At MWC Barcelona 2025, I had the pleasure of moderating a 12-minute “mindstorm” session at Open Gateway DevCon—short, sharp, and built to answer the #1 question we hear from developers, founders, and telcos alike: how do you make money with Network APIs?
To tackle this, I invited four sharp minds to the stage:
- Robert Galop (Creo Solutions),
- Mark Simoncelli (Mach49),
- Nicolai Schaettgen (Match-Maker Ventures), and
- Mark Castleman (Intel AI Cloud).
This wasn’t a panel. It was a lightning-fast burst of insight, designed to cut through the noise and get straight to what matters: monetization.
Start Fast, Test Early
We opened with Robert Galop, who went straight to the heart of product-market fit. His message: speed matters, but so does direction.
Developers and telcos alike need to prototype fast, test ideas in the real world, and iterate based on feedback—not fantasy. APIs give us the tools, but unless we’re testing real use cases, we’re not building value. We’re just coding.
From Pain to Plan
Next up was Mark Simoncelli, who zoomed in on how to turn those early signals into actual ventures.
His advice? Listen to customer pain, place small but strategic bets, and move ideas from slide decks to fundable business plans—fast. Telcos already have the entrepreneurial talent, but they need to create space and urgency to activate it.
Remove the Friction
Nicolai Schaettgen followed by calling out the elephant in the room: corporate processes are slow.
He stressed that speed is everything—and too many good ideas get lost in the maze of validation, risk reviews, and internal politics. The solution? Clear proof points. If you can demonstrate early customer interest and revenue potential, decisions get easier. Telcos need to think and act more like startups—or risk being left behind.
Capture the Value in the AI Economy
To close the loop, Mark Castleman brought us into the future: the rise of conversational AI and agentic interfaces.
We’re shifting from an app-based world to a $1.5 trillion conversational AI economy, where intelligent agents—not apps—create value. Telcos, with their infrastructure and data, are uniquely positioned to enable this shift. But they need to stop thinking like connectivity providers and start thinking like value orchestrators.
“If you’re in telco or apps,” Mark said, “you want to find the new gravitational systems—and pull that value to you.”
The Big Shift Is On
This isn’t about APIs as tech—it’s about APIs as monetization engines. And the opportunity is real: enabling vertical use cases, creating intelligent agent ecosystems, and capturing value in an economy that’s shifting beneath our feet.
The 12-minute mindstorm format was built to spark clarity and action. No fluff. Just insight.
Final Word
We’ll keep hosting these conversations at the CPaaS Acceleration Alliance—bringing together telcos, developers, and builders who want to turn APIs into actual revenue.
Because infrastructure investment without monetization is just sunk cost. And this next wave? It’s all about execution at speed.
Let’s make it happen.
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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