Episode Summary

In this episode of Carrier 2.0, host Steve Saunders talks with Masum Mir, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Provider Mobility Business, about the next wave of transformation for carriers. Masum explains how AI’s “data gravity” is reshaping the network, why IT and OT convergence is accelerating, and how service providers can claim a central role in the new AI-driven economy. From breaking internal silos to bridging enterprise and carrier ecosystems, this conversation explores what it really takes to move beyond connectivity and into intelligence.

Key Talking Points

The Existential Question (01:36 ) – With most of humanity already connected, the next challenge for telecoms is linking the physical and digital worlds—and deciding what kind of companies they want to become.

Beyond the Five Nines (02:59 ) – Why reliability alone isn’t enough anymore, and how service providers can capture value in the digital economy without losing their traditional strengths.

Think Outside-In (03:08 ) – Masum’s advice to carriers: start small, build from your existing assets, and avoid greenfield silos.

Signal or Noise (03:35 ) – Quantum computing? Noise. 6G? Signal. Human-level AI? Too early. Masum calls it like he sees it.

IT/OT Convergence (05:15 ) – How industrial networks are merging IT, OT, and security by design and what it means for telecoms looking to play in vertical markets.

Breaking Silos at Cisco (06:38 ) – How Cisco is reorganizing internally to bridge enterprises and service providers, uniting cloud, connectivity, and AI operations.

AI’s Data Gravity (11:01 ) – As AI creates and consumes massive datasets, carriers have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to host, connect, and optimize the infrastructure that underpins the AI economy.

From Chat to Agentics (12:35 ) – Masum predicts a world where intelligent agents talk to each other, placing new demands on networks and making the edge more valuable than ever.

One Bold Prediction (13:59 ) – The telecom winners of tomorrow will earn most of their revenue from B2B, not consumers.

The Carrier Question

What defines Carrier 2.0? For Masum, it’s the carrier’s ability to move up the value chain—bridging connectivity, compute, and intelligence to power the AI-driven world.

Links

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Credits

This show is brought to you by FNTV, supported by Cisco.