In a whitepaper, Beyond Connectivity: A Broader Vision for Enabling AI Readiness, Keri Gilder explained the industry must encompass a broader vision to become pioneers of new-age technology and digital infrastructure.

She argued that, without modern digital infrastructure, AI initiatives by enterprises will fail.

“The next generation of AI-powered innovations demand modern digital infrastructure,” she explained. “Let’s think beyond connectivity to deliver the security, sovereignty, capacity, low-latency, scalability, capillarity, responsibility and simplicity enterprises driving the future of AI need.”

She added: “We cannot afford to be narrow minded. As industry leaders, we must embrace a broader, bolder vision that goes far beyond connectivity.”

Traditional telcos are no longer enough

According to Gilder, traditional telecommunications offerings are no longer sufficient for the AI era, as she said they “fall short of the expanding digital capabilities” demanded by customers in the age of AI.

Enterprise expectations have shifted, with the whitepaper citing that one in five global firms already spend more than US$750,000 every year on AI – and that inference workloads will dominate by 2030.

In order to succeed, Gilder said enterprises require comprehensive digital infrastructure solutions that reach beyond network connectivity.

“Basic connectivity and standalone network services are no longer fit for purpose; enterprises seek greater value from their technology providers as they transform their organisations for the Inference Age,” she said. “As an industry of digital infrastructure leaders, we set the standard for truly AI-ready infrastructure and have a significant opportunity to transform how enterprise customers connect to the technology that enables their AI.”

Likewise, the whitepaper anticipates core connectivity spend is forecast to grow by only 3.2%, while growth of adjacent services exceeds 6%. Without reinvention, Gilder suggested that telcos risk losing ground to neocloud providers, hyperscalers and other fast-moving organisations.

“Enabling AI can be seen as the first opportunity to flex our broader, more integrated and innovative capabilities as intelligent digital infrastructure leaders,” she added. “The rapid acceleration of technology and AI, and the dawn of the Inference Age, have redefined customers’ expectations of our capabilities and offerings.

“Connectivity is no longer enough, so reinvention is driving our industry forward.”

Security is the ‘primary telco and tech need’

The whitepaper lists security as a critical priority for the industry, particularly as AI drives data to be more distributed across networks, cloud environments and edge devices.

Gilder suggested that, to be ready, enterprise infrastructure needs to enable secure data for AI workloads and safeguard critical systems from more complex cybersecurity threats – arguing a case for edge-based solutions and how quantum can work alongside AI.

“Emerging risk and advanced threat capabilities demand us to prioritise security alongside innovation and agility,” she explained. “Modern enterprise networks integrate advanced, modular defences – such as zero trust WAN segments, hybrid mesh firewalls and unified AI gateways – directly into the network.”

She added: “Zero trust architectures should soon become the minimum acceptable security standard, while we focus on integrating solutions that pre-empt and actively block threats before they can materialise.”

Colt was one of the telecom giants last year to be embroiled in a significant cyberattack within its internal system. Ransomware group Warlock ended up claiming responsibility and sold a database of one million stolen files on the dark web for $200,000 – which included financial data, network architecture details and customer information.

Speaking exclusively to Capacity in October, company CEO Keri Gilder said on the attack: “Almost every conversation that we had with our customers and suppliers started with them saying: If it wasn’t you, it would be us.

“The main lesson learned is that the crisis plans and preparation most leadership teams practice with is for the physical part of the attack – systems down, manual processes, business continuity.”

She added: “What leaders do not plan for is the emotional side of a cyberattack – the human trauma associated with it.”

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