The AI-Powered Enterprise: Insights from Lumen Technologies | Intel Business
Welcome to Intel on AI, the podcast that connects listeners with leaders. My name is Heather, and I will be your host. Today's guest is Ryan Asdourian. Ryan is the EVP and chief marketing officer at Lumen Technologies.
He is a self-professed device geek who is seeking ways to create technology to suit its user across every employment sector. Lumen Technologies focuses on creativity and innovation for limitless advancement in AI. Ryan also recently celebrated his one year anniversary with the company. -Ryan, welcome to Intel on AI. -Awesome. Thank you, Heather, for having me. It's great to be here.
So we have a huge amount of topics to get through. It's really, really exciting. So I'm going to dive right in if you're ready. -Great. Let's do it. -Great. So this feels like an understatement. AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented rate.
I feel like by the time we finish this podcast, something will be different. But I want to ask, how is Lumen Technologies enabling businesses to build AI ready infrastructure? Yeah. Well, first of all, let me start by saying what Lumen really does is it connects people. It connects data. It connects applications. We're building this backbone for the AI economy.
And we have been rooted in connection for the entire existence of our company. But it is happening at an unprecedented rate of reset. It's just we're at the forefront of enabling this AI-ready infrastructure in this multi-cloud infrastructure. And so this is really how, we have thought about our place in the world.
We have this private connectivity fabric. It's designed for AI workloads. It helps companies understand how they can build these high capacity, low latency connections. And we are really focused on how we connect the world in this AI world, which is creating all sorts of new infrastructure and connectivity needs.
So we're really focused on making sure companies have what they need, from hyperscalers to enterprises and to building these AI network. Amazing. Now, when we talk about being at the forefront of edge computing and private connectivity, how did these technologies support AI-driven applications? Yeah, when you're thinking about these AI-driven applications, you know, in the first phase, you have really these hyperscalers and data centers connecting between them. As you think about kind of that edge computing space and where, enterprises are going to need these AI-driven applications, you think about things like data management, you think about, the talent that's building them, the system integration of all of them. And then where is that data set? Where is the data resident where, you know, great sovereignty over.
Did you ever ride PII? All those things become really, really important. Now what our network does, it isn't it enables companies and from small companies to, you know, hyperscalers to understand how they can build this AI specific networking. And they have to think about things like latency, things about real time decision making, where you might have the fastest path changing in real time. And you need to make sure that all the things in the cloud are connected. When you think about crucial industries like autonomous vehicles, health care, manufacturing, financial services, when you can inference and have the edge there as well, you can have quicker deployment, you can have quicker integration of technologies, and that allows you to be on the forefront of AI.
Now, AI is only as powerful as the data it processes so far, can't create its own, but we'll see what happens by the end of this podcast. How does Lumen Technologies help businesses to optimize their data movement and security for these AI applications? Yeah. Okay. So we want to make sure it's your data. You need to have it your way. And we try to give you all the flexibility that you need to make sure AI applications were in the way that you designed them. Now our private connectivity fabric, that is the thing that's going to offer you fast reliable high capacity connections.
And that's going to let you choose. Kind of like I was saying before, the right path in the right way. So that you're getting that high bandwidth, low latency security where we talk about Lumen as the trusted network for AI. That trust award is really important when we think about fiber.
We have Lumen Defender for internet on demand. And that is seeing a lot of what's happening across network traffic and how stop cyberthreats in real time. So really we're we're focused on empowering businesses to fully utilize AI and do it in a safe way so they can meet all their innovation and goals. So it's kind of like Burger King. You want to have it your way. Yeah, we we sometimes talk about that. Yes.
And the you know, the customer experience is at the center of everything that we do. The customer experience is the product. We have to make sure as we're delivering these, this high bandwidth connectivity, customers are getting in their way. Absolutely. Just a couple minutes earlier, you mentioned about AI in the cloud. If you could be more specific about what role does high speed, low latency connectivity play in making AI more effective? It's everything.
It's essential. It is table stakes for great AI performance. And if you think back even, you know, 25 years ago, the needs for the internet have not changed dramatically. AI has changed that entire game, and data needs to find fiber quickly, because that is what's going to help you get to this high performance, high speed, low latency connectivity.
The AI, not only needs, it demands. And when you think about our extensive fiber network, that is making sure that a lot of those connections are available and that they're reliable. Now, on the edge computing side, too, you also have to bring that data together. You have to protect the data.
You have to enable it for real time decisions. And you see this in all sorts of industries, but you want to get to not only the cloud, you need to get to multi-cloud, and you need to get there fast across in different regions. And so in order to do that, you need to rethink the way your network is built and the way that your enterprises serve. And that's really what, private connectivity fabric is about. It's the reference architecture that allows, that allows customers to build it in the way that they need for AI. As we've learned and as we've seen so much technology come into play in our lives, we sort of see it as being a separate sort of thing that I use.
-Yeah. -But I'm really curious about how AI is actually going to change the human. So how do you see AI reshaping business roles and skills in the coming years? Yeah, well, I really believe that, you know, AI is enhancing all employees ability to be productive.
It's transferring operations and driving efficiencies. And when we think about tools, you want tools that are not only going to change the trajectory of what you can do, but they're also going to be internal to our culture. They're going to be part of the way that people work. We use Copilot 365 we use GitHub.
All of these are integral to our to our culture. And you use them every single day. C-suite executives, AI ethics officers, AI product managers, all of these people, they've got to make these informed decisions.
We have to make sure you ensure responsible AI is, you know, you're using it in that way, and you have to have the strategy. It also involves training employees when you need an AI literacy and upskilling program, because you want people to also get the most out of these tools, just like they would any other app or tool on your PC. This is really about how I can help transform in different ways.
And our network is a backbone of that. It helps customers, responds to all of these AI advancements in real time, and get the most out of these tools. Nice. I want to talk a little more about AI at the Edge, which I can't every time I've mentioned it and read about it, I feel like we're talking about U2, who is also so cool. And I'm going to go like, let's talk about the Edge. And he was the coolest guy.
So I guess that kind of connects. Which industries or applications do you see benefiting the most from Edge AI infrastructure? The common standouts that I think about, you know, when you're thinking about how is that really a if you can think of all the way to autonomous vehicles or rely on instant AI processing for safety, if you have, you know, an EV or any sort of car that has some self-driving functionality, you've seen this, you've seen this happen where it is reacting in real time and it has to be instant. Human safety is on the light. Manufacturing uses this, they had a real time sensor data analytics, that will help us predict the minutes.
That's changing the economics of manufacturing companies. Health care is something I'm really passionate about. You mean, these AI insights? You also need these incredibly large, data sets. Something, you know, personal for me.
I live with multiple sclerosis, and I'm on the board for the MS Society, We talk about all the time how we need all of this data to understand autoimmune diseases and how we can build cures for them. And health care is benefiting from, not only these fancy AI insights, but these broad, you know, data sets that need to connect across the world. And, and then if you think about retail, retail's using AI, for personalized customer experiences, you know, and fraud prevention, they both of these really focus in here. And it changes the way, retailers can get customers to the products they think they want and customers can also customers can also get to the products that they want, in the right way. And so whether it is the vehicles manufacturing, the health care, the retail, what we see on the future of like, humanoid robots and where they have a place, all these things are a place where Lumen sees the ability to help those partners rapidly deploy and support the technology that they are driving against.
Yeah. It's interesting. When you talk about multiple sclerosis, when you talk about living with something every day and knowing if I knew other people's experiences, if we could connect to this data, if we could combine all of these little pieces to come together, we can all start to move forwards about how we can help, you know, daily comfort in terms of these situations. I also feel personally, about that technology. It is something that I'm also excited to see the advancement on. The special things about that is, as you think about, health care has a lot of regulations.
But when we talk about a trusted network and a trusted AI ethical AI, you have to get, people comfortable with what the technology can do in a positive way. And so, there is different diseases. But then I also think about, MRI scans and all that data of millions of people, if they, choose to subscribe to that and share their data, then you can suddenly have different ways to process on a much larger scale and learn in ways that this world has never learned before. And I think that can help us, really improve health care, for the masses. And that does lead us back to that human connectivity. We know this isn't just data.
This is a person's experience that is similar to mine. And I didn't have access to their data, to their feelings, to their experience. And now I have millions of people experiencing these same things that I do.
You start to feel connected because of that data advancement. A 100%. And you know, these real world use cases, they can help benefit the health care.
They can also or the health system, if you will... it's beyond just the diseases. It's about what does a patient think about. You know the outcomes that they want. What are the costs that they have to pay.
If you think about all of that analysis, if you can do that faster, you can also reduce patient costs. Hospitals can put more money into research and same thing You know, I talked about vehicles manufacturing and health care and retail. Like if you think about the the idea of what manufacturing can really do when you start doing that predictive maintenance and you think about the automation. Totally, you get more time back to build in efficiency to your products to increase the product quality.
And this is where I think I really helps our world to think about how we can do more, with the time that we have and the resources that we have. Amazing. Now we are on a podcast for Intel, so I'm wondering what kinds of partnerships that Lumen is currently working on with Intel to advance AI capabilities. Yeah, well, we talk about the edge, and we've talked about the edge a lot.
I think, you know, one of the things I'm coming to you right now on a surface device powered by Intel, and I love what that gives me. I mean, from the device to the capabilities to getting to use the tools that are not only connected to the cloud, but then on the edge and the endpoint of how that comes together. It's something that, you know, we've got, in spades across, across our company so that as we start to deploy these, we're able to use the processors that are at the edge to really go and make sure, we're able to use the new technology. We're also able to use it in a protected and safe way. And, you know, that's one of the partnerships we rely on, in a very deep way.
Now, I want to come back. We've mentioned a couple of times the topic of security, and I want to just give a little more time and opportunity to really delve into that topic, because with growth comes the concern of security across every industry, across every advancement. Yeah. So how does Lumen help organizations to ensure that their AI-driven data flows are secure and resilient? Yeah.
If I go back to the trusted network for AI and the word trusted in there, where does that come from and where do we have the validation from that? We have a division called Black Lotus Labs. It's our threat intelligence arm. And really it's focused on detecting and stopping cyber threats. Now, what is really interesting about Black Lotus Labs is the information that they it's a C. We say, you know, we see more and we're able to stop more because we're looking at the network or, flow data of our entire network. And so you want to use that to identify and then disrupt what those significant threats can be.
We're using AI for automated protection. We're using it for threat okay. In fact, just as last year we were recognized as the 2024 cyber security, Breakthrough Threat Intelligence Company of the year, which we're really proud of. But it's because we're able to see what's happening across the network and so much of AI relies on the network. AI needs data, data needs data centers, data centers need connectivity.
And that data has to find that fiber fast. So we take our role very seriously, not to only connect, but to protect. Amazing. I think technology, we mentioned earlier, I have kids, you have kids. They, they're embracing this technology so quickly. The concept that it's just there and they go, okay, great.
This does this. Great. Good, great. I want to talk a little more, maybe about some of the old dogs of the industry, the people who are a little more wary or a little more hesitant about how this technology gets integrated into their workplaces. When the feeling is: We're fine. The way that we've been doing it, is fine. I don't think I need to change. So as this technology continues to evolve, what advice would you give for C-suite leaders looking to integrate AI into their operations effectively that has economic value? The good news is on our kids adopting AI.
They are the future C-suite leaders here over the world. And you see the way also, you know, all kids are picking this technology up so quickly, it will just become natural. And if you're hesitating to AI, you know, I kind of think about it in, the constant for many, many years, like, yeah, you know, for as long as, businesses have been around is that business goals will always push further and faster ahead. So then businesses can thrive. When you think about how you can align your AI objectives to those business goals, if you're not choosing do I adopt AI or do I not adopt AI? You're choosing to say, am I going to meet and exceed my business goals and am I going to take this company to the next level? To do that, you've got to have the AI-ready infrastructure.
With the right technology stack. You've got to - it's the foundation. And you've got to prioritize building that now so that you can be ready for the fast disruption that is already happening. It's hard to even fathom that it was on purpose, like two years ago, a year and a half ago, when you started to see what was happening with Open AI, LLMs, Gen AI in different ways, it has happened very quickly and the pace of it is not slowing down. So, you know, for any business leader, it's really about aligning your AI objectives with the business goals. Cause that's going to help you figure out how you're going to meet the right prioritization costs.
You have to have the right data quality. Great data in equals great data out. You've got to have the right accessibility. You gotta make sure all users are empowered with it, and you've got to have the right security. And so you really want to think about how you can get these tools out there, test them, deploy them.
Understand how that may affect any existing systems. But the truth is, these systems are evolving so rapidly, and their purpose is to help our employees move our business goals forward faster. And that's the game changer that we're all here for as business leaders. So, you know, let's go.
Yeah. It's coming has such a great answer. It becomes that ceiling of moving forward rather than catching up. Yeah. And I think you've done such a great job of explaining that the desire behind the why and how we advance and why I want to advance, and what my business goals are, are the ways that I think your technology becomes malleable. And it really, really becomes to suit the individual business rather than, here's the thing, make it work, within your company. And it's really kind of the opposite way of thinking.
That's right, that's right. I want to thank you for coming on the show today. This was a really amazing conversation, and I loved how much you kept bringing it back to the human connectivity and the human need to feel better, to connect with each other, to build our businesses together.
But ultimately, all of those words became together, us, we, feel. It was really, really powerful. When technology feels like such an autonomous, separate thing from ourselves. So I want to thank you for that angle and for the work that Lumen is doing.
So thank you to all of our listeners. This was Ryan Asdourian, and you can find him on all platforms, including LinkedIn, which is really fabulous. I really enjoyed reading some of your articles. Thank you so much for being here today. Have a great day, everyone.
2025-04-05 03:23
