator: Sterling Perrin, Heavy Reading (now part of Omdia), Senior Principal Analyst for Optical Networks & Transport

• Paul Ruelas, Verizon Business, AVP NaaS Solutions, Product & Marketing
• Travis Ewert, Digital Realty, Global Head of Platform Development
• Executive, Lumen
• Panelist TBA

As AI adoption accelerates across enterprises, communications service providers are undertaking a historic transformation of their physical infrastructure to meet surging demand for bandwidth, performance, and agility. Driven by massive hyperscaler investment and rising enterprise adoption, SPs are re-architecting metro and long-haul networks as well as data center interconnects to support AI model training, real-time inference, and emerging AI-to-AI interactions.

This session explores how providers are building networks that deliver up to terabit-scale capacity, ultra-low latency, and intelligent programmability—the foundation for the AI-powered digital economy. Learn how 400G+ wavelength services, AI-optimized Carrier Ethernet, and standards-based automation through LSO APIs are enabling dynamic, performance-assured connectivity across distributed environments. Discover how transport and data center infrastructure are evolving to support hyperscaler builds, enterprise data movement, and the rise of federated, on-demand services.

Russell Kaplan, Cognition AI, President

What happens when an AI software engineer joins your dev team? Hear from the President of Cognition AI, the applied AI lab behind Devin, the world’s first AI Software Engineer. Backed by Founders Fund (Peter Thiel) and valued at more than $10 billion, Cognition AI has quickly become one of Silicon Valley’s hottest companies, bringing together some of the brightest minds in the field. This keynote discussion will explore how AI  is poised to reshape software engineering by driving IT innovation, accelerating digital infrastructure, and supercharging service velocity.

Tyler Menezes, CodeDay, CEO

As network infrastructure grows more complex and AI-driven threats evolve at unprecedented speeds, the tech industry must develop a new generation of engineers equipped for both innovation and defense. This talk presents a proven model for building AI-ready talent pipelines through open source contributions and structured mentorship programs. Learn how industry-academia partnerships can lower hiring costs, improve candidate quality, and produce graduates who onboard three times faster than traditional hires. Attendees will leave with actionable steps to address the skills gap and strengthen their organization’s security and innovation capacity.

• View demonstrations at innovation stations located throughout the main foyer at any time during the conference!
• Meet with customers at meeting tables and conduct business in private meeting rooms and suites.

Moderator: Daniel Bar-Lev, Mplify, Chief Product Officer

• Divesh Gupta, Console Connect by PCCW Global, Vice President, Professional Services & Technology; Mplify, Co-Chair of Test & Certification Committee
• Samaresh Nair, Palo Alto Networks, Director Product Management
• Michael Kearns, Amartus, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer
• Thomas Mandeville, Iometrix, Director of Operations
• Isabelle Morency, Mplify, Director, Product Management

Against the backdrop of surging demand for agile, secure, and automated services in the AI-powered digital economy, NaaS ecosystem certification programs are evolving to validate interoperability, performance, and security across Carrier Ethernet (CE), SASE (SD-WAN, SSE, Zero Trust), LSO APIs, and LSO-enabled product payloads.

Aimed at technology and service providers looking to accelerate onboarding into the NaaS ecosystem, this session highlights how Mplify certification helps demonstrate compliance with industry standards and benchmarks, enabling faster integration, stronger positioning, and preferred partner status. Hear directly from companies who have leveraged certification to build trust, enhance visibility, and drive commercial success across a scalable, federated NaaS environment.

Join us at the NaaS Excellence Awards Gala Dinner for an evening not to be missed as we present the 2025 NaaS Excellence Awards, honoring advanced services, ecosystem automation, and influential professionals!

Emcee: Erin Dunne, Vertical Systems Group, Director of Research

Moderator TBA

• Brian Washburn, Omdia, Chief Analyst
• Ghassan Abdo, IDC, Vice President Research, Worldwide Telecommunications
• Gorkem Yigit, Analysys Mason, Research Director

Industry experts share insights on how AI, automation, and advanced security are redefining the NaaS market. Topics include the rise of automated supply chains for network services, market growth trajectories, emerging use cases, competitive shifts, and the enabling technologies shaping the future of an intelligent, secure, and federated NaaS ecosystem.

Dave Shacochis, Lumen, VP Connectivity Fabric Services

Like Bob Dylan’s momentous and innovative 1965 pivot to electric, telecom’s shift to cloud/multicloud marks a bold break from the bespoke, manual past. Both moves stirred controversy but ultimately unlocked transformative possibilities. In this session, learn how this seismic shift to cloud-based, agile, on-demand services empowers IT leaders to simplify operations, accelerate innovation, and capture new value.

Michael Kearns, Amartus, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer

Moderator: Stan Hubbard, Mplify, Principal Analyst

• Jay Turner, Console Connect by PCCW Global, Senior VP of Development and Operations
• Michael Kearns, Amartus, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer
• John Nolan, Sage Management, Chief Executive Officer
• Diego Neto, euNetworks, Director, Digital Enablement

The evolution to NaaS is more than a technical shift. It’s a strategic journey requiring alignment across business models, partner ecosystems, and operational execution. Networks supporting NaaS must be API-driven—from the enterprise edge, across multiple provider networks, and into the cloud—with automation extending across the entire supply chain. All parties must adopt standardized processes and interface through LSO APIs—whether directly or via portals and adaptors—at both business and operational layers.

NaaS spans both retail and wholesale markets, creating opportunities for players of all sizes and service portfolios to participate in a plug-and-play ecosystem. This panel will explore how standardized service components, backed by Mplify certification and LSO APIs, streamline transactions and maximize ROI on automation investments for payloads such as Carrier Ethernet, Internet Access, SD-WAN, SASE, and emerging AI-centric networking services.

Moderator: Erin Dunne, Vertical Systems Group, Director of Research

• Franck Morales, Orange Wholesale International, Senior VP, Marketing & Business Development
• Daniele Mancuso, Sparkle, Chief Marketing & Product Management
• Fahim Sabir, Colt Technology Services, Director, Digital Solutions
• Daniel Bar-Lev, Mplify, Chief Product Officer

With automated supply chains in place, the next step is connecting them into a federated ecosystem that expands service reach, interoperability, and customer choice. NaaS federation links retail and wholesale providers, data center operators, cloud platforms, and emerging satellite and space-based networks into a unified, API-driven environment.

This panel will explore how standardized LSO APIs, processes, certifications, and service components enable seamless multi-provider collaboration; create marketplaces for real-time, customizable services; and unlock new business models that monetize network assets more effectively. Discussion topics include ensuring performance and security across federated domains and enabling on-demand global coverage. Panelists will share practical insights into building the trusted, performance-assured backbone for the AI-powered digital economy.

Suraj Chandrasekaran, Palo Alto Networks, Vice President, NetSec Solutions, WW MSP/MSSPs

Sunil Khandekar, Mplify, Chief Enterprise Development Officer

Building upon the previous day’s discussion, a new group of executives from Mplify’s Enterprise Leadership Council share how leading enterprises across various industry verticals are evolving network strategies for agility, security, and AI-readiness.

Executive, Luxury Fashion Firm (TBA)

Executive, Global Sporting Goods Retailer (TBA)

Executive, Global Financial Services Firm (TBA)

Moderator: Greg Bryan, TeleGeography, Senior Manager, Enterprise Research

• Panelist, Palo Alto Networks
• Panelist, Arqit
• Panelists TBA

As AI-driven threats accelerate and hybrid networks expand, enterprises need cybersecurity solutions that are consistent, interoperable, and future-ready. This session explores how standardized SASE, Zero Trust, and Security Service Edge components—combined with quantum-safe network services—are enabling secure, automated protection across global NaaS environments. Attendees will gain insight into emerging use cases, business models, and technology strategies that strengthen resilience and defend the digital economy at scale.

Moderator: Grant Lenahan, Appledore Research Group, Partner & Principal Analyst

• Mirko Voltolini, Colt Technology Services, Vice President, Innovation 
• Panelists TBA

As NaaS scales, AI Ops is emerging as the control plane for experience assurance by combining observability, predictive analytics, and automation to prevent incidents, heal services, and protect SLAs across multi-domain networks. This session will explore how providers can leverage anomaly detection, AI-driven assurance, and closed-loop responses to enable self-healing and reduce MTTR. Speakers will share use cases such as SLA breach prediction, automated path re-routing, and capacity optimization, along with the API frameworks needed to drive actions across domains. Attendees will gain practical insights into how AI Ops is redefining service operations while advancing providers toward autonomous, experience-centric networks.

Henry Calvert, GSMA, Head of Network

Moderator: TBA

• Panelists TBA

As the workhorse of digital infrastructure, MEF 3.0 certified Carrier Ethernet (CE) provides the high performance, uptime reliability, low latency, and scalability essential for the AI-driven, cloud-connected world. Widely deployed and automation-ready, certified CE sets the gold standard, empowering providers to unlock new revenue streams, accelerate service delivery, and provide foundational NaaS connectivity.

This session explores how CE services—scaling up to 100G—are transforming into monetizable, AI-optimized solutions capable of moving and synchronizing massive AI workloads, supporting deterministic latency for real-time inference, and serving as a trusted backbone for AI security and governance. Attendees will hear how providers are enabling dynamic, on-demand services through LSO APIs and operating seamlessly across automated, multi-domain environments. Industry leaders will showcase how certified CE solutions are powering the next phase of AI infrastructure and delivering tangible ROI.

• View demonstrations at innovation stations located throughout the main foyer at any time during the conference!
• Meet with customers at meeting tables and conduct business in private meeting rooms and suites.

Moderator TBA

• Divesh Gupta, Console Connect by PCCW Global, Vice President, Professional Services & Technology
• Dominik Pacewicz, Amartus, Director of Product Marketing
• Jeremy Villalobos, Orchest Automation, Chief Executive Officer
• Speakers TBA

A growing ecosystem of tools and solutions is making it easier to automate business and operational transactions between buy- and sell-side partners using standardized LSO APIs and processes. This breakout highlights resources available through Mplify’s LSO marketplace, website, and members, including: an open-source LSO adaptor that converts proprietary APIs into Mplify-compliant APIs; LSO buyer and seller portals; developer guides for building and implementing LSO APIs; an LSO API blending tool that combines SDKs, APIs, and payloads; LSO solution providers offering pre-built, standalone API implementations that extend BSS/OSS capabilities; and BSS/OSS application vendors delivering software components that enable LSO business and operational functions. Rounding out the picture are Mplify’s LSO API Test and Certification programs, ensuring conformance and interoperability.

Attendees will leave with proven strategies and resources to accelerate onboarding, reduce integration costs, and expand service reach.

• Speakers TBA

As demand grows for connectivity in remote and mobile environments, space-based networking is becoming an essential extension of NaaS. This session explores how satellite services can be integrated into programmable, automated NaaS frameworks to unify terrestrial and space domains. Speakers will cover interoperability, performance, and security challenges, along with the adoption of LSO APIs to automate business and operational functions between buyers and sellers. Attendees will gain insights into how providers are leveraging space-based NaaS to extend global reach, support mission-critical services, and unlock new revenue opportunities.

Celebrate the finale of GNE with cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres.