Welcome to CASA25: From Swamps to Speakeasies — and a Journey Toward Impact

It’s 10 a.m. in Amsterdam, and the Tobacco Theater is buzzing. The lights dim, the cameras roll, and CPaaS Acceleration Alliance founder Rob Kurver steps onto the stage. “Wow. Good morning, everybody,” he begins. “Welcome to Amsterdam. It’s so amazing that after a couple of years of building this alliance, we have this group here together — telcos, CPaaS players, analysts, technologists, investors… and then some.”

The room, a mix of deep industry veterans and new innovators, breaks into smiles. This is CASA25 — the third edition of an event that’s fast become the gathering place for those shaping the future of communications.

From Swamp to Innovation

Rob kicks things off with a bit of history about the venue. The Nes, the old Amsterdam street where the theater sits, was once a swamp, reclaimed in 1342. Over centuries it evolved — first home to churches, then to traders, and later to a tobacco auction house. “You can turn anything into a hype cycle,” he jokes. “We went from the swamp — the innovation trigger — to the peak of expectation with the churches, to the trough of disillusionment with tobacco, and now the plateau of productivity.”

Then comes the punchline: “If you think about it, instead of five churches, we now have five big LLM guys — Mark, Sam, and the others. The role of the church centuries ago has been replaced by the role of Big Tech today.”

Three Years, Three Days, Three Big Moves

There’s a running theme in Rob’s welcome: the power of three.

• Year 1: Connect — bringing telcos and CPaaS together.
• Year 2: Grow — exploring real use cases.
• Year 3: Accelerate — creating impact.

“Kevin and I started this thing three years ago,” Rob recalls. “The idea was to bridge the gap between telcos and CPaaS. Those early conversations were… interesting. ‘You’ll be our first member!’ doesn’t always sell.”

Today, with 120+ active members and partners representing roughly half a trillion dollars in market cap, the Alliance is no longer an experiment — it’s an ecosystem.

And CASA25 marks a milestone with three announcements:

• The State of CPaaS 2025 Report, written by Andrew Collinson, examining how the industry moves from $30B toward $100B — not in theory, but in practice.
• A new investment partnership — “putting our money where our mouth is” to accelerate growth across the ecosystem.
• The Case Directory, expanding last year’s Playbook into a living repository of use cases and business outcomes.

“We Want to Make a Difference”

This, Rob emphasizes, isn’t about yet another conference. “We don’t just want to have an event and some dinners. We really want to make an impact. This alliance was built to change something — to move the industry forward together.”

Kevin Joins the Stage: “The Moment We’ve Been Building Toward”

Enter Kevin Nethercott, co-founder and master evangelist. He laughs as he takes the stage — “I might be the oldest guy in the room now, but I’ve never been more excited.”

Kevin draws a parallel to the early days of VoIP: “When we moved from TDM to IP, the world changed. SIP alone enabled nearly a trillion dollars of new business. What’s coming next — AI, vCons, and agentic automation — is that level of transformation all over again.”

He teases what’s ahead: the launch of a new working group focused on vCons, and an afternoon exploring AI’s disruption of the communications stack. “When I first saw Netscape, I knew the world would never be the same. That’s where we are now with AI.”

The Road Ahead: Two Days of Doing, Not Talking

The rest of Day 1 dives into Intelligent Engagement — starting with Vonage’s Neelam Sandhu, followed by the unveiling of the State of CPaaS report and a debate among analysts about the market’s future.

The afternoon shifts gears to AI disruption and vCons, followed by a preview of the new investment partnership. “And then,” Rob smiles, “there’s only one thing to do — get drunk.” Attendees laugh as he announces the evening party at the Chin Chin Club — a speakeasy-style celebration complete with Amsterdam’s famous bitterballen.

Day 2: The Fight Club Rule

Kevin sets the tone for the next morning. “We start at 10 a.m. with Fight Club. And the first rule of Fight Club? You can’t say CPaaS.” The audience chuckles. “Tomorrow is all about customers, use cases, and monetization. We’ve talked enough tech. Let’s focus on what drives value.”

The day features a keynote from Gamma, a showcase of real-world enterprise use cases, and sessions on Network APIs and Open Telcos. It ends with the CPaaS Showcase Challenge — “where American Idol meets CPaaS,” as Kevin puts it — before everyone gathers again for drinks.

Workshops and Day 3: Rolling Up Sleeves

New this year are hands-on workshops, hosted by sponsors like Radisys, Crexendo/NetSapiens, GSMA and the vCon Foundation. With limited seats (“and the right to strike competitors from the list,” Rob jokes), these small sessions dive deeper into the how.

Day 3 caps off the week with the GSMA Open Gateway Analyst Summit, a focused, invite-only deep dive into the future of network APIs — and the next step in bridging telecom and innovation.

From Connection to Impact

As Rob wraps up, he gestures to the crowd. “Three years ago, we set out to connect telcos and CPaaS. Now we’re ready to create impact. Let’s make these three days count.”

The lights fade, applause fills the theater, and CASA25 officially begins — not as another conference, but as a movement built on collaboration, curiosity, and a shared determination to shape what comes next.