AI is drastically changing how organizations plan for network growth.

For years, network teams could forecast bandwidth needs months in advance, build long procurement cycles into their plans and confidently predict when additional capacity would be needed. Today, AI workloads, cloud expansion and growing data demands are disrupting that model.

In the first episode of the new Lumen podcast series, Scaling Without Compromise, leaders from Lumen and Ciena discuss how AI is reshaping bandwidth planning—and why speed, predictability and capacity are becoming intertwined.

Watch the full conversation to understand how AI is changing bandwidth planning and why faster, more predictable capacity matters now.

AI is compressing planning cycles

Organizations need infrastructure that can scale faster and more predictably than traditional delivery timelines often allow.

“We all really kind of planned for this, but not this big. Not this fast,” said Ciena Sales Director Mark Jencks.

That challenge is exactly what inspired Lumen® Wavelength RapidRoutes℠, a solution designed to simplify and accelerate access to high-capacity wavelength services. By offering predefined routes with validated capacity and an industry-leading 20-business-day service installation SLA* on qualifying routes, RapidRoutes℠ helps organizations access the connectivity they need with greater speed and certainty.

Lumen Wholesale Product Architect Patrick Urgento explained why this matters.

“When a world is changing so fast, sometimes you can’t think a year ahead.”

That observation reflects what many organizations are experiencing as AI adoption accelerates across nearly every industry.

The new reality of network planning

The rise of AI has created a new reality for infrastructure teams. Demand for connectivity is growing faster, and in many cases, less predictable than before.

Organizations building AI-enabled environments often need additional bandwidth to connect data centers, move data between cloud environments and support new application workloads. What once felt like a comfortable planning horizon can suddenly become a constraint.

As Urgento noted, “We have customers that plan their wave upgrades a year in advance because they have to. What if they could think about it 90 days or 60 days in advance, make that decision and have confidence that someone can deliver that in 30 days? I mean, it would change the way they operate, the way they do business.”

The challenge is not simply securing bandwidth. It’s making sure network capacity is available when business requirements change.

Why speed matters as much as capacity

Historically, network buying decisions often focused on price and performance. Today, delivery timelines have become increasingly important.

Lumen VP of Wholesale Segments Gabe Gomez explains, “More and more, they’re wanting to vote with their watch versus their wallet.”

Businesses do not want to delay growth opportunities because they are waiting for connectivity. They need infrastructure that can adapt as requirements evolve.

That need for speed is reflected in the RapidRoutes℠ approach. Rather than requiring extensive route engineering for every deployment, predefined high-demand routes help simplify the delivery process and provide a more predictable path to service activation.

The episode also explains how Lumen changed its network operations model to stay ahead of AI-driven demand—including building two line systems at a time. As Urgento put it, "Normally what you would want to do is relax your SLAs. We took that surge in demand and we shortened our SLAs. That’s unheard of.”

Confidence through predictability

When organizations know that capacity can be provisioned predictably, they gain more flexibility to support AI initiatives, react to growth opportunities and make infrastructure decisions based on business needs rather than lengthy deployment timelines.

That’s the central theme behind RapidRoutes℠ and the broader conversation explored in the podcast: helping customers access the bandwidth they need, when they need it.

As AI continues to reshape how businesses operate, the organizations that can scale quickly and confidently will be better positioned for what’s next. Discover how Lumen® Wavelength RapidRoutes℠ helps organizations access high-capacity connectivity with greater speed, predictability and confidence when it matters most.

_{*Based on publicly available SLAs and service installation data for major U.S. wavelength providers, and market share data from the July 2024 Atlantic-ACM North American Business Connectivity Survey, SLAs may vary by provider, location and contract terms.}

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