Episodios
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This week on Buffering, weâre diving into one of the most powerful tools available to Communication Service Providers (CSPs): Meta Ads Manager. Zack and Gabe walk through how to build high-performing Facebook and Instagram campaigns from the ground up, covering best practices for campaign structure, audience targeting, creative strategy, budgeting, and the settings that can make the difference between wasted spend and measurable growth.
Join Zack and Gabe as they share a practical, screen-share walkthrough of how CSPs can take control of their digital advertising strategy. Whether youâre launching your first campaign or looking to optimize your existing approach, this episode provides actionable tips to help you reach the right subscribers, improve engagement, and get more value from your marketing dollars.
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This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe explore how the broadband industry has reached a turning point. As network expansion slows and new competitors like Amazon and satellite providers reshape the market, success is no longer defined by homes passed. It is defined by the strength of the subscriber relationship. From retention strategies and customer experience to ecommerce, self install, and proactive engagement, they break down why the next five years will reward providers that invest in loyalty instead of relying on legacy advantages.
Join Zack and Gabe as they discuss what separates tomorrow's winners from everyone else, why waiting is the biggest competitive risk, and how providers can build experiences that rival the world's best brands while still leaning into the local relationships that make them unique. If the last five years were about building networks, this conversation is about building the relationships that will keep customers for the next five.
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This week on Buffering, We are tackling one of the most debated topics in broadband: promotional pricing. As more providers look to discounts and introductory offers to boost take rates, they examine what decades of cable industry history can teach us about the long-term consequences of competing on price alone. From subscriber losses and declining brand trust to the hidden impact on customer lifetime value, they explore why the traditional promotional pricing playbook may be creating more problems than it solves.
Join Zack and Gabe as we break down the math behind customer acquisition and retention, discuss why "month 13" has become a churn trigger for many providers, and explain why customer lifetime value, not subscriber count, should be the metric that matters most. They also share practical alternatives to promotional pricing, including community-driven marketing, referral programs, value-based service bundles, and customer experiences that make price less relevant. If you're looking for sustainable growth instead of short-term subscriber gains, this episode is for you.
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This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe unpack two of the biggest technology stories of the summer: Apple's latest WWDC announcements and SpaceX's record-breaking IPO. From the launch of Siri AI to Starlink's growing influence, they explore what separates products people use from products people get excited about.
Join Zack and Gabe as they discuss why "cool" has less to do with technology and more to do with customer experience, branding, onboarding, and storytelling. They break down what broadband providers can learn from Apple, Starlink, and other experience-first companiesâand why the battle for the future of connectivity may be won long before a customer ever looks at a speed test.
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This week on Buffering, we welcome back Charlene Li, New York Times bestselling author and co-author of Winning with AI: The 90 Day Blueprint for Success. Together, we explore what AI fluency really means, why the gap between AI leaders and laggards is widening, and how organizations can move beyond pilots to create measurable business value. Charlene shares practical insights on building AI-ready teams, developing organizational fluency, and why leadershipânot technologyâis the real differentiator in the AI era.
John Zack, Gabe, and Charlene discuss the rise of AI superhumans, the shift from tasks to outcomes, and how leaders can create the conditions for transformation without getting trapped in endless experimentation. From escape velocity and AI trust to the future of work and organizational change, this conversation offers a roadmap for leaders looking to turn AI from a tool into a competitive advantage.
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This week on Buffering, we do something a little different. Instead of just talking about bad broadband websites, we built one. Based on real world ISP websites and real mistakes we see every day, we created the ultimate âwhat not to doâ example packed with confusing pricing tables, outdated messaging, technical jargon, weather widgets, and download calculators straight out of 2009. Then we handed it over to AI to see what modern broadband experiences could actually look like.
Join Zack and Gabe as they test Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and Copilot head to head to redesign a broadband provider website in real time. From experience driven service tiers and smarter buy flows to AI powered personalization and interactive subscriber journeys, this episode explores how communication providers can move beyond selling speeds and start selling connected lifestyles. If your website still feels like a utility portal instead of a modern digital experience, this episode is for you.
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This week on Buffering, we are exploring Google's latest search transformation and what may be the biggest shift to search in more than 25 years. From the end of the ten blue links to AI powered answers, autonomous agents, and the rise of the synthetic consumer, the rules for how people discover information and interact online are changing in real time. As search evolves from finding information to delivering outcomes, businesses may need to rethink everything from content strategy to customer experience.
Join Zack and Gabe as they break down the biggest announcements from Google I/O and what they mean for broadband providers and beyond. They discuss why SEO alone may no longer be enough, how AI agents could reshape customer interactions, why stale content is becoming a liability, and what happens when your next customer might not actually be human.
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This week on Buffering, we are diving into the state of broadband websites in 2026 and asking a simple question: what is a bad website actually costing you? From outdated service pages and broken buyer flows to zombie pages, endless pricing tables, and mobile experiences that still feel stuck in 2014, Zack and Gabe unpack why so many providers are still losing customers before the sale even starts. They also explore how AI is completely reshaping the rules of web design, search, and conversion optimization, and why the old ârefresh your website every few yearsâ mindset no longer works.
Join Zack and Gabe as they break down the hidden friction points killing conversions, debate the future of service tiers, and share practical ways providers can use AI to rapidly improve their websites without massive agency budgets. Along the way, they explore what it means to build websites for both humans and AI agents, why personalization matters more than ever, and how your website can either become your best salesperson or your most expensive liability.
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This week on Buffering, Gabe and Zack are joined by Frank Ploumen, SVP of Product Line Leadership at Calix, to unpack a growing risk in todayâs AI race: âAI orphans.â As service providers accelerate experimentation, many are deploying isolated AI solutions that deliver short term wins but fail to scale, integrate, or sustain long term value. Frank shares why this pattern is emerging, how it mirrors past technology cycles like IoT, and what it means for the future of telecom.
Join Frank, Gabe, and Zack as they explore how providers can move beyond fragmented point solutions toward cohesive, end to end AI strategies. From orchestration and governance to seamless customer experiences and click to buy journeys, this episode breaks down what it takes to design AI that actually drives business outcomes and avoids becoming tomorrowâs technical debt.
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This week on Buffering, we welcome back Jon Picoult, founder of Watermark Consulting and author of From Impressed to Obsessed, to break down the real business impact of customer experience. With nearly two decades of data from his firmâs Customer Experience ROI Study, Jon shares why companies that win on experience donât just earn loyalty, they dramatically outperform the market. From a 7.8x return advantage over laggards to hundreds of percentage points of outperformance vs. the S&P 500, this episode unpacks why CX is no longer a ânice-to-have,â but a proven growth strategy.
Join Jon, Gabe, and Zack as they explore what actually drives those results, how to convince skeptical leaders that CX pays off, and what it takes to evolve from a traditional service provider into a true experience-driven business. Plus, they discuss how these insights apply beyond public companies, especially for broadband providers looking to increase ARPU, reduce churn, and build lasting customer relationships.
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This week on Buffering, we are talking about Amazon making their boldest move yet in the connectivity space with a $12 billion acquisition of Globalstar, and why communication service providers need to pay attention.
Join Zack and Gabe as we discuss the âgood enoughâ experience thatâs winning over subscribers, the ease-of-purchase advantage tech giants have, and more as we explore why competing on specs alone is a losing game, and how CSPs can take action today to protect their markets and grow customer loyalty.
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This week on Buffering, we are exploring what it actually looks like to build with AI, not just talk about it. Join Zack and Gabe as we kick things off with a quick run through the latest AI news and some hot takes, then move into what weâve actually been building over the past couple of weeks, and how fast ideas are turning into working tools.
Join us as we walk through how weâre using real-world data to recommend better internet plans, how weâre replacing rigid signup quizzes with smarter, more adaptive experiences, and how post-install network data can help us time and shape better customer conversations. We also look at how CXPs show up in AI-driven searchâand why thatâs becoming just as important as traditional SEO. The big takeaway from this one: the tools are here, the build time is short, and the opportunity is in figuring out what to actually build.
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This week on Buffering, Gabe and Zack dive into the critical difference between using AI and actually building with itâand why that distinction is about to define the next generation of high performers. From breaking down why clicking âacceptâ on a co-pilot suggestion isnât real AI fluency to sharing real examples of tools theyâve built in hours (instead of paying thousands), they explore how context, curiosity, and a willingness to experiment separate those who will accelerate in their careers from those who will plateau.
Along the way, they unpack the evolving AI landscapeâfrom why apps like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini still dominate, to how âAI expertâ is becoming the next overused resume buzzword (just like âExcel expertâ). They also share practical, real-world examples across marketing, sales, and operations, plus a simple call to action: start small, build something repeatable, and make your work visible. Because in this new era, itâs not about asking better promptsâitâs about turning ideas into working tools.
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This week on Buffering, we are exploring how the best brands in the world have stopped selling specs and started selling feelings â and what that means for broadband providers still leading with speed tiers and price points. Join Zack and Gabe as we discuss how Apple's new MacBook Neo and Rivian's R2 are rewriting the rules of market positioning, why the utility trap is the silent killer of BSP growth, and how experience-first messaging turns subscribers into advocates.
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Are you referring to your service tiers as segmentation? This week on Buffering, we are breaking down why generic marketing and segmentation is killing growth, and how AI can connect siloed data sources with behavioral data to actually move the needle. Join Zack and Gabe as we talk through a challenge to run this week, on how to think about subscribers based on their situation, not their services.
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This week on Buffering, we are unpacking an unlikely lesson from McDonaldsâs and their attempt to market the âMost McDonaldâs burger everâ. If youâre talking about your products and services like a SKU, you may be creating a gap between product management and customer experience thatâs impossible to ignore. Join Zack and Gabe as we discuss how your customers arenât buying architecture, but the experience of a connected, modern home.
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This week on Buffering, we are exploring how marketing has entered itâs post-experimental AI era and how the true winners of 2026 are no longer prompt engineers, but system architects. Join Zack and Gabe as we discuss how the early-AI advantage is fading as true differentiation now comes from designing intelligent, integrated ecosystems that turn insight into action in real time.
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This week on Buffering, we are joined by Vele Galovski, Regional Vice President of business Transformation and AI Engagements at Calix to unpack what AI transformation really takes, and why so many efforts fail to scale. With more than two decades of experience leading large-scale transformations, Vele brings real-world examples from his book, The Perpetual Innovation Machine, to discuss how organizations can turn AI strategy into measurable business outcomes.
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What happens when Broadband Providers canât compete on speed or technology, when everyone sells the same plans? This week on Buffering, we are joined by Anthony Bortolotto, Managing Director of Infinite Networks to explore what competition looks like inside Australiaâs open-access broadband market.
Join Anthony, Gabe, and Zack as we share lessons from Australia, where hundreds of providers share the same plans, and how BSPs can avoid becoming a commodity with real-world differentiation.
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This week on Buffering, we are joined by Jeannine Lyons, RVP of Success Education at Calix to explore how the broadband industry is evolving, and what it takes to build the workforce of tomorrow.
Join Jeannine, Gabe, and Zack as we discuss how education, innovation, and community impact intersect in the world of broadband, and dive into the human side of transformation, the skills the next generation needs, and how technology is becoming the ultimate apprentice.
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