Broadband operators face growing pressure to deliver reliable service while managing increasingly complex networks, expanding fiber and DOCSIS infrastructure, and meeting rising subscriber expectations. Yaniv Ben-Soussan, Senior Vice President of Cloud and Intelligence Platform at Harmonic, explains how AI-powered broadband intelligence can help operators address these challenges without adding more operational complexity. He introduces cOS™ SensAI, Harmonic's vendor-agnostic broadband intelligence fabric, which brings together data from network elements, back-office systems and subscriber homes to help operators move from reactive troubleshooting to proactive network management.
Rather than introducing another standalone monitoring tool, SensAI uses contextual intelligence, AI agents and open APIs to deliver actionable insights through operators' existing applications. Ben-Soussan discusses how the platform supports more efficient operations across multivendor DOCSIS and fiber environments, highlighting real-world usage by GCI in Alaska and Hotwire Communications. As operators balance network expansion with revenue pressures, he explains why gaining a more complete understanding of existing infrastructure can help improve reliability, reduce operational costs and deliver a better subscriber experience.
Linda Hardesty:
i'm Linda Hardesty with Fierce Network, and I'm here today with Yaniv Ben-Soussan. He's Senior Vice President of the Cloud and Intelligence Platform at Harmonic. Welcome, Yaniv.
Yaniv Ben-Soussan:
Thank you, Linda. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure.
Linda Hardesty:
So today we're going to talk about Harmonic's new intelligence fabric, which is called cOS SensAI. And I understand that this fabric is designed to help operators who are managing more network and subscriber expectations as well as more vendors. So let's go ahead and dive into our discussion.
The first question I wanted to ask is, so operators are dealing with a multitude of challenges. They're managing multivendor networks, they're tackling fiber and DOCSIS expansions, and they're needing to meet rising subscriber expectations. So why is broadband intelligence suddenly important in order to compete?
Yaniv Ben-Soussan:
Broadband operators must do more for the same revenue these days. They're facing a fierce competitive landscape. They first need to retain their base. And today what's winning is actually reliability and less about speed. And at the same time, due to this competitive landscape, they are locking their subscriber to multi-year contracts. So in the next three to five years, there is even more pressure on the revenue.
And as you said, they continue to grow and invest in their DOCSIS network, their fiber, they're making more acquisition. And each one of them is piling more and more tools that they need to pay for, they need in order to operate and monitor the network. And of course, customer expectation is rising, especially with more and more devices to manage in the house. And in the AI era, you know those devices must be connected in order to function.
So yeah, you're right. It's more networks, higher expectation to meet all of that with the same revenue stream. So that's why a solution is needed that is a vendor-agnostic solution that looks at the entire network from an holistic point of view, help them to raise the reliability of the network, all of that without adding more cost, and in fact, maybe reducing cost.
Linda Hardesty:
So walk us through SensAI. Tell us what it is in practical terms and how is it different from another dashboard or monitoring tool that operators may have already tried?
Yaniv Ben-Soussan:
We call it the Broadband Intelligent Fabric because it's a fabric that connects data into action. Operator don't buy AI. They buy an operating system that can help them take action in a fast way, moving from being reactive to proactive. So we start by collecting data, and we collect the data from the back office, the network elements, all the way to the subscriber home. And then on top of that, we have got the different intelligence layer. We've got the one that creates the context that builds the definition of the different elements.
Of course, we've got the agentic system that understand the context and get the data, use tools that today are used by human. And in order to automate a lot of function, reason, provide actionable information, and feed the existing customer application with the same UI. We're just making their UI more intelligent. We got a very open API layer that our agents are talking to the existing application of the users.
Linda Hardesty:
So a lot of companies are rolling out AI for networks services, and what makes SensAI more than just a buzzword? Do you have any proof that you can provide that it actually works in the field?
Yaniv Ben-Soussan:
We launched SensAI officially a couple of weeks ago, but we've been working with customers for a long time. We've got SensAI deployed live with a handful of customers. We made it public that GCI is using it in Alaska and Hotwire Communications, which is a pure fiber company that is using that. And we see tangible and real results, both in terms of operation cost as well as customer satisfaction, which is the key here.
So in both cases, we have the proof, and that's why we're getting more and more traction these days. I would say one more thing. You're right, everybody's talking about AI, and customer are taking calls with a lot of companies that talks AI. But what they tell us is that there are the generalist AIs that create great platforms, but they don't know how to speak broadband.
You got the vendor manufacturer that everybody is building AI in his own silo. And we bring a breadth of DOCSIS and fiber expectation in broadband, a vendor-agnostic system, which customer love, and every deployment system that we have learn and enrich the other deployments as well.
Linda Hardesty:
So that's cOS SensAI. It's Harmonic's bet that the next competitive edge in broadband won't come just for more bandwidth, but from operators finally understanding the networks that they already have. So thank you so much for being here today, Yaniv. Appreciate it.
Yaniv Ben-Soussan:
Thank you for having me, Linda. It's been a pleasure.