An Interconnectivity Professional’s Tackle Rising Hubs, AI, and Community Resilience in 2025

Digital Infrastructure Business Professional Maya Glick has 20 years within the digital infrastructure and telecommunications sport.

In observe, this has meant promoting and offering networking, web, and information middle options to world firms and telecom operators. Her path contains strategic planning, marketing strategy preparation, implementation, and operation of main cable initiatives.

As a enterprise improvement skilled, she’s seen each side of the gross sales cycle in worldwide markets. And she or he’s gleaned a factor or two concerning the partnerships and collaborations important to digital transformation.

As the most recent addition to TeleGeography’s roster of Most popular Companions, Maya was type sufficient to talk with the TeleGeography workforce about what she’s seeing within the {industry}—and what introduced her to this second in her profession. Learn our full dialog under.

As somebody with a deal with interconnectivity, what headlines greatest summarize what’s taking place in your {industry}?

The telecom and digital infrastructure {industry} is navigating an enchanting interval of transition and opportunity. One main improvement is that Synthetic intelligence (AI) has actually come of age: as soon as the area of analysis labs and non-profit endeavors, AI now serves as a key driver of company development. Corporations across the globe are making severe investments in AI, anticipating a transparent return on their funding and harnessing its potential to rework every thing from customer support to predictive analytics. 

With AI’s rise, nevertheless, comes a rising belief dilemma. Individuals are asking onerous questions: how will we make sure that AI programs usually are not solely efficient but additionally moral, unbiased, and secure from malicious use? Constructing reliable, clear AI options is quickly turning into a prime precedence for each suppliers and end-users.

With AI’s rise, however, comes a rising belief dilemma. Individuals are asking onerous questions: how will we make sure that AI programs usually are not solely efficient but additionally moral, unbiased, and secure from malicious use? Constructing reliable, clear AI options is quickly turning into a prime precedence for each suppliers and end-users.

In the meantime, the surging vitality calls for of AI are inserting information facilities below intense strain. As these amenities scramble to deal with ever-increasing computing necessities, many are reevaluating their strategy to sustainability. This “vitality arms race” is spurring the adoption of greener practices and renewable vitality sources, reflecting an industry-wide push to scale back environmental footprints.

Past the information center, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are reshaping world connectivity by promising broader protection and difficult conventional telecom networks. But, this progress should be balanced towards worries about house particles and the long-term well being of our orbital setting. As extra constellations launch, we’re confronted with the query of methods to keep house sustainability whereas increasing protection to underserved areas.

Lastly, there’s a transparent shift towards multi-cloud methods inside enterprises. As a substitute of betting on a single supplier, organizations now combine and match cloud platforms. This strategy helps them keep away from vendor lock-in, optimize prices, and faucet into specialised providers from completely different suppliers—all of which result in a extra dynamic and aggressive cloud panorama.

Collectively, these 5 traits—AI maturation, AI trustworthiness, sustainability in information facilities, the rise of LEO satellites, and multi-cloud adoption—spotlight the {industry}’s drive towards innovation, effectivity, and world connectivity. It’s an thrilling time to be on the forefront of telecom and digital infrastructure.

On the same be aware, TeleGeography’s Market Connectivity Rating has given us quite a bit to consider concerning the world’s most linked and fast-growing hubs. Are there any rising hubs which have your consideration? Why?

We’re witnessing a exceptional shift in Europe’s connectivity panorama. Traditionally, the most important information middle hubs—Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and Paris (FLAP)—dominated the scene. Now, new interconnection hubs are rising all through Southern Europe—from Marseille and Barcelona to Genoa, Athens, Portugal, and Crete. These areas are leveraging increasing fiber networks, strategic submarine cable routes, and authorities assist to carve out a job as important converging factors for community interconnection, linking a number of continents.

This enlargement goes hand in hand with the drive for route variety, as at the moment’s enterprises more and more insist on a number of geographically distinct paths to make sure excessive availability. Alongside these Southern European hubs, there may be rising curiosity in an Japanese Mediterranean gateway that helps bridge Center Japanese and Western European networks. Such positioning gives low-latency entry to key markets and a robust different path for organizations seeking to broaden their attain and mitigate threat.

On this method, Southern Europe and its neighboring routes are reshaping the connectivity map, creating recent competitors for Europe’s conventional information middle giants and providing new alternatives for seamless communication and information trade.

Inform us about your early experiences working in worldwide networks. How did these alternatives develop your understanding of the telecom panorama?

I stepped into the telecom world within the late 90s—a pivotal period marked by the privatization of Israel’s telecommunications sector and the worldwide dot-com increase. My first function was as a junior business coordinator, overseeing worldwide submarine and terrestrial routes (IRUs and DDPs) and dealing with community planning and settlements. Again then, it felt nearly futuristic to have a 45Mbps worldwide web connection funneled by means of a satellite tv for pc antenna perched on our workplace rooftop—but it’s gorgeous to see how far we’ve come since these days.

Within the early 2000s, I had the chance to assist set up key factors of presence in main markets corresponding to London, Frankfurt, and New York, which was instrumental in increasing our voice, information, and IP providers. 

Past these world expansions, I additionally had a hand in constructing bodily cross-border hyperlinks to our neighboring nations within the Center East. This meant forging partnerships with areaal telecom corporations to create new fiber routes and collaborative initiatives.

Engaged on these initiatives gave me a front-row seat to the fast-paced evolution of worldwide connectivity—and it turned crystal clear that sturdy worldwide networks are what actually propel enterprise development and innovation throughout borders.

What experiences greatest ready you to thrive on this {industry}?

Early on, I discovered myself immersed in business coordination for worldwide routes, and each challenge opened the door to new challenges—managing procurement, overseeing contracts, and sharpening my negotiation expertise. Step-by-step, these obligations constructed upon each other, making ready me to navigate the complexities of worldwide telecom operations. Ultimately, that evolution led me to the forefront of initiatives of nationwide significance, corresponding to growing submarine cable infrastructure linking Israel and Europe—a possibility that actually showcased the facility of collaboration, strategic planning, and world connectivity.

Thriving in telecom means understanding each the technological points and the human aspect of the enterprise, the place forging lasting partnerships could make all of the distinction.

Working intently with friends from completely different nations taught me the significance of relationship-building, cultural consciousness, and mutual belief to get large-scale connectivity initiatives off the bottom. Thriving in telecom means understanding each the technological points and the human aspect of the enterprise, the place forging lasting partnerships could make all of the distinction.

What new applied sciences are most enjoyable to you as an individual who works within the cloud computing house?

I’m seeing a number of technologies reshape cloud computing proper now. AI and machine studying prime the record after all, since they’re driving the necessity for specialised information facilities with superior cooling options, all whereas charging the expansion of AI itself. It’s a loop: AI pushes information facilities to be extra environment friendly and safe, after which these optimized information facilities assist AI take new leaps ahead.

I’m seeing a number of technologies reshape cloud computing proper now. AI and machine studying prime the record after all, since they’re driving the necessity for specialised information facilities with superior cooling options, all whereas charging the expansion of AI itself. It’s a loop: AI pushes information facilities to be extra environment friendly and safe, after which these optimized information facilities assist AI take new leaps ahead.

In the meantime, edge computing is rising in tandem with 5G and the Web of Issues (IoT). By processing information nearer to the customers—like on manufacturing facility flooring or in sensible cities—we minimize down on latency and achieve near-instant insights that may be a game-changer for time-critical functions.

Then there’s quantum computing, which could nonetheless really feel futuristic however has the potential to completely upend how we deal with complicated issues—from encryption and optimization to next-level machine studying. It is nonetheless too early to say when Quantum Computing will turn out to be a factor in on a regular basis use, nevertheless it’s an thrilling subject with large potential to alter the world.

Lastly, photonics brings the promise of utilizing mild to transmit information at blistering speeds with far much less energy consumption. That alone may overhaul how information facilities are constructed and even change the semiconductor {industry} as we all know it.

On the opposite aspect of the coin, what is the single greatest problem that interconnectivity professionals should grapple with within the yr forward?

The only greatest problem connectivity professionals are bracing for this yr is methods to hold networks dependable and steady amid intensifying geopolitical tensions. Whether or not it’s information middle operations or submarine cable routes, we’re seeing an uptick in threats—starting from potential sabotage to sudden regulatory modifications—that may disrupt essential infrastructure with little warning. Balancing cost-effective options with the necessity for sturdy, diversified routes has by no means been trickier. The duty now could be to plan for these uncertainties and spend money on protecting measures that keep seamless interconnectivity, it doesn’t matter what the worldwide panorama throws our method.

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