From Connectivity to Outcomes: Vonage’s Vision for the Next Cloud Era of Telecom

At CASA25, Vonage’s new CMO Neelam Sandhu took the stage to deliver the first industry keynote—and reframed the room’s expectations from the very start.

Yes, the talk touched on network APIs, CPaaS, and 5G. But more than that, it was a wake-up call: the telecom industry needs to stop selling features and start delivering outcomes. It needs to stop defining itself by what it connects—and start defining itself by what it enables.

This, Neelam explained, is where Intelligent Engagement begins: not as a tool or a trend, but as a way of thinking about how mobile networks can finally fulfill their potential in the digital economy. The same way cloud computing reshaped every industry over the past 20 years, mobile networks could reshape the next 20. If, that is, the industry can think—and act—like a platform.

1. What Cloud Did for Digital, Mobile Can Do Next

Neelam drew a powerful analogy between the rise of cloud and the untapped potential of mobile networks. Cloud computing didn’t succeed because it was technically clever. It succeeded because it unlocked new value—speed, flexibility, scale—for every business model it touched.

Today, mobile networks have that same potential. The building blocks are ready:

• 5G is now deployed in over 80% of high-income countries
• Programmable network APIs are being exposed
• Cloud and AI have matured enough to bring intelligence into the network layer

“The cloud unlocked AI. Now cloud and AI can unlock the network,” Neelam said.

It’s not a metaphor. It’s a market signal. The mobile network is ready to become the next digital platform. And just like cloud, that platform needs an abstraction layer—a way for developers, startups, and enterprises to build on top of it without needing to understand how it works under the hood.

That’s where Vonage, Ericsson, and Aduna come in.

2. Vonage’s New Role: The Abstraction Layer for the Network

Vonage, under Neelam’s leadership, is no longer positioning itself as just another CPaaS player. It’s now the interface—the business-facing layer—for a full-stack platform that spans from physical network to digital engagement.

Vonage’s tech stack includes:

• UCaaS: foundational communication channels
• CCaaS / vertical engagement platforms: tailored to industries like healthcare, retail, and finance
• CPaaS & APIs: the programmable glue
• Network APIs: the new addition—connecting directly into Ericsson-enabled mobile network functions

In short: Vonage is helping turn networks into platforms, just as AWS turned servers into services.

And the key to unlocking this platform value isn’t jargon—it’s storytelling, use cases, and real-world outcomes.

3. From CPaaS to Outcomes

Neelam was candid: “If I say CPaaS on stage, I should have to put a coin in a jar.”

That’s because the CPaaS label no longer captures what the industry needs. It’s not about enabling programmable messaging—it’s about designing communication journeys that adapt to context, intent, and industry needs.

Whether that’s a first responder securely transmitting diagnostics from an ambulance, or a bank proactively engaging a customer before fraud occurs, the focus is shifting:

🛑 From APIs

✅ To orchestration

🛑 From features

✅ To outcomes

This is where Intelligent Engagement becomes more than a marketing term—it becomes the north star.

4. Aduna and the Role of Aggregation

One of the most important enablers of this transformation is Aduna, the global telco joint venture built to standardize and simplify access to network APIs.

Aduna is already:

• Live in 17 countries
• Working with 37 telco partners
• Supporting 23+ APIs across network and comms layers

Much like cloud providers created standardized, scalable compute and storage APIs, Aduna is doing the same for telco capabilities like quality-on-demand, location, number verification, and more.

Neelam’s message was clear: fragmentation kills adoption. Aggregation creates markets.

And if we’re serious about making the network the next digital platform, developers need a trusted, unified interface to build on. That’s what Aduna delivers.

5. AI: Woven In, Not Bolted On

When asked about AI’s role in all this, Neelam made a key distinction:

“AI isn’t the headline. It’s a pillar.”

Rather than pushing AI as a buzzword, Vonage is embedding it across its stack:

• In smarter routing
• In real-time personalization
• In predictive engagement logic
• In tools that make human and machine agents work better together

Just like cloud became essential infrastructure, AI is becoming embedded intelligence. What matters now is how well it integrates into the communication fabric—and how much it improves the experience, not just the efficiency.

6. The Cultural Shift: From Telco to Tech

Beyond the technology, Neelam called for a mindset shift.

“We need to stop thinking like telcos. We need to start thinking like tech companies.”

This means:

• Partnering across traditional boundaries
• Moving faster
• Building ecosystems, not just selling capabilities
• Speaking in use cases, not layers
• Seeing communications as an enabler of digital transformation, not just another service line

It also means being bold—possibly acquiring AI startups, reshaping business models, or experimenting with monetization strategies that look more like cloud marketplaces than telecom pricing sheets.

Final Reflection:

Neelam’s keynote didn’t just explain where Vonage is heading—it outlined the path for the entire industry.

The next era of growth won’t be led by those with the most APIs, or the most telco partners. It will be led by those who understand what all this technology is actually for—creating meaningful, trusted, real-time engagement between people and brands, machines and moments.

That’s the real transformation. That’s the new standard.