The Fast Mode Podcasts: Breaking News, Analysis and Updates From Telecoms Industry

Balancing Security and Experience: Vonage on the Future of Digital Identity

As fraud escalates and digital interactions grow more complex, businesses are under mounting pressure to verify who they're talking to — without making the experience harder for legitimate customers. Network-powered solutions are emerging as a powerful new layer in the digital trust toolkit, giving enterprises direct access to real-time mobile network intelligence to authenticate users, detect fraud signals, and streamline customer journeys — all invisibly, in the background. In this episode, Kunal Shukla, SVP & GM, Head of Networks APIs on behalf of Vonage — winner of The Fast Mode's inaugural Digital Identity Innovator award — joins the conversation to explore how network-powered solutions like the Vonage Identity Insights API are redefining what's possible in digital identity.  Kunal also delves into: * How the team at Vonage feels about winning the inaugural Digital Identity Innovator award * Why digital identity has reached a critical inflection point now * What network APIs deliver and how do they offer a better approach to trust and authentication than traditional solutions * What makes the Vonage Identity Insights API unique, and how do features like SIM Swap detection and Subscriber Match deliver both security and better user experience * Real-world examples of how developers and enterprises are using the Identity Insights API

Rebuilding Trust in Voice Communications with Network-Level Digital Identity

Josh Whitehurst, Head of Product at First Orion discusses: * What’s driving the current “trust crisis” in voice communications, and how we got here * Why the industry is now moving beyond STIR/SHAKEN and what gaps remain * What end-to-end authentication means in practice for carriers and enterprises * How operators like T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, and Vodafone are approaching trusted communications differently today * How analytics, authentication, and branded identity work together to create trust * What results companies are seeing when they implement authenticated and branded calling * How important calling behavior - things like cadence, consent, and timing - is in maintaining trust * How trust will become a competitive differentiator for operators and enterprises over the next few years To learn more, visit www.firstorion.com

Inside THOR Voice Al: Embedding Real-Time Intelligence into Telco Networks

Martin Rückert, Chief AI Officer at Tallence, discusses: - Thor Voice AI as a network-native platform that embeds AI directly into telecom voice infrastructure without apps or middleware - How real-time AI enables live call understanding and responses through speech-to-text, intent recognition, and text-to-speech - How telcos can use voice AI to automate customer support, enable voice concierge services, and execute real-time tasks during calls - The importance of carrier-grade reliability, low latency, and operator-controlled deployment for large-scale rollout - The broader shift toward voice becoming a primary interface for AI-powered, intent-driven telecom services To learn more, visit www.tallence.com

How ACT Fibernet's Award-Winning SmartWiFi is Revolutionizing Broadband with AI & GenAI

In this podcast, Ravi Karthik, Chief Growth Officer of ACT Fibernet discusses: * The company's recent win at The Fast Mode Awards 2025 as AI & GenAI Pioneer * How the surge in connected devices post-pandemic is reshaping home Wi-Fi demands * How ACT’s AI-powered Smart Wi-Fi optimizes performance based on devices, usage, and home environments * The role of edge, collective, and behavioral AI in delivering continuous network improvements * How improved connectivity is reducing churn and driving upgrades while being offered to all customers To learn more, visit www.actcorp.in [https://www.actcorp.in/]

Knowledge Graphs: The Foundation for Autonomous Intent-Driven Telco Networks

Martin Rückert, Chief AI Officer at Tallence discusses: 1. The Tallence Knowledge Graph and its core components 2. Operational challenges in today’s telco environments that the Knowledge Graph is designed to solve 3. Telecom domains seeing immediate impact from the Knowledge Graph 4. Key prerequisites for CSPs to successfully deploy and scale a Knowledge Graph 5. How the Knowledge Graph acts as a foundation for AI, specifically in providing the context and explainability that AI systems need 6. How Agentic AI capabilities interact with the Knowledge Graph to move from insight to action 7. Examples where the combination of Knowledge Graph and Agentic AI is already enabling autonomous or semi-autonomous operations in live telco environments 8. The future evolution of this architecture—combining Knowledge Graphs and Agentic AI—to support real-time, intent-driven networks and fully autonomous operations To learn more, visit www.tallence.com