The Five Nine

Hosted by The Five Nine

Technology BusinessInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

100

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

About the show

Join host Diana Goovaerts and other Fierce Network editors as they explore the stories behind some of the hottest topics in tech and telecom. Want the inside scoop on broadband, wireless, artificial intelligence and cloud? You'll find it here.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 28, 202611 min

Can AI fix telecom’s customer experience problem?

Fierce Network’s Diana Goovaerts explores how AI could reshape the telecom customer experience — moving operators beyond speed, coverage and reactive support toward more proactive, personalized and trusted service. The Five Nine features interviews with MCE Systems’ Alan Minney and First Orion’s Josh Whitehurst on where AI may show up first for telecom providers, from outage notifications and device health to customer care, fraud prevention, trusted calling and smarter use of customer data. The big question: Will telecom’s AI race be won by the operator with the flashiest chatbot — or the one that can quietly reduce friction before customers ever need to call? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

October 16, 202611 min

Why AI’s next bottleneck is memory, not GPUs

This week, we dig into why the AI infrastructure conversation is shifting from compute scarcity to the memory wall. As large language models get bigger and enterprises move from training to high-volume inference, memory, storage, networking and GPU utilization are becoming critical to AI performance and economics. Featuring insights from Jason Hardy of NVIDIA and Val Bercovici of WEKA, this episode breaks down why inference workloads are fundamentally different from training, how agentic AI increases pressure on memory systems, and why idle GPUs can turn into a costly problem for enterprises building AI factories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

October 9, 202612 min

Are enterprise networks ready for AI?

Is your enterprise network truly ready for AI — or are GPUs getting all the attention? In this episode we break down why AI readiness depends on more than compute power, and why networking, private connectivity, latency, security, automation and network as a service are becoming critical to enterprise AI success. Guests Brandon Ross of DE-CIX and Bill Long of Zayo explain how agentic AI, real-time inference, AI-powered customer care, analytics and large-scale data movement are changing what enterprises need from their networks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

October 2, 202615 min

AI-RAN, 6G and the Future of Mobile Networks

In this episode of The Five Nine, host Diana Goovaerts explores what the future of the radio access network could look like as 5G matures, 6G takes shape and AI pushes telecom toward a new era of software-driven networks. With insight from Ericsson North Americas CTO Joe Constantine, Mobile Experts founder and president Joe Madden and Samsung Electronics America’s Shamik Shah, this episode breaks down what AI-RAN really means, whether GPUs are actually needed in the mobile network, how 6G could become more of a software upgrade than a hardware refresh, and why Open RAN may be moving from industry hype to operational plumbing. The conversation also tackles one of telecom’s biggest business questions: Can they escape the dumb pipe trap? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

September 22, 202619 min

How AI Is Fueling a New Fiber Supercycle (Sponsored)

AI is fueling a new fiber supercycle. See how data centers, broadband expansion, copper retirement and edge infrastructure are reshaping fiber demand and telecom investment through 2035. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 8, 202621 min

Data Center 2.0 - The New Sustainability Math

What does “sustainable” even mean when AI demand – and data center projects – are accelerating? In this episode, we unpack what sustainability means in the AI era, where power and water factor in and how data center sustainability is increasingly about more than just how electricity is being generated. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 1, 202615 min

Data Center 2.0 —Untangling the software stack

Software is what makes a modern data center tick. But sorting through what goes where in terms of IT, OT and beyond can be tricky. We untangle this complex web and shine on spotlight on how AI is driving change in the systems that keep compute running smoothly. #AI #software #datacenters See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 24, 202618 min

Data Center 2.0 – Episode 2: Storage

When people picture a data center, they tend to picture compute servers, GPUs, watts and raw horsepower. But there is another side of the equation that decides whether that expensive compute power actually does anything useful: Storage. In this episode, we'll tackle what storage is, what decisions make the biggest impact, key challenges and how to handle the current storage shortage. #AI #datacenters #storage #VASTData #HitachiVantara #EverPure See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 17, 202617 min

Data Center 2.0 – Episode 1: Compute

If you’re deploying AI, your decisions around what compute to use shouldn’t be based on which three-letter acronym you remember the best. We’re breaking down how to think about compute for AI; what CPUs, GPUs, and newer accelerators are best at; where organizations can get tripped up; and what constraints matter more than the chip itself. #AI #artificialintelligence #enterpriseAI #Nvidia #AMD #GPU #CPU #LPU #datacenter https://youtu.be/drZJFj2716g See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 10, 202633 min

Inside Data Center Financing—PE Funding Models and Industry Trends

Private equity has aggressively poured billions into data centers and digital infrastructure in recent years. But today, some investment assumptions are being stress tested. We explore the assumptions behind big PE data center investments, how the landscape is shifting, whether creative deal making is a good thing and where things might head next. #privateequity #datacenters #AI #investments #cloud See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is this your show?

Claim this listing to keep it up to date, reach guests who want to pitch you, and manage bookings with Guestify.

Claim this listing

More Technology podcasts

This Week in Privacy

Privacy Guides

Technology

The Bottom Line

Alexander Spencer

BusinessInterviews guests