Revolutionizing telecom for the AI era

Originally published by Fast Company

Lumen Technologies’ CEO outlined what business leaders need to know now to prepare for the AI economy, from critical infrastructure to culture change.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the landscape of work and business at a staggering rate. New tools and trends seem to emerge at a near daily rate: generative AI, advanced large language models, agentic AI and more. One thing underpins each of these breakthroughs: a powerful, intelligent fiber network.

But traditional legacy systems are not equipped for the demands of AI or the promise of enterprise workloads AI will help to build. Telecom needs a transformation, and it’s one that will redefine the future of technology innovation.

“The networks of yesterday simply do not serve the AI needs of tomorrow,” said Kate Johnson, CEO of Lumen Technologies, during a “fireside chat” presented by Lumen at Fast Company’s annual Most Innovative Companies Summit. Johnson discussed what business leaders need to know about next-generation fiber infrastructure, why it’s enabling the AI-powered future of business and how to begin shifting their cultures now.

Here are three takeaways from the discussion. (Some comments have been edited for length and clarity; scroll to the bottom to watch the entire presentation.)

1. Modernizing networks is essential to prepare for the AI-driven economy.

The future of connectivity matters far beyond the telecom industry—in fact, it will affect how all of us live and work. “Infrastructure is super boring until it becomes critical,” Johnson said. “And it is critical. It’s a matter of national security; it’s a matter of innovation; it’s a matter of economic development.”

She recommends that organizations and leaders of all kinds follow this space closely, as it will have a major impact on how their businesses adopt AI and operate in the future. Planning is a long game, she added, and she recognizes this is inherently challenging.

“Critical infrastructure is not something that you can build overnight. It takes time and it takes planning,” Johnson added. “People say, ‘Well, I don’t really know what we’re going to look like in a year or five or 10, so how the heck do I build critical infrastructure to support something I haven’t defined yet?’ That’s what we’re all grappling with.”

At this stage, she said, leaders can focus on transforming how their functions work. That means evolving their cultures, the way they lead and even their own personal mindsets.

2. For innovation to flourish, company culture needs to support experimentation and change.

The speed of AI’s adoption rate is staggering, and it may eclipse the internet and cell phone as the fastest-diffusing technology in history, Johnson noted. And that’s why businesses cannot afford to wait on the sidelines.

When cloud computing emerged several years ago, many companies were nervous to put their data in the cloud, Johnson said. They weren’t comfortable doing so until others tested it first. But that wait-and-see approach, she warned, will not work with AI. “You do not have time to take a seat and watch,” she said. “Because the pace of innovation is measured in minutes and hours—not days, weeks and months.”

As Johnson put it, many team members may be reticent to jump in and experiment because, traditionally, corporate America has focused on “mastery.” They’ve been trained to think that if they’re presenting an idea to their boss, they must know all the answers to questions they might face. But that mindset doesn’t work today given how quickly AI tools are evolving.

“You have to promote a mindset about getting it right, not being right—and that is a fundamental shift for every human being, because they don’t want to make a mistake,” Johnson said. “AI right now is about trial and error, so you have to say, ‘It’s expected that we’re going make mistakes.’ Nobody knows how this story will play out, so you have to create an environment and the culture that enables change.”

3. Leaders must immerse themselves in AI if they expect their teams to experiment with it.

To promote that culture of experimentation and change, however, leaders cannot simply dictate to others. They must inspire that transformation by living it themselves. Johnson recommended they take two specific actions: First, experiment with several AI tools and use them frequently—the occasional query to ChatGPT will not suffice. “If you’re a leader and you’re not using AI every single day, more than 10 times a day, then don’t expect your team to use it,” Johnson said.

Second, leaders should look “very deeply” within themselves to identify old patterns of thinking that won’t serve them in this evolving landscape and recognize what and how they must change going forward. “It’s almost always going to be oriented around your mindset—being comfortable with this profound uncertainty regarding the future, not only of the environment around us, but also what your company looks like within it,” Johnson said. “It’s time to get off the bench and get into the game.”

Watch the full panel below:

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