“This is the biggest period of innovation since the internet — but we’re innovating and disrupting faster than ever before. Buckle up.”

It started with a warning.

Not about AI. Not about APIs.

But about the industry itself.

Charles Reed Anderson, analyst, strategist, and telco provocateur, took the CASA25 stage with one of the most unforgettable keynotes of the event. It was fast. It was sharp. It was uncomfortable. And it may have been exactly what this industry needed to hear.

His message?

Telcos have built everything — and monetized nothing.

And unless something changes, they risk repeating the same pattern with AI, APIs, and the next wave of digital disruption.

💔 The Love-Hate Relationship with Telco

Charles kicked off with the line that set the tone:

“All bars, no bucks.”

Telcos have poured billions into infrastructure — from GPRS and 3G to 4G and now 5G. But again and again, the profits went elsewhere:

• GPRS? Blackberry and RAM.
• 3G? Telcos squeezed out short-lived profits from high roaming fees.
• 4G? App stores and OTTs captured the upside.
• NB-IoT? China made it work. The rest, not so much.
• 5G? Hyperscalers are paying peanuts and printing money on the back of it.

“We’ve overhyped the networks, oversimplified the use cases, and underdelivered against the promise.”

Telcos are exceptional at connection. But when it comes to collection — actual monetization — they consistently fall short.

🔍 Innovation ≠ Tech Hype

The heart of Charles’ argument was clear: Tech doesn’t matter unless it solves a real problem.

Innovation isn’t about 5G, AI, or “smart cities.” Those are just enablers.

What matters is the pain point you solve, who you partner with to solve it, and how you monetize it.

He shared a campaign from Singtel during their 5G launch. It tried to explain to everyday consumers the differences between SA and NSA network modes.

“No one cares. They care about what it does for them — not how it works.”

Too often, the industry is still marketing technology instead of value.

🇦🇺 Telstra: A Case Study in (Almost) Getting It Right

Charles pointed to Telstra as an example of what can happen when a telco genuinely commits to innovation:

• They created Muru-D, a startup incubator.
• Rapidly built a leading IoT portfolio in just 12 months.
• Partnered with Microsoft to develop digital twins.
• Launched internal GenAI tools like AskTelstra and one-sentence customer summaries.

For a moment, they had it all: new services, rapid time to market, genuine differentiation.

But over time:

• The startup program was shut down
• Key innovators left the company
• Growth slowed
• Digital twin projects were deprioritized
• Bureaucracy and internal blockers returned

The result? An innovation engine that once led the region is now struggling to maintain momentum.

“Even if you build the right thing — if the culture, buy-in, and skillset aren’t there — it won’t scale.”

🍔 Network APIs, Explained via Cheeseburgers (and FEBO)

Then came the slide no one will forget.

Charles explained the network API ecosystem through a Dutch vending machine cheeseburger — yes, really.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Hungry customer = Business buyer
• FEBO (legendary Dutch fast food wall) = Traditional telco
• Restaurant = Telco with added value services
• Uber Eats = CPaaS platform
• Ingredients = Network APIs
• AI agent = Personal assistant who knows your context and preferences

“If you understand how to get a burger from FEBO, you understand the network API ecosystem.”

The takeaway?

In this new stack, CPaaS vendors are the orchestrators.

Telcos are at risk of being commoditized, unless they start acting like full-stack solution providers — or at least learn to partner with them.

Even worse? Hyperscalers and system integrators are now building their own orchestration layers — their version of Deliveroo — and they’re coming fast.

🤖 GenAI: Hype, Hope, and Hallucination

Instead of riding the AI hype wave, Charles challenged it.

95% of GenAI projects deliver no measurable business impact. 70–88% of digital transformations still fail. Most companies don’t have clean data, robust systems, or the right strategy.

Even more dangerously: GenAI hallucinates.

Charles shared how ChatGPT invented a scandal involving Uber Eats and a racist chatbot. He almost put it in a keynote deck before realizing it was completely fabricated.

“That could have ruined my credibility. Now imagine it’s your company, your brand, your chatbot.”

We’re pushing GenAI into production with no governance, no safeguards, and no real understanding of the risks. The brand risk is real. And it’s rising.

⚠️ The Next Threat: AI-Native Telcos

Charles then sounded the alarm.

MVNOs have already chipped away at traditional telcos — with better CX, sharper brands, and faster operations. But now, AI-native platforms are emerging.

He described a founder who built and sold an MVNE platform, then discovered the power of agentic AI and moved to Silicon Valley to build it all over again — AI-first.

These startups don’t need large teams.

They don’t need legacy systems.

They don’t sell SIMs. They sell outcomes.

And it’s not just the consumer market.

“Imagine AWS launching its own enterprise phone, preloaded with its AI stack, bundled for every developer team worldwide. Who needs a telco?”

We’re on the edge of seeing hyperscalers bypass operators altogether — and telcos may not see it coming until it’s too late.

🧭 What Now? Five Urgent Moves for Telcos

Charles left the crowd with five immediate takeaways. These weren’t buzzwords. They were a survival guide:

• Benchmark differently. Stop copying slow-moving incumbents. Watch E& (Etisalat) and STC — they’re pushing the boundaries with real deployments.
• Watch the AI-native players. Look beyond telco. See how AI-native startups are reshaping ERP, customer service, retail, and CX. That wave is headed for you.
• Track real innovation hubs. Europe isn’t the hotspot. The Middle East is where it’s happening now. Subscribe to Middle East AI News. It’s where the future is being built.
• Train your people properly. No more half-measures. Deep AI fluency is now a basic requirement. It’ll save time, reduce OPEX, and attract better talent.
• Solve problems, not just sell tech. Every new product, platform, or partnership must start with this question: Who are we solving for, what problem, with whom, and how do we monetize?

🎤 “Buckle Up.”

Charles didn’t offer a tidy ending.

He didn’t say “everything will be okay.”

He ended with this:

“You’re either part of the disruption… or you’re in its way.”

And if you’re in telco, cloud communications, or CPaaS, this was your wake-up call.

The AI era is not coming. It’s already here.

The question is whether your organization — your culture, your partners, your mindset — is ready.

🎥 Watch the Replay

💡 Want help navigating the AI, CPaaS, or Network API wave?

That’s what CASA is all about: not just talk — but real use cases, real change, and real outcomes.

At CASA25, Creo’s new CTO Jason Goecke revealed how agentic AI is transforming the way teams code, collaborate, and deliver software—at scale.

“We’ve gone from months to days.”

That one line from Jason Goecke, the newly appointed CTO of Creo Solutions, captures the heart of a quiet revolution happening inside modern development teams. During his talk at CASA25, Jason walked the audience through a pragmatic, deeply experienced view on how agentic AI isn’t just an add-on to your dev process—it can become the process.

And if anyone has the credibility to make that claim, it’s Jason. A lifelong developer with roots in call center technology since the late ‘80s, he’s seen wave after wave of transformation sweep through the software world. But according to him, this one—AI-powered development—is different.

🧠 What’s Wrong with “Vibe Coding”?

Jason didn’t mince words:

“I don’t actually like vibe coding.”

Vibe coding—where developers use GenAI prompts to generate chunks of working code—has been gaining attention for its speed and simplicity. But as Jason explained, it mirrors human shortcuts a little too well. AI that simply reflects human behavior tends to reproduce the same flaws: rushed code, weak observability, minimal testing, and fragile scalability.

“You get a working product, but it’s not ready for primetime.”

This is where Creo draws a hard line. In Jason’s view, it’s time to move past vibe coding into something deeper, smarter, and more structured.

🤖 Enter Agentic AI: Codifying Quality from the Start

At Creo, Jason and the team are embracing agentic AI—where development doesn’t hinge on one AI assistant but instead a team of domain-specific agents, orchestrated like a real dev squad.

Think of it like this:

One agent understands React. Another monitors security or runs a code scan. Another ensures observability and logging are consistent. And you, the human, are still in the loop—steering the strategy.

This isn’t a single-shot prompt. It starts with something more familiar: a product requirements doc. From there, Creo uses RootCode, an open-source agentic AI framework, to assign responsibilities to various AI agents (and humans) and orchestrate the build.

This hybrid “human + AI” team handles everything from writing secure, production-ready code to ensuring logging, monitoring, and compliance are in place—by design, not afterthought.

🌍 From Nairobi to India: Building Global Teams That Work Like One

Perhaps the most compelling part of Jason’s talk was the operational impact.

By codifying their quality management strategy and development standards into the tools themselves, Creo has massively reduced onboarding time. What used to take months of training and documentation can now be handled in a few days.

“We’re onboarding developers from India, Nairobi, and elsewhere—and they’re productive within a week.”

For any tech leader managing distributed teams, this is a game-changer.

🛠️ Open Source, Open Future

Jason ended with a powerful commitment:

Creo is open sourcing their agentic AI development setup—starting with RootCode and extending into other components in collaboration with partners like Thomas Howe and his team at Vconic.

“We want the whole ecosystem to take advantage of this.”

This fits perfectly within Creo’s broader vision of enabling smarter, faster go-to-market for CPaaS players, telcos, and enterprise platforms alike. Rather than building closed, siloed solutions, Creo is betting on community-driven innovation.

🚀 Why It Matters

Jason Goecke’s talk wasn’t a flashy demo or an AI hype session. It was a sober, experienced perspective on what it really takes to deliver quality software in the AI age—without losing control, standards, or scalability.

In an industry still figuring out how to move from experimentation to execution, Creo Solutions is showing a clear path forward. One where AI doesn’t just generate code—it enforces quality, enables scale, and empowers global teams to move fast without breaking things.

Welcome to the future of development. It’s not just fast—it’s structured, smart, and open.

📢 Stay tuned as Creo and partners release more open-source components in the months ahead—and keep an eye on how agentic AI reshapes product delivery across the CPaaS ecosystem and beyond.

At CASA25, Nicolai Schaettgen (Match-Maker Ventures) hosted a candid fireside chat with Ramazan Soganci, Portfolio Lead CPaaS at KPN, diving into how the Dutch telco is reinventing itself through practical network API use cases. The star example? A collaboration with buy-now-pay-later giant Riverty — not built on technology for its own sake, but on something more fundamental: trust.

From Side Project to Strategic Priority

Two years ago, CPaaS at KPN was still treated like a side hustle. Like many telcos, KPN had spent a decade debating RCS and dabbling in APIs. But the rise of enterprise digital transformation—and the demand for flexible, secure, real-time communications—finally pushed the company to act.

That shift came with a new mindset: expose telco assets through APIs, go beyond messaging, and focus on value creation. Today, Ramazan leads this transformation. His team is scaling KPN’s CPaaS and network API business in partnership with aggregators and enterprises—proving the time for real deployment is now.

The Riverty Story: Trust Is the Real Currency

When financial services firm Riverty (formerly Arvato) approached KPN, it wasn’t to discuss APIs, pricing, or product specs. The conversation centered on trust—the most valuable asset in financial services.

With growing regulatory pressure across Europe, Riverty needed a robust age verification solution to protect consumers and satisfy regulators. Could telco data play a role in ensuring underage users weren’t accessing credit? Could the solution be seamless, scalable, and compliant?

KPN said yes—and delivered a simple yet powerful age verification API. The solution checks, in real time, whether a buyer is 18 or older, using KPN’s verified subscriber data. It’s frictionless, accurate, and—critically—trusted by both regulators and customers.

“We never discussed financial KPIs with Riverty,” Ramazan noted. “The entire conversation was about trust, compliance, and protecting customers.”

Beyond KPN’s Network: Scale Through Collaboration

One standout aspect of this use case: it doesn’t stop with KPN subscribers. Realizing that full market coverage is essential for enterprise buyers, KPN collaborated with other Dutch telcos and aggregators to make the solution available across networks.

This is not the telco playbook of old. It’s a new era of API-driven cooperation, where value comes from federation, not fragmentation.

“No customer accepts 40% coverage. To win, we need scale—and that means working together,” Ramazan said. “It’s not about ego anymore.”

A Strategic Framework: Communication + Network + Identity APIs

KPN’s offering spans far beyond a single use case. Ramazan described their CPaaS strategy as built around three pillars:

• Communication APIs – traditional messaging and voice (SMS, RCS, etc)
• Network APIs – exposing telco assets like quality on demand, SIM swap detection, and location
• Identity APIs – enabling age, identity, and silent authentication use cases

Each API is evaluated based on relevance to specific verticals, with financial services and e-commerce currently showing the most traction due to their fraud and compliance needs.

“We don’t believe in throwing dozens of APIs into the market and hoping for adoption,” Ramazan emphasized. “We start with real use cases, solve problems, and then scale.”

Hyperscalers, Developers, and the Go-to-Market Dilemma

One of the most honest parts of the discussion was around hyperscalers. Ramazan acknowledged that companies like Amazon and Google have a head start when it comes to developer relationships—but KPN isn’t trying to compete on the same terms.

Instead, they’re going deep in verticals, working directly with compliance officers, risk managers, and business owners, not just IT or procurement.

This account-based, consultative approach helped land the Riverty deal—and it’s the foundation for growth in other industries.

What’s Next: From Proof to Scale

KPN isn’t alone anymore. With GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative pushing global alignment, and more telcos investing in practical, privacy-compliant APIs, momentum is building. But challenges remain.

To truly scale:

Cross-operator collaboration must become the norm Success cases like Riverty must be productized and marketed The developer experience still needs simplification and abstraction Telcos must embrace new go-to-market roles, beyond network operations

Ramazan closed with a call to action:

“The industry needs more collaboration—not just among telcos, but with aggregators, platforms, and innovators in this room.”

Key Takeaways

• Trust is a strategic differentiator. Telcos can offer unique identity and verification tools that businesses—and regulators—will rely on.
• Start small, scale smart. Don’t launch dozens of APIs. Build reference use cases with high-value verticals, then replicate.
• Partnerships matter. Cross-operator collaboration and aggregator support are key to reaching enterprise-grade scale.
• Riverty is just the beginning. Financial services and e-commerce are ripe for more telco-powered identity and fraud solutions.

Final Word

At CASA25, the buzzword wasn’t APIs. It was impact. And KPN’s Riverty collaboration is a clear signal: telcos can move from slow-moving incumbents to trusted partners in the digital economy—when they build with purpose.

Let’s make it happen. Together.

In a powerful and refreshingly down-to-earth keynote at CASA25, Sebastian Schumann of Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier pulled back the curtain on one of the most ambitious initiatives in European telecom: building a sovereign CPaaS platform, purpose-built for the wholesale market — and for a world increasingly defined by trust, sovereignty, and intelligent engagement.

This isn’t just another API platform. It’s a blueprint for how telcos can reclaim the CPaaS narrative, embed themselves deeper into enterprise value chains, and offer something that the tech giants simply can’t: control, compliance, and carrier-grade connectivity — at scale.

🔍 The Why: It All Starts with Sovereignty

Deutsche Telekom’s CPaaS platform was born out of a hard regulatory reality. As Sebastian shared, their prior communications tech stack — hosted on a US-based hyperscaler — was abruptly deemed non-compliant for sensitive sectors like healthcare and government.

“We couldn’t even use infrastructure that belonged to the big US hyperscalers,” Sebastian explained. “So we built our own — in Europe, for Europe.”

This shift became an opportunity, not a setback. In fact, it became a key differentiator. European enterprises, especially in regulated industries, are increasingly demanding data sovereignty, local hosting, and compliance with EU laws like GDPR and Schrems II.

Deutsche Telekom’s new CPaaS platform is hosted completely within Europe, built with open-source components like SignalWire and Mation, and architected to be disconnected from third-country data jurisdictions.

It’s not just a product. It’s a position — one that’s uniquely valuable in today’s world of rising digital nationalism and privacy expectations.

⚙️ The How: Telco Assets + Software Mindset

What makes Deutsche Telekom’s approach stand out is their clear focus on building, not buying.

Their team assembled a CPaaS platform from the ground up, layering modern APIs on top of decades of core telco infrastructure:

• Billions of voice minutes already flow through their aggregation stack
• SMS and RCS connectivity is managed directly or via Google’s hub, with Telekom handling the commercial aggregation that’s still a pain point in RCS
• The CPaaS layer is carrier-owned, carrier-operated, and extensible via open standards or compatibility layers

And they’ve embraced developer-centric principles without falling into the telco trap of waiting on standards committees.

“We didn’t wait for the standards. We used what’s already the de facto standard in the market,” Sebastian said. “Real-world compatibility is more important than agreement by committee.”

To ease onboarding, they even offer compatibility layers for customers migrating from “the big guys,” allowing them to reuse existing integrations and switch endpoints without rewriting applications.

🛠 The What: Not Just APIs — Solutions

This isn’t about API counts or developer dashboards. Deutsche Telekom’s platform is designed to solve real customer problems, with a special focus on wholesale enablers and enterprise resellers.

In fact, Sebastian made a point to say:

“You don’t sell APIs. You sell what’s behind them — the capabilities. And really, you sell a solution to a problem.”

That’s why the platform includes a low-code integration layer, allowing customers to connect CPaaS capabilities directly into systems like Salesforce or other CRMs — without needing deep technical teams or external SI support.

Think of it like this:

You’re an enterprise who needs to trigger a voice notification from Salesforce You don’t want to hire developers Deutsche Telekom’s platform lets you drag and drop that integration as part of a managed service — fully hosted in a European sovereign cloud

This is what Intelligent Engagement looks like in practice:

CPaaS that starts with a use case, not an API spec.

🤝 A Platform and a Product: White-Label CPaaS for Carriers

Here’s where it gets really interesting.

Deutsche Telekom isn’t just offering CPaaS to large enterprise customers — they’re enabling other telcos to plug in their own trunks, white-label the platform, and run their own branded CPaaS on top of Telekom’s infrastructure.

It’s a multi-layered go-to-market model:

Serve direct wholesale traffic generators Enable partners and telcos to offer CPaaS under their own brand Offer full-stack capabilities: from local trunks and termination to CRM integration and billing

For smaller telcos looking to enter CPaaS or modernize their enterprise offering, this could be a fast track to market, bypassing years of development.

📚 The Roadblocks: Education & Awareness

Despite the technical readiness and regulatory fit, the biggest challenge isn’t code — it’s culture.

“Educating our own salespeople was tough,” Sebastian admitted.

“They know how to sell SMS and voice — now we’re asking them to sell something that helps others sell voice and SMS. It’s a different mindset.”

And enterprise customers don’t always speak the language of CPaaS. They don’t ask for APIs — they ask for automation, web interfaces, and ways to simplify communication workflows.

This underscores the need for solutions storytelling, not just product specs.

🧭 Why This Matters

Deutsche Telekom’s CPaaS initiative isn’t just a technical feat — it’s a strategic blueprint for European telcos looking to stay relevant in a cloud-first, AI-driven, privacy-sensitive world.

• ✅ It reclaims telco value by combining connectivity with software
• ✅ It meets rising enterprise demand for sovereignty and trust
• ✅ It turns legacy assets into future-facing solutions
• ✅ It empowers other telcos to participate in CPaaS without building from scratch

And most importantly, it does all this without waiting for the perfect standard or the next committee meeting.

“It’s not black and white,” Sebastian said. “But if you have the numbers, the routes, and compatibility — you’re in the game.”

🚀 Final Word

At CASA25, Deutsche Telekom showed what’s possible when a telco leans into its strengths, learns from the platform players, and delivers value the European way — with control, compliance, and real-world business models.

It’s not just CPaaS. It’s CPaaS with purpose.

“On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

That decades-old meme still holds power—and in some ways, it’s the root problem of digital trust today. At CASA25, Helene Vigue, Identity and Data Director at GSMA, took the stage to talk about how telcos, through initiatives like GSMA Open Gateway, are finally in a position to help solve that problem at scale.

This isn’t about flashy new technology. It’s about enabling real-world trust in a digital world—and it’s where network APIs and mobile identity become not just relevant, but essential.

A World of Identities—and a Crisis of Trust

In a compelling, no-nonsense keynote, Helene walked us through a simple but powerful idea: your phone is the bridge between your physical self and your digital footprint.

“Mobile identity leverages this connection to enable businesses to securely verify customer identities—with minimal friction.”

Why does this matter? Because fraud is exploding. Scams and data breaches are growing faster than digital payments. And as AI evolves, it enables not only better customer service—but also faster, cheaper, scalable fraud attacks.

Meanwhile, regulators are responding with age assurance mandates, stronger compliance rules, and increasing scrutiny on platforms. Enterprises are stuck in the middle—trying to protect users while keeping the customer experience smooth.

This is where telcos come in. By exposing network APIs, they can deliver trusted signals directly from the source—such as SIM swap detection, number verification, and next-gen authentication.

From SMS OTP to Seamless Authentication

For years, we relied on SMS one-time passwords (OTP) to verify identities. But between rising costs, phishing attacks, and poor UX, the industry has outgrown that solution.

Operators are now offering seamless, passwordless authentication, enabled directly via the network. It’s faster (up to 2x), has better completion rates (up to +20%), and is more secure.

Helene highlighted examples like:

• Lydia (Banking) – Using mobile authentication to reduce fraud and total cost of ownership
• Ride-hailing & entertainment platforms – Focusing on speed and user experience
• Telkomsel (Operator) – Pivoting away from legacy A2P SMS by launching number verification APIs to win back enterprise trust

Identity APIs in Action: Fraud Prevention That Works

In Argentina, SIM swap fraud had become a major issue. Local operators responded by tightening internal security and launching a shared SIM swap API—used heavily by banks and payment providers.

A standout example: Movipay, which powers public transport payments. They were suffering from high levels of chargeback fraud, where criminals hijacked accounts, loaded funds, then reclaimed them. By implementing SIM swap monitoring, Movipay reduced this fraud by 80% in six months—while cutting manual review processes significantly.

This is what network APIs should be about: real outcomes, not just tech specs.

Why Partners Are the Missing Link

Helene didn’t sugarcoat the challenges. When asked what has disappointed her most in the Open Gateway initiative, she responded bluntly:

“We are too slow. That’s not a disappointment—that’s expected when you work with operators. What is disappointing is that new markets don’t learn fast enough from others… especially the critical role of partners.”

Too many telcos still try to go it alone. But the winners—those showing real traction—work closely with partners like:

Identity aggregators (combining mobile identity with broader identity stacks) CPaaS providers (scaling APIs across networks) System integrators (embedding identity into enterprise workflows)

Without this ecosystem, even the best APIs will fail to deliver value.

Mobile Identity as the Foundation for Digital Trust

Helene shared a full identity journey—from account creation to authentication, transaction security, and account management—showing where mobile signals can add trust at every stage.

From checking a number’s validity at sign-up, to monitoring SIM swap risk during transactions, to verifying ownership before allowing changes to an account—the network knows. And now, through Open Gateway, that knowledge can be safely shared with enterprises and platforms that need it.

An Open Call to Action

Helene closed with a clear message:

“If you haven’t yet joined the Open Gateway initiative, we really encourage you to do so.”

With over 100 networks launched, 200 APIs certified, and 80% of global connections represented, Open Gateway is more than a promise—it’s a movement.

But to reach full impact, it needs more partners, more adoption, and more success stories.

Final Thought: Telcos, Don’t Waste the Opportunity

Identity might just be the killer app for network APIs.

It delivers compliance, reduces fraud, improves UX, and lowers costs—all while aligning perfectly with telcos’ core strengths: trust, ubiquity, and infrastructure.

But only if they act boldly, partner smartly, and learn from each other.

Because in a world where nobody knows you’re a dog on the internet… mobile identity might just be our best leash on truth.

Recommended Next Step:

👉 Download the Mobile Identity Report from GSMA (if you haven’t already)

At CASA25, Miruna Anastasoaie, a particle physicist turned telco transformation leader at KPN, delivered one of the most refreshing keynotes of the event—not because of dazzling AI demos or grand future visions, but because of her brutally honest, human, and deeply insightful take on what really matters when a telco wants to transform with AI: culture, mindset, and leadership.

If you thought transformation was about plugging in tools or writing slick AI strategies, think again.

From Physics to Telco: A Mindset That Matters

Miruna didn’t come to KPN to maintain the status quo. With a background in astrophysics and a career spanning academia, banking, and telco, she’s seen how hard it is to change large systems from the inside. But she also carries a scientist’s mindset: clear end goals, tolerance for the unknown, and a commitment to iteration.

“In physics, you might know your destination and your first step—but you must relearn at every step. That’s the mindset I brought to KPN.”

And she didn’t come because she thought telco was glamorous. Quite the opposite.

She assumed KPN was too old, too well established, with too much history, a company with deep heritage and complex legacy systems. But when a former colleague pitched her the transformation journey underway, she thought:

“If we can change an operator like KPN, we can do anything.”

The Real Challenge of AI Isn’t Tech—It’s Letting Go

KPN isn’t lacking in tech. It has one of the most complex IT landscapes Miruna has ever seen. But that complexity comes with history—and emotion.

Many of the systems in place have been serving the company for 20 or 30 years and were built by people who have grown with KPN during that time. Letting go of those “babies” isn’t just a technical task—it’s personal.

“That’s why, even as a tech nerd, I focus on the cultural side of transformation.”

Changing mindsets is harder than upgrading tools. Because tools can be bought. But to use them well, you need clarity of purpose, leadership courage, and the ability to unlearn.

The AI Illusion: It’s Not About Tools

Miruna challenged a popular misconception head-on:

“Is this really an AI problem? Or is it a mindset problem?”

She described meetings where everyone was focused on “getting the best LLM,” without understanding that an LLM without retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is just a parrot.

The obsession with new tools misses the point. No tool solves your core issues unless your foundations are solid:

• Clean data
• Clear processes
• Purpose-driven leadership

And perhaps most importantly:

“No supplier can solve our problems for us. Partnerships are important but you still own your problems. And ultimately you solve them from the inside.”

From Use Cases to Scale: Stop Planting Flowers

One of the biggest laughs—and biggest truths—came when Miruna spoke about the focus on use cases when she joined:

“It was like everyone was planting their own flower. But AI needs to work at scale, not in silos.”

Instead of spreading dozens of use cases across departments, she emphasized building shared journeys, connected processes, and interoperable AI systems that can grow with the business.

Use cases aren’t the goal—they’re just the first step. And they shouldn’t distract from the hard work of unification.

Don’t Freeze. Don’t Jump. Walk Forward With Purpose.

Many companies either freeze when faced with AI uncertainty—or jump headfirst into implementation with no structure.

Both are dangerous.

Some people thought they weren’t ready and wanted to cancel. She asked them, “What do we have?” When they listed it out, it was enough to move forward.

Miruna shared how her own team faced this when preparing for a board meeting:

“Delimit the known from the unknown. That’s what makes you strong.”

This mindset—that clarity trumps perfection—is what she calls the “physics of reinvention.” Take the first step. Reassess. Iterate.

Agentic AI Needs Orchestration—Not Chaos

When asked about agentic AI, she warned about another common trap: deploying too many agents too fast without guardrails.

“Ten agents solving a broken coffee machine may just argue with each other.”

Building agentic systems is like building teams—you need clear roles, coordination, and governance.

Throwing more energy at a system doesn’t help if the direction is off. In fact, it creates waste. Smart AI implementation is thoughtful, slow at first, and deeply structured.

Identity First. AI Second.

Perhaps the most powerful moment came near the end:

“Who are you, really? What’s your identity as a company? AI should help you—not define you.”

Too many AI projects start from the tech and forget the soul of the business. KPN, under Miruna’s leadership, is flipping that script.

She spends her time educating, challenging assumptions, and asking the tough cultural questions:

What is KPN’s purpose? What do we want to become? What are we willing to change—and what should remain?

Final Thought: The Hard Work Is Worth It

Transformation isn’t linear. It’s messy. It’s full of false starts and difficult conversations. But as Miruna reminded us:

“If you want impact, you have to do things differently. Not because you know better—but because you’re not afraid to fail and learn.”

And that’s what real AI transformation looks like.

Not plugging in a tool—but shifting a mindset.

Not buying intelligence—but building it—together.

How Radisys & Goshawk Are Bringing Purpose to Telco Innovation

At CASA25, one of the most powerful moments came not from a flashy AI demo or a multi-million-dollar partnership, but from a simple, deeply human story: how a phone call can reconnect people who have been quietly excluded.

Nicolai Schaettgen (Match-Maker Ventures) sat down with Ralph Page (Radisys) and Ian Buxton (Goshawk) to talk about Engage Clarity—a solution built for the one in five people currently affected by hearing loss. That number is set to rise to one in four by 2050. But this wasn’t a story about technology alone. It was about impact, dignity, and connection.

🔊 The Problem: Everyone Deserves to Be Heard—and to Hear Clearly

Imagine this: you’re 80 years old, trying to talk to your doctor. But the phone call doesn’t make sense. It’s muffled. It’s exhausting. So you stop calling. Maybe you even stop getting your prescriptions.

That’s exactly what happened to Ralph’s father.

“He’d say, ‘I can’t hear anything on this stupid phone’,” Ralph recalled. “It wasn’t his fault. It was the phone’s fault.” Eventually, he stopped speaking to the triage nurse and delayed renewing his medicine—because he couldn’t understand the conversation.

This is the real-world cost of hearing loss in a world that still treats phone calls as one-size-fits-all. And it’s just the beginning.

👂 Hearing Loss Is a Spectrum — And So Are the Challenges

You don’t need to wear a hearing aid to have trouble hearing. Hearing issues range from mild and undiagnosed to severe and treated with cochlear implants. And even with hearing aids, which can be expensive, conversations—especially over the phone—can be frustrating and tiring.

As Ian Buxton shared, “My wife has Ménière’s disorder. Even with hearing aids, she struggles. I can ask for the butter at breakfast, and she hears ‘putter.’ It’s not about loudness—it’s about clarity.”

And when clarity is missing, it doesn’t just affect understanding—it affects memory, confidence, and impacts human connection.

🌐 The Solution: Engage Clarity, Delivered Through the Network

Goshawk’s application was built to tackle this head-on. It starts with a 3-minute web-based hearing test, developed with Cambridge and Manchester Universities. This creates a unique audio profile—a fingerprint of how you hear.

Then comes the magic.

Radisys’ Engage Clarity solution applies that profile to your phone calls in real time. Clarity uses network-based processing—with more compute power and intelligence than any device.

The result? Voice calls that are customised to your hearing, not just louder.

So how does it work?

The user takes the 3-minute test on a telco-branded portal. A flag is set in the operator’s system. All calls are routed through Radisys’ media resource function (MRF). Clarity enhances the voice stream according to the hearing profile. The call is delivered—just clearer.

“It’s as simple as routing a value-added service,” Ralph explained. “The only hard part? Getting the telco website updated so users can sign up!”

🤝 Why Radisys?

Radisys isn’t just another CPaaS vendor. Their Engage Digital Platform is embedded in over 70% of telco IMS networks. That means they can manipulate the media directly inside the operator’s infrastructure—with regulatory compliance and native call handling already in place.

💡 Telcos, Take Note: This Is Inclusion and Innovation

Some operators ask, “How much can I charge for this?” Others see it as a feature for accessibility or wellness packages—bundled with fraud prevention or wellness services.

Either way, Clarity drives both differentiation and inclusion.

As Ralph said, “If I tell my dad this will cost £5 a month and he’ll finally be able to use his phone again, he’ll say yes without hesitation. The real blocker isn’t the customer—it’s whether the operator wants to charge for it.”

And beyond consumers, the enterprise use cases are compelling:

Contact centres: Improve agent hearing clarity, especially for older workers.

Employee wellness: Help staff with hearing challenges stay connected and productive.

Banking & retail: Keep experienced customer-facing employees after sudden hearing loss.

“This isn’t just a disability fix,” Ian added. “It’s about keeping people engaged—at work, with family, with life.”

🧪 Proof It Works: Clinical Trials & Real-World Results

Engage Clarity isn’t just a good idea—it’s a validated solution. Trials conducted with the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing showed significant improvement in comprehension across mild, moderate, and severe hearing loss categories.

Additional clinical work with university partners backs up its effectiveness—and showcases how telco infrastructure can be used for real impact.

🫂 A Telco That Connects Everyone

Ian closed with a reminder of why this all matters:

“A telco is about connecting people. Sharing information. Sharing love. And if that’s broken—if people quietly stop using the service—then we’ve failed. But if we can fix that? We’ve done something truly meaningful.”

✅ Ready to Launch

Engage Clarity is telco-grade, clinically proven, and easy to deploy. And with Radisys expertise in media handling, it’s already integrated into the heart of the telco network.

All that’s needed now is the will to act.

Whether you’re a telco executive, enterprise leader, or policymaker—the opportunity is clear. Let’s stop leaving people behind.

🔗 Get Involved

Radisys and Goshawk Communications are actively seeking operator partners and enterprise allies to scale Engage Clarity across regions and platforms!

At CASA25, Mike Mills, Managing Director for Service Providers at Gamma, took the stage with one clear message: Voice isn’t dead—it’s booming. And if you’re serious about intelligent engagement, customer experience, or real CPaaS revenue, you can’t afford to ignore it.

Gamma doesn’t just talk about voice—they carry over 1.6 billion voice minutes a month into cloud platforms, work with 80% of Gartner Magic Quadrant CPaaS vendors, and deliver services in 50+ countries. With a 15-year track record of powering everything from SIP trunking to modern CX platforms, Gamma is a partner that knows the market—and the regulatory maze—better than most.

The Gamma Lens: CPaaS Is at an Inflection Point

Mike offered a brutally honest assessment: compliance, fraud, and market complexity are getting worse—but the opportunity is only getting bigger. With CPaaS still seeing 11% CAGR growth even in worst-case forecasts (versus ~2% in traditional telco), the fundamentals are strong.

The big challenge? Most CPaaS players are either messaging-first or voice-first—rarely both. That leaves a major opportunity for those who can unify channels, deliver customer outcomes, and scale across borders.

3 Real-World Use Cases That Deliver Results

Let’s cut through the hype. These aren’t concepts—they’re hard business cases showing how Gamma helps CPaaS providers grow revenue, reduce compliance costs, and go to market faster.

1. Localization at Scale – 93% Revenue Growth

A global CPaaS provider needed to win big in the UK. Gamma helped them localize fully—from regulatory compliance to infrastructure—without downtime.

• Results: 93% revenue growth in 2 years
• Over 120,000 concurrent channels
• 150 million+ minutes per month—in a single geography

Lesson: Want to win globally? Deliver locally.

2. Global Reach, Zero Compliance Headaches

Another CPaaS player wanted to expand fast—30 countries, no compliance risk, and minimal operational overhead.

• Solution: Gamma’s unique regulatory contracting model, where Gamma takes on the local regulatory burden
• Results: $250K in annualized compliance cost savings
• Fully compliant, risk-free operations
• Enabled rapid global expansion without hiring local teams

Lesson: Focus on your platform and growth. Let Gamma handle the telco headaches.

3. Monetizing CPaaS + UCaaS for the End Customer

This one’s a game changer. A CPaaS vendor and their partner needed to integrate their platform with a UCaaS solution across multiple countries—seamlessly.

• Solution: Gamma helped package, deploy, and support the integrated offer
• Results: $350K in additional revenue 1,100 users migrated from legacy systems
• Deployed across 8 countries
• Full integration with existing infrastructure

Lesson: Bridging CPaaS, UCaaS, and customer infrastructure isn’t just possible—it’s profitable.

Strategic Focus: Voice, AI & Regulation

Gamma is investing £10 million over 5 years into supporting CPaaS partners. Why?

• Voice remains the #1 channel for real-time customer experience. Whether it’s a frustrated airline passenger or your in-laws still clinging to TDM, voice matters.
• AI is accelerating voice growth, not replacing it. 60% of Gamma’s recent growth came from CPaaS or CX platforms—often driven by AI-assisted workflows.
• Compliance is complex and costly—but also a competitive differentiator. Gamma builds solutions that enterprise customers trust.

As Mike said:

“If it’s not good enough to put a large enterprise on it, we generally don’t want to do it.”

Gamma’s View on Global Strategy: Local First, Telco-Grade Always

Gamma’s recent acquisitions—PlayTell, Starface, and others—show a calculated expansion into cloud-friendly and high-growth regions like Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. Their strategy is clear:

• Run the core network at scale
• Offer enablement layers to CPaaS players
• Adapt go-to-market locally
• Win either at the application, enablement, or network layer

Final Word: Voice Is the New Growth Engine

Gamma doesn’t see voice as legacy—it sees it as the foundation of modern, intelligent engagement. With real use cases, global reach, and a deep understanding of compliance and scale, Gamma is doubling down on helping CPaaS players succeed.

“It’s complicated. It’s getting more complex. But it’s not going anywhere.”

At CASA25, that’s not just a trend. It’s a strategy—and one Gamma is clearly ready to lead.

Jonathan Bean and Rob Kurver Close Day 1 of CASA25 with a Fireside Chat on What’s Next for Communications

As Day 1 of CASA25 came to a close, the tone shifted from urgency to opportunity. In a fast-paced fireside chat, Jonathan Bean, CMO of Sinch, joined Rob Kurver, Founding Partner of the CPaaS Acceleration Alliance, to reflect on the day’s discussions and project what’s next for the communications industry.

Spoiler alert: it’s big.

💡 Glass Half Full

Jonathan opened with a challenge to the room: let’s stop being cynical.

In an industry often obsessed with what’s broken, it’s easy to forget what’s been built. “When I joined CPaaS six years ago from the software world,” Jonathan shared, “the total ecosystem profits were around $200 million. Today? Billions. That’s a 10X increase.”

The takeaway: progress has happened. But we haven’t talked nearly enough about the customer—the real people and businesses benefiting from this transformation. “On my way here, almost every touchpoint was powered by one of our platforms. We’re already creating intelligent experiences, and that momentum is only increasing.”

🧠 A New Act: CPaaS 3.0 and Agentic AI

The conversation quickly moved to the next act. Inspired by CPaaSAA’s narrative of CPaaS 1.0 (SMS), CPaaS 2.0 (multi-channel), and CPaaS 3.0 (intelligent engagement), Jonathan made it clear: “We’re entering a new phase—one shaped by AI and orchestration.”

But this isn’t about fear. “For some players, it’ll be disruptive,” he admitted. “But for others, it’s a chance to create even more value across the ecosystem. AI, especially agentic AI, will radically shift how we think about engagement. We’re already seeing LLMs interact with our APIs in fascinating ways.”

Instead of treating AI as a threat, it’s time to build bridges—to become the infrastructure layer for AI-native companies. Or as Jonathan put it, “Our biggest customers may not even exist yet—they’re being founded right now.”

🧱 From Aggregation to Orchestration

For the past decade, CPaaS players helped companies aggregate access to messaging, voice, video, and email channels. But the future lies in orchestration—guiding meaningful customer journeys across these channels with intelligence baked in.

The goal? “Outcomes, not APIs.”

Sinch and others in the space are shifting from being mere pipelines to becoming engagement platforms, where developers, startups, and enterprises can build customer experiences that adapt, learn, and deliver.

This aligns strongly with the CASA25 theme of Intelligent Engagement—moving beyond just messaging to full-stack, AI-enhanced customer interaction.

🧑‍🚀 New Customers, New Mindsets

One of Jonathan’s most compelling points came when discussing the startups entering the space: “They’re vibe-coding apps on the weekend and just want their app to send an SMS or email. They don’t understand telco legacy. They don’t care. But we can onboard them through email, and then guide them into the world of messaging and regulation.”

In other words: onboard simple, then educate.

This generation doesn’t want to learn how to navigate telco red tape. They want platforms that work—fast. And whoever solves that friction stands to win their loyalty, and their volume.

🌐 Ecosystem Thinking

In closing, both Rob and Jonathan emphasized partnerships and ecosystem alignment. The day had started with warnings—about disruption, about AI, about the death of telcos—but it ended with hope.

As Jonathan put it, “Each of the partners we’ve had on stage today has a huge future. It all comes down to agility and customer centricity. Sure, we face headwinds—but the opportunity is so much bigger.”

TL;DR: The Future is Not a Threat—It’s an Invitation.

This isn’t about resisting change. It’s about accelerating it—together. CPaaS players like Sinch, alongside telcos, AI startups, and enterprise partners, are laying the foundation for a new infrastructure: Intelligent Engagement at scale.

Aggregation was Act 1. Orchestration is Act 2. And with agentic AI, the curtain’s rising on Act 3.

Let’s make sure we all have a role to play.

Adnan Saleem’s CASA25 talk shows how voice can be telcos’ most powerful AI opportunity—built directly into the IMS core, no apps required.

For decades, voice in telecom was the sleeping giant. Outside of a few quality-of-life upgrades—from narrowband to wideband audio—it remained largely unchanged. Until now.

At CASA25, Adnan Saleem, CTO of Software & Cloud Solutions at Radisys, took the stage with a bold message: Voice is back, and it’s becoming the new frontier of AI innovation inside telecom networks. More importantly, it’s becoming a new revenue stream—right inside the IMS core—without the need for new apps, new devices, or developer ecosystems.

These are telco-native, AI-powered voice experiences and solutions. And they change everything.

The Opportunity Telcos Have Been Waiting For

We often talk about 5G, APIs, or edge compute as revenue enablers. But Radisys is doing something radically pragmatic: turning the 1 trillion voice minutes flowing through telco networks every month into high-value, intelligent services.

Let that sink in. One trillion voice minutes per month, globally, over traditional operator networks—not OTT. These calls already run through IMS cores, where Radisys’ Engage platform lives. That’s where AI meets voice, and telcos meet new monetization.

And it’s not theoretical. Five Tier-1 operators are already deploying or commercializing Radisys’ AI-powered use cases today.

AI-Powered Voice Without the Friction

Radisys’ approach is radically simple and refreshingly telco-centric:

• No app downloads
• No smartphone upgrade
• No change in behavior
• Mobile or fixed line

If you have a phone and a number, you’re in.

Everything is embedded in the network. The user just dials, picks up, or lets their personal AI assistant take over. AI is no longer tied to apps. It’s part of your core telco service.

Use Cases That Speak for Themselves

The Engage platform enables a full stack of AI-powered voice services before, during, and after the call:

📞 Before the Call

• Caller identification & branding
• AI call screening with summaries (without answering)
• AI virtual assistant answers the call on your behalf

🎙️ During the Call

• Live transcription and summarization
• Fraud detection and real-time whisper alerts
• Virtual AI assistants (personalized, eg Juno) that join, take notes, schedule meetings
• Real-time language translation across 100+ languages

📝 After the Call

• Transcripts, summaries, and action items delivered via SMS or email or other channels
• Agentic AI actions (like scheduling follow-ups, setting alerts or reminders)

These aren’t future concepts. They’re running in the IMS core, on real operator networks, today.

Meet “Juno”: Your Personal Assistant on Any Phone

The most compelling demonstration? The telco-native personal assistant.

Subscribers can talk to a private, AI-powered assistant over a standard voice call—just like calling a friend. Juno listens, knows the user’s preferences, understands context (from past calls, emails, documents), and takes actions: scheduling meetings, finding information, dialing contacts, providing suggestions when asked, or joining ongoing calls to take notes.

This is agentic AI, not ChatGPT with a phone number. It’s secure, sovereign, and subscriber-controlled. No data leaves the network unless the user wants it to.

Why This Matters for Telcos

Most telco innovations today require ecosystem-building, heavy IT, or new consumer behaviors. Radisys offers a refreshing alternative:

• It leverages infrastructure telcos already own.
• It creates differentiated, high-margin voice services.
• It works across all phones—even low-end devices.
• It gives telcos control and visibility, not Big Tech.

More importantly, it flips the script on voice. From being a declining utility to becoming the core channel for AI-powered services.

Fraud Detection: A Killer Use Case

One standout example is fraud detection.

Imagine receiving a suspicious call—“This is the Bank of Canada, we need your details.” Radisys’ AI listens, detects red flags, and whispers a warning in your ear. “Proceed with caution—potential fraud detected.”

Better yet, it automatically logs, transcribes, and reports the event—regionally tuned to local fraud trends. This is real-time protection at scale, with models trained for each market and updated continuously.

Why Radisys?

Radisys has quietly powered real-time media infrastructure for over 180 global operators. With more than 15 years of deployment experience, they’re already embedded where it matters: in the media layer of the IMS core.

Their heritage makes them a rare breed: a partner that understands real-time, IMS, telco-grade reliability, and AI. Combine that with a platform like Engage, and you get telco-native innovation without the integration headache.

This isn’t CPaaS or over-the-top voice automation. This is native telco AI voice, built for scale, built for privacy, and ready for monetization.

The Bottom Line

Radisys didn’t just bring voice back—they brought it forward.

With AI running directly in the network, telcos have a clear path to:

✅ Launch revenue-generating services fast

✅ Differentiate with in-network AI experiences

✅ Compete without giving up control to third-party apps

✅ Serve every user, regardless of device

It’s time to stop thinking of voice as legacy. With Radisys, voice becomes the OS of intelligent engagement—no app store required.