The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Fiber Ecosystem

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Fiber Ecosystem

Fiber ecosystem players are strengthening their investments in artificial intelligence while more fiber is being deployed to support AI. In order to improve business outcomes and customer experiences, companies must administer complex architectures that provide greater capacity and fulfill evolving customer needs and are utilizing AI tools and capabilities to do so, driving the need for more fiber to support ever-increasing bandwidth demand.

“There’s a surging demand for AI and that certainly applies to AI workloads, and fundamentally, this is good for the fiber ecosystem,” said Ron Westfall, Research Director, The Futurum Group. “It’s driving demand for more fiber builds, and certainly playing a key role in this, along with other important content.

This surge in demand is creating a challenge. Can we keep up with the surging demand that AI is creating? The short answer is yes, as AI can assist with the overall process, focusing on areas like automation, streamlining operations, etc. The big takeaway with AI and fiber is going to be the benefits that it provides to the deployment process.

According to a survey conducted by The Futurum Group’s Intelligence Team to better understand AI trends, companies expect to enhance customer experience, reduce costs, improve employee productivity, improve network operations, and meet revenue targets with the use of AI.

Workforce, customer, and partner experiences can all be positively impacted by AI in fiber; it can trigger other benefits, such as improving time to value, time to markets, and optimizing costs.

Take a look at chatbots. The use of AI to assist customers in navigating through issues has improved customer satisfaction by increasing efficiency and decreasing the time used on the call. AI applications have become essential in the digital age, proving that AI in fiber can take things further.

“It’s important to understand that AI and fiber are meant for each other,” noted Westfall. “They’re mutually reinforcing and beneficial as AI is driving the demand for more fiber, both in terms of broadband fiber, but also fiber deployments throughout the entire networks, certainly data centers, the WAN, metro rings, and so forth.”

For more on how AI can impact the fiber ecosystem, listen to the latest Fiber for Breakfast podcast.

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