Some evenings just come together. Not because everything went to plan — but because the right people showed up, the conversation went somewhere real, and you left the room thinking: this is working.
That was New York City this week.
How We Got Here
A few weeks ago, we started making calls. The idea was simple: bring together a dozen senior leaders from across the communications, technology, and AI landscape for an informal dinner in New York. No agenda. No slides. No pitch. Just a good room, a good conversation, and an honest discussion about where this industry is heading.
Simple in concept. Less simple in execution.
Getting a dozen senior executives around a dinner table in New York City in early May — when conference season is in full swing, diaries are overloaded, and everyone is travelling — turns out to be an exercise in persistence as much as organisation. Passports got renewed. Travel plans shifted. Schedules moved. The table changed shape more than once in the final days.
But here is what we have learned from doing this across Paris, Madrid, and now New York: the act of reaching out is itself valuable. The conversations that happen before the dinner — the yes, the not this time, the can we talk anyway — are part of the process. Every outreach opens a door, even when it doesn’t fill a seat.
The dinner is one moment. The motion of putting it together is where the momentum starts.
The Room
On Wednesday evening, just over a dozen people gathered at Nobu Downtown in Lower Manhattan. The table included senior leaders from communications platforms, cloud infrastructure, enterprise technology, and strategic advisory — representing organisations spanning telco, CPaaS, AI, and enterprise software.
The dinner was organised by CPaaSAA and kindly sponsored by Sandbox Industries .
Around the table: senior leaders from Alianza, AWS, BT, Cisco Ventures, Five9, Google, Lumen, and Verizon. A deliberately diverse mix of telco, cloud, CPaaS, and enterprise technology. The kind of room that does not assemble itself.
We operated under Chatham House Rules — so the specifics of who said what stay in the room. But we can say this: the conversation was substantive, wide-ranging, and energetic. Topics covered included the future of AI in communications, the commercial potential of Network APIs, sovereign AI and what it means for regional operators, and the question everyone in this space is wrestling with: what does intelligent engagement actually look like in practice, and who owns the infrastructure that makes it possible?
What the Evening Confirmed
A few things stood out.
The thesis is landing. The intersection of AI, communications platforms, and Network APIs is the right frame. People didn’t need convincing that this space matters — they needed a room where they could think out loud about it with peers who are living the same challenges.
The conversation went deeper than expected. How do you accelerate innovation at scale? How do you bring the right capital to the right startups and create real synergies — not just financial returns, but commercial partnerships, market intelligence, and shared momentum? These are the questions that animated the table. Not theoretical. Grounded in what people are actually dealing with in their organisations right now.
The community is the product. The most consistent piece of feedback from the evening was about the quality of the room itself. Bringing together this particular mix of organisations — across telco, cloud, CPaaS, enterprise software, and AI — in a setting where people can speak openly is genuinely difficult to do. CPaaSAA’s role as a neutral convener is what makes it possible.
A Word of Thanks
Evenings like this don’t happen without a lot of moving parts — and a lot of people willing to make them work.
To everyone who joined us at the table: thank you. You gave up an evening in a busy week, you brought your thinking, and you made the conversation worth having. We are grateful.
To the people who couldn’t make it this time but reached out, re-engaged, or are already scheduled for a follow-up: you are part of this too. The dinner was one moment in a longer conversation that is clearly picking up momentum.
And to Laila and Kamie, who handled the logistics with their usual quiet competence: the evening ran smoothly because of you.
What’s Next
One thing came through clearly on Tuesday: everyone in that room sees AI changing everything. Not as a future scenario — as something reshaping how communications platforms are built, how enterprises engage with customers, and how networks are monetised right now. The question is no longer whether to act. It is how to act fast enough.
The answer, increasingly, is smaller and smarter bets. Not waiting for a large-scale solution to emerge from within — but identifying early-stage startups that already have the right ideas, early traction, and genuine potential, and backing them with the right strategic partners alongside the capital. That combination — good startups, smart capital, strong industry networks — is where the real acceleration happens. That is the conversation the industry needs to be having.
And that is what we are taking on the road. The format varies by city and context — a curated dinner in New York, drinks and networking at the DSP Leaders World Forum in London in two weeks, a focused dinner in Copenhagen in June. Different formats, same goal: bring the right people together, create the conditions for honest conversation, and demonstrate what becomes possible when this industry collaborates.
We are on a roll. Paris, Madrid, New York — London and Copenhagen still ahead. Each stop adds momentum and builds toward something significant. Watch this space — CASA26 in Amsterdam this September is shaping up to be a landmark moment for CPaaSAA and the broader ecosystem.
See you in London.
My lifetime in IT and telecoms has been dedicated to innovation, building bridges and creating change. From the early days of cloud communications to working with operators on innovations and business development, and currently emphasizing APIs, CPaaS/CX and AI, my journey has been one of continuous evolution.
As founding partner at CPaaS Acceleration Alliance and The Next Cloud I'm privileged to help global telcos and techcos thrive in a fast changing world - through events, community building, strategy and global business development. I thrive on challenges and change, strategizing in cloud communications, and bringing people together for mutual success. Travel and continuous learning are my passions.
I believe the global communications industry is pivoting to prioritize customer experience and impactful solutions over mere technology and platforms, and we can tackle societal challenges by merging the strengths of corporates and innovators within new ecosystems.
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