Alianza and Vonage complete the CASA26 sponsor lineup — and two of our partners spent last week proving what the week is about.

The capability was never the problem. Coordination is. Six years of working groups, roundtables, partnerships and research keep pointing at the same finding — and CASA26 in Amsterdam is built to test it.

Partnership is the word every operator reaches for. Three questions separate a real one from procurement with a photograph attached — and why that argument is what CASA26 is built around.

Three earnings beats in seventy-two hours, three completely different verdicts from the market. Seven weeks to CASA26 — and nobody’s bingo card survived the summer.

At CASA25’s Showcase Challenge, not every demo was about AI agents or voice bots. XConnect’s Mark Harvey took a different route — literally.

Instead of asking what can AI do with networks?, Mark asked a simpler, and arguably harder, question:

What happens when network APIs actually work together — across borders, at scale, in the real world?

The answer came in the form of something unexpected: the world’s first truly global marathon.

It sounds like a gimmick. Until you realise what’s really being demonstrated.

The Problem with Most “Network API” Use Cases

Mark kicked off with a blunt observation. Most network API discussions today are local.

Single country. Single operator. Single use case.

Yet the real promise of telecom networks has always been global. Connectivity without borders. Services that work wherever people are — not just where an operator happens to operate.

So the XConnect team flipped the model.

What if you designed a use case that had to work across countries, networks, and operators from day one?

A Global Marathon, Powered by Telco APIs

The concept was deceptively simple.

Participants around the world run a marathon together — not in the same city, not even the same country, but connected digitally through a shared experience. Your marathon buddy might be in London while you’re running in Amsterdam. Different routes, same distance. Different conditions, shared challenge.

This wasn’t a mock-up. The app exists. It works. And under the hood, it’s powered entirely by telco APIs.

Not one or two — twelve GSMA Open Gateway APIs, layered together.

Why One API Is Never Enough

This was the real lesson of the demo.

• Number Verification enabled seamless login without passwords or OTP friction.
• Device Location ensured runners were where they said they were — no spoofing, no cheating.
• Geofencing dynamically adjusted routes in real time when runners hit roadblocks or restricted areas.
• Quality on Demand ensured the app kept working during high-density events with thousands of runners.
• KYC verified that users were who they claimed to be — using operator-grade data, not third-party guesswork.
• Roaming APIs confirmed cross-border authenticity without VPN tricks.
• OTP existed as a fallback, because resilience matters.
• Traffic Influence helped organisers manage crowds and alert authorities when needed.
• Carrier Billing opened the door to commerce, subscriptions, and operator revenue.
• SIM Swap and fraud-related APIs added another layer of trust and security.

Individually, these APIs are interesting.

Together, they create something meaningful.

That was the mic-drop moment.

From “Just a Demo” to a Commercial Question

Mark was refreshingly honest. This wasn’t built as a product. It started as “a bit of fun.”

But then something interesting happened.

A major sports brand asked a very real question: “Is this commercial?”

Suddenly, the conversation shifted.

If Strava can reach 150 million users and generate hundreds of millions in revenue, why couldn’t a telco-enabled platform — with built-in trust, identity, billing, and global reach — unlock similar value?

Subscription models. White-labelled platforms. Operator-led services. Brand partnerships. Commerce.

The business models are obvious once the capability exists.

Who Actually Wins?

That question came fast from the judges.

Mark’s answer was clear: operators should be the ultimate winners.

Not by selling one API at a time, but by enabling platforms that others want to build on. By making networks programmable in ways that developers, brands, and global communities can actually use.

The global marathon wasn’t about sport.

It was about showing that real value emerges when APIs are layered, orchestrated, and exposed as part of an ecosystem — not sold as isolated technical features.

Not a Sprint, a Marathon

There was a fitting metaphor in Mark’s closing exchange.

A global marathon isn’t about racing the same hill, the same street, or the same temperature. It’s about running the same distance together.

Much like network APIs.

This isn’t a sprint for quick wins. It’s a long-term play that rewards collaboration, scale, and persistence.

Or as Mark put it:

“Let’s run the world together.”

At CASA25, XConnect showed that when telco APIs stop living in slide decks — and start powering shared experiences — the opportunity becomes very real, very fast.

At CASA25, Boris Maric, Commercial Excellence Officer at Infobip, took the stage with a bold statement: “Conversations are becoming the operating system of customer experience.”

Not the interface. Not the channel. The operating system.

It’s a radical reframing—but one that cuts straight to the heart of what Intelligent Engagement really means in this next era.

And Infobip isn’t just theorizing. They’re building. Testing. Scaling. Pivoting. Because for Boris and the team, it’s clear: if we don’t evolve from messaging to orchestration, someone else will.

From Channels to Conversations to Orchestration

Infobip’s journey is grounded in a simple but powerful insight: conversations are now the homepage of CX.

What used to be done across websites, apps, and disconnected touchpoints is now collapsing into a single thread—literally. One WhatsApp conversation. One RCS flow. One smart agent that knows what you need before you ask.

It’s the convergence of three forces:

• Conversational Messaging Boom – Already embedded in our daily lives.
• Messaging Channels Becoming Super Apps – Seamless, in-channel discovery, action, and support.
• The Rise of Agentic AI – Moving from assistive to autonomous engagement.

This shift means the interface shrinks and the backend complexity explodes. If you’re doing it right, the customer sees a single, simple thread. Behind it: orchestration, personalization, security, failover, and real-time data—powered by a blend of CPaaS infrastructure and generative AI.

Trust. Guide. Act.

Boris introduced a simple but compelling model: Trust, Guide, Act.

It’s not about “blasting messages.” It’s about embedding value inside a conversation.

• Trust is the entry point—built through verification, branding, and secure network APIs.
• Guidance comes through rich UI elements: suggested replies, contextual content, personalized flows.
• Action is the goal: a purchase, a booking, a service interaction, all within one seamless journey.

And when all three align? “The interface shrinks.” One thread. One customer. One intelligent engagement.

From Use Cases to Agentic Workflows

Infobip’s current focus includes:

• Smart chatbots and AI assistants
• AI-supported call center flows
• Fraud detection and prevention (leveraging network APIs)
• End-to-end campaign orchestration

But Boris emphasized a critical next step: evolving from isolated use cases to agentic workflows.

This means AI doesn’t just support the flow—it becomes the flow. Taking action, triggering transactions, orchestrating across systems.

In a world where AI eats SaaS, that shift becomes existential.

The Hard Truth: CPaaS Must Change

Boris didn’t shy away from the elephant in the room. Growth is slowing. Margins are under pressure. AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a disruptor.

AI is disintermediating SaaS, allowing enterprises to build more in-house.

Ecosystems are gaining power, simplifying procurement and increasing stickiness.

Messaging is commoditizing, and unless CPaaS evolves, it risks being relegated to the plumbing.

To lead in this new landscape, CPaaS providers must:

• Control the omnichannel orchestration layer
• Extract and leverage the value of first-party and contextual data
• Accelerate Network API adoption with telcos
• Build AI-native, agentic solutions that drive outcomes

In Boris’s words: “We need to take the orchestration part and lead the entire industry.”

Redefining CPaaS: Three Layers of Intelligent Engagement

Infobip’s framework to navigate this shift breaks CPaaS into three interconnected layers:

• Trust Layer – Network APIs and telco-grade infrastructure
• Omnichannel Layer – Preferred channels, failover scenarios, and real-time adaptability
• Action Layer – AI and agentic systems that execute, decide, and perform tasks autonomously

The future? Not just richer conversations, but conversational operating systems—fully integrated, intelligent, and outcome-driven.

What’s Holding Us Back?

Despite the vision, there are friction points. Boris didn’t sugarcoat them:

• Slower telco alignment on Network APIs
• Regional fragmentation in operator models
• Lack of orchestration maturity across the stack
• CPaaS industry inertia: stuck in “messaging” while others build full-stack solutions

But there’s a path forward.

Start with use cases that work.

Build them with startups and risk-takers, not just enterprises.

Orchestrate across channels, data, and AI—and make it seamless.

Final Word: This Is the AI Opportunity

Infobip sees two key accelerants ahead:

Agentic AI – to drive real-time, autonomous action CPaaS as the orchestrator – leading enterprise and telco transformation

And Boris left us with this clear call to action:

“We sit on a ton of data. We already have the infrastructure. The next battle is orchestration. If we win that, we win the future.”

Watch this space. The future of customer experience is being rebuilt—one intelligent conversation at a time.

Over the past decade, programmable communications have evolved in waves—each bringing us closer to the vision of truly intelligent, adaptive, and trusted engagement.

Wave 1: CPaaS – The Programmable Foundation

Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) unlocked the ability to integrate voice, messaging, and video directly into applications. For developers and enterprises alike, CPaaS was the first step toward agility—moving away from siloed systems and into programmable, API-driven engagement.

Wave 2: Network APIs – Opening the Telco Core

With initiatives like GSMA Open Gateway, telcos have begun exposing valuable network capabilities—such as Quality on Demand, SIM swap detection, location verification, and identity checks—through standard APIs. This step added a new dimension: trusted, network-level context that CPaaS alone could not provide.

Wave 3: vCons – Structuring the Conversation

Virtual Conversations (vCons) emerged as a shared format for capturing, storing, and sharing interactions across platforms. For the first time, multimodal engagement data (voice, video, messaging, metadata) could be standardized—making it easier to analyze, train AI models, and create consistent experiences across channels.

Wave 4: AI APIs – Context + Intelligence at Scale

The next leap is already here: AI APIs, especially those powered or enriched by telco assets. AI APIs are not just about large language models—they are about combining context (via network APIs), structure (via vCons), and programmability (via CPaaS) to create truly intelligent engagement.

This is where agentic AI comes into play—AI systems that don’t just respond, but act, orchestrate, and decide across multiple systems. Imagine:

An AI customer assistant enriched with real-time network identity checks. A proactive service bot that shifts channels based on QoS triggers. An enterprise agent that combines vCon conversation history with AI-driven sentiment and network data to personalize every interaction.

Why Telco AI APIs Matter

Telcos have unique data, infrastructure, and trust advantages:

Local presence and regulatory compliance. Low-latency edge compute for real-time AI. Verified identity and secure network paths.

When telcos expose AI capabilities as APIs—either homegrown or in partnership with hyperscalers—they can play a central role in the AI engagement layer.

Shaping the Ecosystem at CASA25

At CASA25, we’ll be exploring this convergence head-on:

CPaaS providers bringing orchestration and reach. Telcos exposing network APIs and AI services. vCon innovators ensuring conversation data is clean and portable. AI leaders pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in real-time engagement.

This is not just technology evolution—it’s ecosystem orchestration. Together, we can define the frameworks, playbooks, and demonstrations that show the world what Intelligent Engagement really looks like.

The question is no longer if this will happen. The question is who will lead it.