Podcasts

Helping to scale the next generation of optical connectivity Benoit Fleury, CPO Business Director at Corning, explains how Corning is collaborating with GlobalFoundries to develop detachable fibre connector solutions for the GF Fotonix™ silicon photonics platform. The latest solution, a glass-waveguide based edge-coupler compatible with GF Fotonix’s v-grooves, is designed to meet the growing demands of AI data centres for high bandwidth and power-efficient optical connectivity. Other coupling mechanisms are also being developed, including a vertically-coupled detachable fibre-to-PIC solution – demonstrating Corning and GlobalFoundries’ combined ability to produce multiple forms of co-packaged PIC-to-fibre connectivity.

High optimism for AI in cybersecurity - with human oversight Dan Schiappa, President of Technology and Services at Arctic Wolf, discusses the results of the company’s 2025 AI report, which reveals that AI is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity, but benefits from human expertise to be truly effective. As Dan explains, the insights from the report give leaders the data they need to make smart, targeted investments, deploying AI where it can deliver measurable outcomes, cut through alert noise, and help security teams work with greater speed, accuracy, and confidence.

Axians and Nokia deliver next-generation networking solutions Chris Gilmour, CTO of Axians UK, explains how Axians, the ICT brand of VINCI Energies, and Nokia are deepening their strategic collaboration to drive the next phase of communications infrastructure and mobile network development in the EMEA region. The combined solutions are targeted to meet the growing demand for high-performing connectivity and digitalisation across industries. Axians and Nokia will now scale their joint efforts to support European organizations with resilient, high-performance networking solutions. The collaboration will focus on delivering next-generation connectivity, including optical transport, data centre networking, IP routing, private 5G, fixed network access, and secure communications technologies – with both AI and quantum computing driving the need for IT infrastructure innovation.

Q-Day - are you ready? Paul Savill, Global Practice Leader for Network and Edge at Kyndryl. Spends his time helping major organisations modernise their infrastructure to make the most of AI, strengthen security and prepare for the disruption of quantum computing. Here he discusses the approach of Q-Day, the point when quantum computers will be able to break today’s encryption. Despite the urgency, only 39% of leaders believe their IT infrastructure is ready for threats such as quantum enabled cyber-attacks. Paul shares insights as to how organisations can prepare both for the current challenges around AI adoption and the prospect of quantum computing.

AI pacesetters likely to increase their business advantage in the near future Rob Lay, Cisco, discusses the results from the third annual Cisco AI Readiness Index. A small but consistent group of companies surveyed — the ‘Pacesetters,’ about 13% of organizations for the last three years — outperform their peers across every measure of AI. The Pacesetters’ sustained advantage indicates a new form of resilience: a disciplined, system-level approach that balances strategic drivers with the data and infrastructure needed to keep pace with AI’s accelerating evolution. Rob explains what sets apart the Pacesetters and also offers advice to the majority of organisations who are caught in the gap between AI ambition and operational readiness.

Meshing matters in the DC Keith Sullivan, Director of Strategic Innovation at AFL, explains what meshing means in the context of data centres and why it is particularly important when it comes to GPU-intensive, AI compute workloads. Keith also outlines the common strategies used to implement meshing in a data centre and shares his thoughts as to how meshing will evolve over the next few years, with silicon photonics and co-packaged optics on the horizon.

Metadata emerges as the cornerstone of cyber defence Mark Jow, Gigamon Technical Evangelist, discusses the company’s recent report, “CISO Insights: Recalibrating Risk in the Age of AI”, which reveals how global CISOs are reshaping 2026 cybersecurity strategies as they seek to effectively secure and manage hybrid cloud infrastructure in the AI era. Mark explains that, as AI accelerates digital transformation and intensifies cyberattacks, data visibility and quality have become mission critical to defending hybrid cloud infrastructure. To keep pace, CISOs now need to gain a deeper level of insight, as increasing traffic volumes add complexity.

Fibre overlooked in infrastructure planning Lee Myall, CEO of Neos Networks, outlines how, over the past decade, there’s been a huge amount of investment in last-mile fibre builds, but core fibre networks across the country have received much less attention. Without them, workloads cannot move between data centres, data cannot be trained, and investments stall. The UK has the ambition, the demand and the regional readiness to lead in AI, but, as Lee explains, if we don’t address fibre gaps, we risk losing out on one of the greatest economic opportunities of our generation.

Delivering digital transformation without the elephant sandwich Matthew Irish, General Manager, Digital Services at Apogee Corporation, explains how and why many companies still find the idea of digital transformation overwhelming with multi-year projects that cost a fortune and never seem to end. Too often, businesses try to swallow the entire ‘elephant’ at once, leading to a massive, expensive, company-wide overhaul that creates more chaos than it solves. Matt outlines an alternative, smarter, less stomach-churning way to approach digital transformation. Instead of a huge, high-stakes project, he recommends a step-by-step approach that tackles one process at a time, making it easier to manage, less disruptive, and way more effective.

General disillusionment with GenAI - but (other) AI can help Maxime Vermeir, Senior Director of AI Strategy at ABBYY, discusses the results from ABBYY’s State of Intelligent Automation: GenAI Confessions 2025 survey, which reveals challenges in implementing Generative AI (GenAI) – prompting the use of other AI to improve outputs. He explains that businesses are spending money on GenAI tools that promise more than they can provide and advises that before moving forward with leveraging GenAI tools for agentic AI, companies need to first evaluate their current processes and create a visibility map of their workflow with data analytics tools such as process intelligence.

Make the most out of microgrids David Rimmer, Microgrid Business Leader UK&I at Schneider Electric, outlines the ways in which data centre microgrid deployments can contribute to energy cost savings, energy resilience and independence, and help facilities to become more sustainable.

Agentic AI that benefits all Caroline Monfrais, Global VP Strategy & Transformation, Wipro Consulting, looks at, for all the talk around cohesive AI implementation strategy and the evolution of AI Agents, what needs to be done now so that this technology helps rather than hinders human workers? Caroline shares multiple examples of how organisations, from banking to telecoms, are already using agentic AI as the catalyst to reimagine their businesses.

AI might be here, but quantum computing is looming on the horizon Daniel Thorpe, JLL's Head of Data Center Research, EMEA, outlines the findings of the company’s new "The Future of Quantum Real Estate" report, which details how quantum computing is emerging as the next major technological force, set to profoundly impact real estate – especially the data centre sector – similar to AI's recent revolution. Daniel discusses quantum investments, quantum computing infrastructure requirements, the emergence of global quantum hubs and the likely integration of quantum processing units into existing data centres, leading to hybrid facilities.

The hidden economics of AI: balancing innovation with reality Chris Carreiro, CTO, Park Place Technologies, explains why so many AI ambitions are faltering and how organisations can navigate this complex landscape. Core issues to address include the underestimation of AI's total cost of ownership, flexible strategies to account for potential future compliance costs, managing hidden implementation costs and balancing infrastructure with sustainability. Technology-wise, Chris explains the increasing importance of liquid cooling within the data centre.

Unlocking more personalised customer experiences with AI, RCS, and integrated omnichannel strategies Sophie Cheng, Sinch’s SVP of Product Marketing, discusses the findings of the company’s recent report, the state of customer communications, which explores how brands are adapting their engagement strategies as customer expectations rise, and AI adoption accelerates globally. She explains that the businesses that lead are putting the customer at the heart of their communication strategies, letting them choose how and where they want to connect and using AI, and channels like RCS, to make every interaction smarter, faster, and more meaningful.

Enabling high-performance deep learning applications on edge devices Avi Baum, CTO at Hailo, discusses why AI infrastructure needs are already shifting from centralized to edge, how telcos can evolve and future-proof their business to keep up with that transition, and what’s driving demand for AI at the network edge. Avi also talks through the company’s technology portfolio, including the Hailo-10H, its second-generation AI accelerator featuring powerful generative AI capabilities.

DENALI delivers an exciting new era in fibre-network innovation Meredith Kendrick, Product Line Manager at AFL, explains the company’s DENALI platform – with a particular focus on how it supports increasing fibre density demands in rapidly evolving, GPU-intensive fibre networks, how it helps reduce deployment time and improves infrastructure build ROI, whilst simplifying operations from order to install, and how DENALI balances global performance standards with the need for local compliance and delivery requirements.

Breach silence, attack surface reduction and AI threats top security agenda Nicholas Jackson, Director of Cyber Security Services at Bitdefender, discusses the company’s recent 2025 Cybersecurity Assessment Report, explain that businesses face mounting challenges and pressures as the attack surface expands and becomes harder to defend - from hardening environments and optimising security solutions to navigating regulatory compliance and retaining skilled professionals. He explains that organisations must adopt modern security strategies that address a new reality where adversaries use AI to exploit vulnerabilities, sharpen social engineering, and accelerate the speed of attacks.

Collaboration, the thinking factory and digital transformation Francisco Almada Lobo, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder and Jeff Winter, Vice President, Business Strategy, both at Critical Manufacturing, provide some great insights as to the themes covered at the company’s recent MES and Industry 4.0 International Summit – with AI front and centre, alongside the introduction of the ‘thinking factory’ concept, software-defined manufacturing, the importance of unified data strategies and modern architectures and perhaps the key message: collaboration is key when it comes to digital transformation.

AI disconnect between security leaders and practitioners Steve Wilson, Chief AI and Product Officer at Exabeam, discusses the company’s recent report, From Hype to Help: How AI Is (Really) Transforming Cybersecurity in 2025, explaining that there’s no shortage of AI hype in cybersecurity — but ask the people actually using the tools, and the story falls apart. Analysts are stuck managing tools that promise autonomy but constantly need tuning and supervision. Agentic AI flips that script — it doesn’t wait for instructions, it takes action, cuts through the noise, and moves investigations forward without dragging teams down.”

Looking to the future of storage Eric Herzog, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinidat, shares his future predictions about enterprise storage that CTOs should take into consideration and also advises as to what enterprises should be thinking about now to protect themselves in five years’ time.

Storage as a green IT enabler Eric Herzog, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinidat, explains how storage can improve an enterprise’s environmental footprint.

The AI opportunity - how the right storage is facilitating AI adoption - RAG Eric Herzog, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinidat, looks at what the biggest challenges facing enterprises that want to adopt GenAI solutions today, the solutions that Infinidat offesr to facilitate easier AI adoption for enterprises and explains how RAG benefits enterprises.

Next-generation data protection and recovery-first cyber resilience and threat detection strategies Eric Herzog, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinidat, explains how enterprises should be thinking about their cyber security strategy today, the difference between the next-generation and traditional approaches to cyber storage resilience and shares the advice he would you give to CISOs wanting to protect their enterprises.

Storage insights: cyber threats and resilience, the AI opportunity and Green IT Eric Herzog, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinidat, discusses next-generation data protection and recovery-first cyber resilience and threat detection strategies; the AI opportunity – How the right storage is facilitating AI adoption – RAG; and storage as a green IT enabler, before sharing some thoughts as to the future of enterprise storage.

Critical Careers publication celebrates digital-industry equality Lizzy McDowell, Director of Marketing at Kao Data, discusses the launch of the company’s Critical Careers: Celebrating Women in Digital Infrastructure – a new campaign highlighting the stories, experiences, and contributions of women across the global digital infrastructure sector. Lizzie explains how the initiative features in-depth interviews with women from a wide range of disciplines and career stages, showcasing their impact on one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, and forms part of Kao Data’s broader ESG strategy, aimed at fostering greater diversity, inclusion, and representation across digital infrastructure.

Datacloud delivers record-breaking experience Annabel Helm, Managing Director, Datacloud, techoraco, outlines the success of the Datacloud Global Congress 2025 - celebrating 20 years of bringing together data centre and digital infrastructure professionals - with record numbers this year as attendees heard from a stellar list of speakers discussing AI, investment, energy, ESG, talent and overall sustainability. More and more, data centres are seen as catalysing innovation on a global scale and Datacloud 2026 will reflect the importance of this trend in a new, three-day format.

Importance of AI-ready data Jesse Todd, CEO of EncompaaS, explains that as data volumes explode and AI evolves at a rapid pace, ignoring unstructured data is no longer an option. Intelligent information management platforms help organisations take control of their data and prepare it for what’s next. Without structured, governed data, your AI will never deliver on its potential. But with it, your data will become the competitive edge that powers your future.

Ramping up recover, reuse, reclaim, recycle Simon Taylor, Chairman at Bioscope and sister company N2S, shares a progress report on the importance of biorefining and bioleaching when it comes to precious metals and the increasing importance of conserving and patriating/repatriating these materials in these times of shortages and geopolitical tensions. Simon also discusses the company’s work with Techbuyer and BT, alongside its expansion plans, which will see the development of several new sites in the UK and further afield over the next few years.

Seagate report calls for balance between cost and carbon Jason Feist, senior vice president of cloud marketing, Seagate, discusses the findings of the company’s recent Decarbonizing Data report, which highlights the growing sustainability challenges facing data centres as enterprises scale to meet the demands of AI. Jason believes that sustainability cannot be solved in isolation. A holistic approach spanning infrastructure, life cycle management, and industry-wide accountability can ensure that the growth of AI and data centre operations does not come at the expense of the environment.