This episode of The Broadband Bunch was recorded live at Calix ConneXions 2025, where host Pete Pizzutillo sat down with Bob Carrick, Director of Global Strategy at Calix Cloud.
In this conversation, Bob walks through Calix’s cloud evolution—from its early managed Wi-Fi roots to today’s full-scale broadband platform that integrates Operations, Service, and Engagement Clouds. He shares how Calix’s latest innovations in AI and cloud migration to Google are redefining customer experience, network efficiency, and operational visibility for broadband providers.
Together, Pete and Bob unpack the challenges and opportunities of adopting AI in telecom—from eliminating data silos to building trust through human-in-the-loop models and agent-to-agent automation. They explore the role of industry standards (like TR-369 and MCP) in enabling interoperability, and how these frameworks will shape the next wave of AI-driven transformation across the broadband ecosystem.
Bob also discusses customer success stories, the importance of education and adoption, and how Calix is helping ISPs increase profitability, reduce truck rolls, and prepare for future M&A opportunities.
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This episode of The Broadband Bunch was recorded live at Calix ConneXions 2025, where host Pete Pizzutillo sat down with Bob Carrick, Director of Global Strategy at Calix Cloud.
In this conversation, Bob walks through Calix’s cloud evolution—from its early managed Wi-Fi roots to today’s full-scale broadband platform that integrates Operations, Service, and Engagement Clouds. He shares how Calix’s latest innovations in AI and cloud migration to Google are redefining customer experience, network efficiency, and operational visibility for broadband providers.
Together, Pete and Bob unpack the challenges and opportunities of adopting AI in telecom—from eliminating data silos to building trust through human-in-the-loop models and agent-to-agent automation. They explore the role of industry standards (like TR-369 and MCP) in enabling interoperability, and how these frameworks will shape the next wave of AI-driven transformation across the broadband ecosystem.
Bob also discusses customer success stories, the importance of education and adoption, and how Calix is helping ISPs increase profitability, reduce truck rolls, and prepare for future M&A opportunities.
Episode 467: Felix Virto and Stephen Rose on Digital Transformation in Fiber Deployment
The Broadband Bunch
44 minutes 29 seconds
1 month ago
Episode 467: Felix Virto and Stephen Rose on Digital Transformation in Fiber Deployment
In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Pete Pizzutillo sits down with Felix Virto, Director of Operations at Blue Streak, and Stephen Rose, CEO of Render Networks, to explore how funding realities, digital transformation, and AI are reshaping large-scale fiber builds. Felix shares his 29-year journey from climbing poles in southwest Virginia to leading complex deployments—and why Blue Streak’s recent acquisition by a global parent sharpened its focus on customer outcomes, transparency, and choosing the right partners. Stephen traces a path from construction drafting through Nokia/Bell Labs and IBM to Render, explaining how cloud, data, and AI-driven workflows are changing “pre-live” delivery.
Together, they unpack the industry’s scale problem—billions in construction spend, countless handoffs—and make the case for field-first tools, real-time visibility, and stronger collaboration across operators, designers, and builders. Their playbook for operators: sponsor change from the top, start with a focused use case, co-innovate with partners, and make the field the hero so quality data flows up and better decisions flow down.
The Broadband Bunch
This episode of The Broadband Bunch was recorded live at Calix ConneXions 2025, where host Pete Pizzutillo sat down with Bob Carrick, Director of Global Strategy at Calix Cloud.
In this conversation, Bob walks through Calix’s cloud evolution—from its early managed Wi-Fi roots to today’s full-scale broadband platform that integrates Operations, Service, and Engagement Clouds. He shares how Calix’s latest innovations in AI and cloud migration to Google are redefining customer experience, network efficiency, and operational visibility for broadband providers.
Together, Pete and Bob unpack the challenges and opportunities of adopting AI in telecom—from eliminating data silos to building trust through human-in-the-loop models and agent-to-agent automation. They explore the role of industry standards (like TR-369 and MCP) in enabling interoperability, and how these frameworks will shape the next wave of AI-driven transformation across the broadband ecosystem.
Bob also discusses customer success stories, the importance of education and adoption, and how Calix is helping ISPs increase profitability, reduce truck rolls, and prepare for future M&A opportunities.
