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Karina Dahlke sits down with Gabriele Di Piazza and Erik McLaughlin to explore what it really takes to reach “level five” autonomous networking. They break down what autonomous networks mean in practice – self-configuring, self-healing, self-optimizing, and ultimately zero-touch operations – and why the conversation has accelerated again in the last few years with the rise of AI. From cost pressure and growing network complexity to the foundational need for real-time observability, this episode offers a clear view into the technology, data, and governance required to make autonomous networks achievable at scale. Network experts and engineers at Ciena and Blue Planet bring deep network control plus cross-domain orchestration and intelligence, giving customers the visibility, context, and automation needed to accelerate the journey to level 5 autonomy.

Ciena's Rebecca Smith sits down with Brodie Gage and Dino DiPerna to reflect on OFC 2026 and how optical technology is taking center stage in the AI Era. They share perspectives shaped by decades in the industry and discuss what it takes to build, scale, and operate AI-driven networks—inside the data center and beyond. The podcast touches on some of the latest innovations in optical networking, including scale up, scale out, and scale across architectures; coherent and co-packaged optics; liquid cooling; and next-generation hollow‑core fiber. Together, they separate signal from noise, unpacking what's real, what's hype, and what's coming next for operators, hyperscalers, and service providers.

Want to learn more about how some of the oldest submarine cables are still playing a key role in the AI era? In this episode, FLAG's Chief Network Officer, Brad Kneller and VP of Product & Marketing, Nadya Melic join Ciena's Gautam Billa, VP of Sales Engineering & CTO, APJI, to share insights on some of the factors contributing to the continued viability and sustainability of a submarine cable. The three discuss how FLAG is complementing its new cable buildouts by extending the lifespan of its existing cables, using advanced technologies, proactive monitoring and intelligent data analysis. As part of FLAG's Vision 2030 strategy, the private submarine cable operator is taking bold steps to optimize its network to support growing capacity demands driven by AI, cloud and other bandwidth-intensive applications.

Service providers globally are looking intently toward achieving fully autonomous networks in the near future. Kailem Anderson, Vice President for Global Products & Delivery shares some of the conversations we have been having with our Blue Planet customers around what they are doing to reach network autonomy.

Join Ciena's Chief Technologist of Research Networks, Rodney Wilson, as he sits down with Amber McEwen, CEO of REANNZ, and Michael Tremblay, CEO of CANARIE, to explore how national research networks power scientific discovery and global collaboration. They unpack the massive data demands of modern science, the innovations required to support data intensive research, and the unique challenges their networks face across New Zealand and Canada. The conversation highlights real-world AI driven applications, from surgical robots enabling precise remote healthcare to other breakthroughs made possible by high-speed, high-performance networks.

Victor Moreno, Associate Director, Network Planning at Verizon joins Ciena's Nicola Benvenuti, Vice President, Product Line Management and Mark Bieberich, Vice President, Portfolio Marketing to discuss Verizon AI Connect, an integrated suite of solutions and products designed to enable hyperscalers, cloud providers and global enterprises to run resource-intensive AI workloads at scale. They also share insights into the 30+ year collaboration between the two companies, including a recent metro network trial that marked a major technology milestone – achieving speeds of 1.6 Tb/s of data on a single-carrier wavelength using Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme coherent optical solution. Together, Verizon and Ciena are pushing the limits of what's possible over fiber to meet the needs of the AI era, delivering the required higher capacity and performance, while also increasing network reliability and energy efficiency.

Telstra International has unveiled its highly Autonomous Network vision, part of the company's ambitious five-year plan to drive connectivity and innovation across Asia-Pacific. Head of Telstra International Networks, Wayne Lotter joins Blue Planet's Vice President for Global Products & Delivery, Kailem Anderson to discuss Telstra International's AI strategy and how Blue Planet is powering the foundation of its highly autonomous network.

Bandwidth demand continues unabated, and AI is expected to be a likely driver for increased bandwidth demand, overland and undersea. In this episode, Southern Cross's CEO Laurie Miller and CTO Dean Veverka speak with Brian Lavallée, our resident submarine expert, about how the submarine cable operator is preparing for the AI wave and its plans for connecting the Pacific.

Have you been hearing the term Managed Optical Fiber Networks (MOFN) more and more lately? In this episode, Lumen Technologies' Alison Greenwood, Vice President of Hyperscalers, and Martin Reilly, Director of International MOFN at Ciena, join Kent Jordan of Ciena Product Marketing for an in-depth discussion about all things MOFN. You'll learn about MOFN's benefits, business models, and emerging trends, and hear about Lumen's experiences, successes, and lessons learned.

On this episode, Mike “MJ” Joseph, who manages the infrastructure network engineering team at Meta, joins Ciena's Mark Bieberich to discuss innovation in out-of-band (OOB) management networks, which are essential for initial device commissioning, disaster recovery, remote troubleshooting, and secure lifecycle management. MJ and Mark explore Meta's decision to adopt passive optical networking (PON) for OOB management, highlighting the collaborative effort with Ciena to create an ultra-scalable, cost effective PON-based solution. They also discuss the positive outcomes Meta has achieved by streamlining and automating its OOB network operations in the data center—and the lessons learned along the way.

Tune-in to hear Kailem Anderson (Blue Planet) and Mark Bieberich (Ciena) as they compare the differences between Network Digital Twin to traditional network modeling. The two delve into ways Digital Twins can be used to enhance IP and optical network planning, traffic analysis, troubleshooting, optimization, and more. They also explore how AI can be used to advance and accelerate the abilities of Digital Twins, such as using predictive analytics to analyze the impact of different ‘what-if' network scenarios.

AI is redefining what it means to be a CIO. In this episode, Bill Bragg, CIO at SymphonyAI, and Craig Williams, Chief Digital Information Officer at Ciena, dive into how AI is transforming business operations, accelerating innovation, and changing how organizations lead in the digital age.

In part two of this episode, Paulina Gomez, Ryan Lafler, Doug Schremp, and Paola Osorio delve into Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms. They discuss the principles of QKD, its challenges, and industry progress, as well as the development of PQC algorithms to deliver quantum-resistant encryption solutions. They also explore future milestones and the solutions that are available today to safeguard critical data and mitigate the quantum computing threat to enable quantum-secure communications.

In this episode, Paulina Gomez, Senior Advisor of Portfolio Marketing at Ciena, Ryan Lafler, President and CTO of Quantum Corridor, Doug Schremp, Solutions Architect at ConvergeOne, and Paola Osorio, Senior Advisor of Product Line Management at Ciena, discuss the threat of quantum computing to today's cryptography. They explore the concept of "Harvest now, decrypt later" and the importance of quantum secure communications, while also highlighting the Quantum Corridor project and its key objectives to help safeguard critical data in the quantum era.

Let's dig into the topic of AI and the data center boom! On this podcast, Ciena's International CTO Jürgen Hatheier speaks with special guest Jérôme Totel, Group Strategy & Innovation Director at Data4, a major European operator and investor in the data center market. The two discuss the critical role data centers play in AI. They cover energy demands and the importance of Power Use Efficiency, AI training and inference, and how Europe can take a leading position in the AI race.