At CASA25, Melissa Holtz, Senior Research Manager at IDC, led a high-energy discussion on one of the most strategic questions in communications today:

how can telcos reclaim ownership and differentiation in an API-driven, AI-infused world?

The panel — featuring Michael Brandenburg (RingCentral), Nicola Fidanzia (Ooma/2600Hz), Jörgen Björkner (iotcomms.io), and Jon Brinton (Crexendo/NetSapiens) — explored how service providers can build their own platforms without depending entirely on hyperscalers or global CPaaS vendors. The result was a candid look at what “platform sovereignty” really means — and why vertical APIs and agentic AI may finally make it possible.

APIs as the Glue in a Fragmented Ecosystem

Melissa opened with a key observation:

“It’s not just about CPaaS or network APIs. APIs are the glue connecting everyone across the ecosystem.”

Indeed, all four panelists represent different layers of that ecosystem — from UCaaS/CCaaS platforms to deep API frameworks and full-stack CPaaS offerings. What unites them is the belief that flexibility and control matter again. Telcos want the ability to deploy locally, meet compliance and sovereignty requirements, and build services that reflect their customers’ realities — not someone else’s roadmap.

From Open Platforms to Vertical APIs

RingCentral’s Michael Brandenburg reminded the audience that the company’s journey toward an open platform started more than a decade ago — long before “CPaaS” was a mainstream term.

“We don’t really call it a CPaaS, but everything we do is API-enabled,” he said.

“The milestone moment was when we opened our platform and built around APIs — that’s what allowed UCaaS, CCaaS, events, and AI to converge.”

That convergence has made RingCentral’s approach increasingly “verticalized.” Financial services, healthcare, and retail clients now expect communication tools that speak their business language.

“Standalone solutions are no longer a go-forward strategy,” Brandenburg emphasized. “Every engagement starts with integration.”

iotcomms.io: Bottom-Up Innovation and AI Data Bridges

For Jörgen Björkner, co-founder of iotcomms.io, the story starts from the bottom up. His company works closely with developers and telcos to solve specific problems, often co-creating solutions before standardizing them for others.

“Instead of saying, ‘here’s our standard API, good luck,’ we collaborate deeply with our partners. Every challenge we solve becomes a reusable module for the next one.”

That hands-on approach led to AI Connect, an AI-enabled service that unifies real-time telco data and metadata for AI systems. It bridges the messy world of codecs, networks, and protocols — feeding AI platforms clean, contextual streams.

For Björkner, the lesson is clear: innovation happens when telcos and developers meet halfway, not when they operate in silos.

Crexendo (NetSapiens): Compliance, Customization, and the Partner Edge

Jon Brinton, CRO of Crexendo (NetSapiens), described a company that powers over 7 million users through 235+ service providers worldwide — often invisibly.

“We’re the NVIDIA inside their experience,” he said. “End customers don’t know it’s NetSapiens — our partners are the ones bringing vision and vertical specialization.”

That partner-led model has created surprising success stories, from financial compliance use cases to pest control field services — all powered by APIs. The challenge, Brinton noted, is balancing agility with reliability and security:

“With that many deployments, you can’t break what’s already working. Every update has to respect compliance frameworks, privacy, and sovereignty.”

Crexendo uses early-access programs and iterative DevOps cycles to test new AI capabilities safely — echoing a theme across the panel: AI can’t just be plugged in; it has to be governed.

Ooma / 2600Hz: Voice Reimagined, ROI Proven

Nicola Fidanzia of Ooma/2600Hz highlighted a white-labeled platform that lets telcos and niche providers build their own branded UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS offerings. The flexibility is crucial, but the results speak louder.

He shared a case study with ServiceTitan, a platform for electricians, plumbers, and HVAC installers:

“By integrating our APIs with their preferred AI provider, they went to market in under two quarters — and increased lead conversion by 11%.”

Fidanzia also pushed back on the “voice is dead” narrative:

“Voice is still king. AI gives it a second life as another data channel — one that’s natural, human, and incredibly powerful.”

His advice for telcos experimenting with AI was pragmatic: start small.

“Don’t chase impossible problems. Begin with simple AI tasks in voice, see real outcomes, and build from there.”

Beyond Tech: Cultural Transformation and DevOps Mindset

For Björkner, the hardest challenge isn’t APIs or AI — it’s culture.

“Technology is the easy part. The real shift is how you organize around it.”

He contrasted today’s agile DevOps loops with the old telco model of multi-year feedback cycles.

“In the past, it took a year to learn something was broken — and another year to fix it. Now, the same team builds, runs, and fixes in real time.”

That mindset shift — from silos to speed — is what telcos must internalize if they want to own their platforms rather than rent them.

Guardrails for an AI-Driven Future

As the discussion closed, Holtz returned to AI’s risks — hallucinations, toxicity, and loss of control.

Brinton summed up the group’s philosophy:

“Start with the problem. Involve customers early. Use AI as a pillar, not a starting point. Feedback from partners and users is the best guardrail you’ll ever build.”

Key Takeaways

• Ownership matters again — telcos want flexible, sovereign platforms they can deploy locally.
• APIs are the new backbone — enabling integration, verticalization, and business differentiation.
• AI is here — but governance and culture determine success.
• Voice is reborn — as a rich, data-driven input channel for intelligent engagement.
• DevOps and co-creation are replacing the old vendor-carrier model with something faster, more collaborative, and ultimately, more human.

CASA25 once again showed how the CPaaS, UCaaS, and network API worlds are converging — and how telcos can finally build platforms they truly own.

Insights from the CASA25 Panel Moderated by Matt Townend (Cavell)

At CASA25, one of the most anticipated discussions centered on vCons — the emerging standard for capturing, structuring, and sharing conversational data across platforms and channels. Moderated by Matt Townend of Cavell Group, the panel brought together four perspectives spanning the ecosystem:

Robert Galop, CTO of Creo Solutions (software and AI platform innovator) Jon Brinton, CRO of Crexendo (NetSapiens platform, powering 235 service providers) Sebastian Schumann, Deutsche Telekom AG (DTAG) (building a sovereign CPaaS platform) Mark Ianozzi, CEO of Superior Contact (and longtime Cloud Communications Alliance leader)

Together they explored how vCons move from theory to impact — and where opinions diverged on the road ahead.

1. From Standard to Solutions

A recurring theme was the need to move beyond the technology itself. All panelists agreed that enterprises don’t buy “vCons” — they buy outcomes.

Robert Galop put it succinctly: early discussions focused on selling vCons as a concept, but “we’re quickly progressing to what we can build on top of them.”

Jon Brinton echoed the sentiment, warning against confusing customers with another acronym: “The last thing we should do is try and sell vCons. We should sell intelligent engagement.”

That closing phrase — intelligent engagement — became a shared reference point, linking this session back to the overarching CASA25 theme.

2. Use Cases: Where the Value Starts to Show

Robert Galop illustrated how some service providers are already deploying vCons to analyze every conversation, using AI to provide feedback loops that were previously impossible.

Example: a small business uses vCons to grade every call against a script, then gives front-desk employees instant coaching on what could have gone better — democratizing tools once reserved for enterprise contact centers.

Jon Brinton expanded this with two clear value drivers his partners are seeing:

Coaching at scale: moving from sampling a few calls to analyzing every conversation for agent improvement. Upsell optimization: correlating conversational data with sales outcomes to train staff on what drives higher transaction values.

Mark Ianozzi, speaking from his BPO perspective, emphasized data portability as another use case: enabling clients to migrate between contact-center platforms without losing historic conversational context. In his words, “the money is in the data,” and vCons turn that data into a transmittable asset.

3. The Telco Lens: From Minutes to Context

For Deutsche Telekom, vCons fit naturally into their sovereign CPaaS platform strategy.

Sebastian Schumann described how DTAG views vCons as an enabler for “contextual communication,” where a call is no longer just a call:

“A minute is a minute is a minute — but now minutes have different values.”

By embedding vCon capabilities into their platform, DTAG aims to transform legacy traffic into data-rich, AI-ready interactions. Schumann stressed that telcos won’t necessarily own the end-user layer, but can provide the trusted, compliant interface that others build upon — particularly important in regulated sectors like healthcare or government.

4. The Ecosystem Debate: Who Moves First?

Townend challenged the panel on whether there’s a race to claim ownership of the vCon layer — between telcos, CRM platforms, or communication vendors.

Jon Brinton acknowledged the urgency: those who “get out in front” and deliver tangible use cases early will likely control more of the data and value chain. Robert Galop agreed, describing a pragmatic path of launching simple, horizontal tools first to gain traction, before layering in vertical solutions that drive revenue growth.

Sebastian Schumann saw it differently: rather than a race for ownership, he envisioned a cooperative ecosystem, with telcos serving as the enablers providing trusted infrastructure and APIs, while innovators build the applications.

5. Vertical vs. Horizontal Paths

There was consensus that vertical specialization will emerge naturally.

Galop noted that quick-win, horizontal solutions help get telcos “in the door,” but real revenue growth comes from tailoring insights to industries — from healthcare compliance to automotive retail.

Brinton reinforced that many early adopters are already doing this: “They’re intimate with their customers’ workflows and building for specific problems, not platforms.”

6. Trust, Governance, and the Data Gold Rush

Mark Ianozzi brought the discussion full circle to AI governance and compliance. With regulators scrutinizing how AI uses data, vCons could become the audit trail of the AI era — a verifiable record of what was said, by whom, and when.

This sparked nods across the panel: vCons don’t just enable AI insights; they make AI accountable.

7. From Minutes to Meaning: The Road Ahead

As the session closed, Matt Townend asked the simplest but hardest question: Will we still be talking about vCons in five years — or just about better customer experiences?

The unanimous answer: outcomes over acronyms.

vCons will fade into the background as the invisible layer powering trusted, contextual engagement. Service providers who act early — building skills, partnerships, and initial use cases — will lead. Telcos that embed vCons into their infrastructure can finally turn their “minutes” into meaning.

🧭 The Next Step

CASA25 made clear that vCons are moving from concept to execution. But their real power lies in what comes next — an ecosystem of partners turning conversational data into trusted intelligence across industries.

If your organization is working on vCon use cases — whether in contact centers, telco platforms, or enterprise AI — the CPaaS Acceleration Alliance invites you to share your story and contribute to the evolving Case Directory. Together, we can turn this trillion-dollar idea into measurable impact.

The energy around CASA25 keeps building—and we’re excited to share that Vonage has just signed on as a sponsor! A true heavyweight in the communications space, Vonage brings the power of Ericsson and a sharp focus on Network APIs, AI, and enterprise enablement.

Their support signals something bigger: CASA25 is becoming the go-to gathering for those shaping the future of programmable communications.

And they’re in good company.

🌟 CASA25 Sponsors (to date)

• Vonage – One of the industry’s most recognized names, with deep expertise in CPaaS and network APIs.
• Gamma – A European leader in UCaaS and cloud communications, focused on next-gen collaboration.
• Crexendo – North American UCaaS/CCaaS innovator with enterprise-ready solutions.
• McKinsey & Company – Strategic powerhouse helping define the telecom and AI landscape.
• Infobip – Global platform helping enterprises and telcos drive customer engagement.
• Radisys – Pioneering open telecom solutions and programmable infrastructure.
• GSMA – Industry-wide champion of Open Gateway and network API adoption.
• Sinch – Cloud communications leader enabling personalized customer experiences.
• 2600Hz (an Ooma company) – Empowering service providers with open, modular voice platforms.
• KPN – Dutch telco leaning into network innovation and open collaboration.
• CM.com – Messaging and payments platform bridging customer experience and communication.

🔥 Why It Matters

These sponsors represent the full ecosystem—from infrastructure and platforms to consulting and customer experience. Together, they’re not just supporting an event—they’re committing to a new phase of collaboration, innovation, and real-world execution in CPaaS, AI, and telecom.

🧭 What to Expect at CASA25

Visionary Keynotes – Hear from the leaders defining what’s next in communications, APIs, and AI. Workshops That Build – Leave the slide decks behind—these are hands-on sessions for co-creation and strategy. Real Conversations – No sales fluff, just direct, practical dialogue between insiders.

CASA25 is where the future of communications takes shape—and with partners like Vonage joining, the momentum is undeniable.

Let’s build what’s next. Together.