Empowering the Future of Digital Transformation: NaaS as the Backbone of AI, Cybersecurity, and Customer-Centric Innovation

As businesses evolve in an increasingly digital-first world, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) has emerged as a transformative force, enabling agility, security, and seamless connectivity. At the Global NaaS Event hosted by MEF Forum , industry leaders converged to discuss the future of NaaS, with sessions covering AI optimization, cybersecurity, and customer-centric networking. Leaders like MEF CTO Pascal Menezes , Colt Technology Services 's Mirko Voltolini , Orange 's Usman Javaid, PhD , Sparkle 's Daniele Mancuso , Verizon ’s Paul Ruelas and Deron McElroy from CISA provided insights into how NaaS can shape the future of networked businesses. Here, we distill their expert guidance into actionable strategies that organizations can employ to make the most of NaaS for digital transformation.

A New Era of Connectivity: NaaS as the Backbone of Digital Transformation

NaaS, launched in 2023, has already redefined traditional networking by allowing organizations to access secure, on-demand connectivity with unprecedented flexibility. But, as Pascal Menezes explained, this new connectivity model isn’t merely an upgraded version of traditional network solutions. Today’s NaaS integrates cloud connectivity, embedded security, and automation, supporting organizations across sectors as they face diverse operational challenges.

Pascal highlighted how NaaS is crucial to bridging multi-cloud environments and delivering seamless connectivity for AI applications and high-stakes operations. Maurice D. from Equinix echoed this sentiment, pointing to the ability of NaaS to support distributed AI workloads across multi-cloud platforms. With its adaptive design, NaaS makes it possible to train, deploy, and manage AI models with the agility and speed needed in the modern enterprise.

Optimizing AI Workloads with Multi-Cloud NaaS

With AI transforming industries, managing AI workloads efficiently across cloud environments is becoming essential. Roy Chua of AvidThink moderated a panel that delved into these challenges. They explored how AI demands unique network capabilities that extend beyond traditional networking. Training workloads, for example, require high bandwidth and low latency, while inference workloads need edge proximity for real-time insights.

“Training AI on distributed datasets across clouds used to be an impossible feat with legacy networks”. “NaaS changes that game entirely.” NaaS allows organizations to allocate network resources on demand, optimizing data flows to support large-scale training while securing sensitive information. They highlighted NaaS’s adaptability for edge computing, especially critical for inference tasks where real-time responses are necessary. NaaS’s multi-cloud flexibility is critical for AI-driven applications, enabling AI workloads to run smoothly and securely, no matter the environment.

For companies integrating AI, the takeaway is clear: adopting NaaS solutions with dynamic, on-demand capabilities is critical for optimizing both training and inference workloads across multi-cloud ecosystems. Additionally, investing in NaaS that incorporates quantum-safe encryption and AI-driven predictive analytics can help protect and optimize these processes from end to end as highlighted by Daniele Mancuso .

Navigating a Complex Cybersecurity Landscape

Cybersecurity has become a constant struggle for organizations, with growing digital footprints and a rising number of threats. In a panel moderated by MEF’s Principal Analyst Stan Hubbard , cybersecurity experts, including Joseph Blankenship from Forrester , Deron McElroy from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Bob Victor from Comcast Business , highlighted the essential role NaaS plays in addressing today’s security challenges. As the threat landscape grows more sophisticated, McElroy emphasized, organizations must shift from a defensive mindset to proactive, adaptive security measures.

One key approach is adopting Zero Trust principles. Blankenship stressed that Zero Trust, where all network traffic is treated as potentially harmful until verified, is foundational to effective cybersecurity. The panelists noted that cyber threats are intensifying, with billions of phishing attacks annually, state-sponsored espionage, and the added risk of AI-enhanced cybercrime. For example, Comcast reported handling over 2.6 billion phishing incidents in a single year. These incidents highlight the pressing need for companies to integrate security at every level of their networking infrastructure.

The takeaway for businesses is the importance of selecting NaaS solutions that not only incorporate Zero Trust architecture but also offer advanced security tools like post-quantum encryption and continuous threat monitoring. As Blankenship and McElroy both noted, organizations that invest in these protections and educate their employees about cyber risks will be better positioned to defend against increasingly sophisticated threats.

Customer-Centric Innovation: Moving from SLAs to XLAs

One of the most significant shifts in the NaaS space is the move from traditional Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to Experience Level Agreements (XLAs), a shift that aligns NaaS services more closely with customer outcomes. Paul Ruelas , Verizon ’s seasoned expert, illustrated this evolution through real-world examples. In a manufacturing use case, for instance, Verizon deployed NaaS to support IoT in supply chain management, providing the client with real-time analytics and scalability to meet fluctuating demand.

Ruelas shared how XLAs are redefining customer relationships in networking, moving the focus from technical metrics to holistic experiences and business outcomes. By prioritizing customer needs through XLAs, organizations foster transparency and accountability, which are essential in building long-term trust. For Ruelas, the goal is clear: NaaS providers should prioritize XLAs, focusing on creating seamless customer experiences rather than just meeting technical benchmarks.

Furthermore, Ruelas emphasized the value of AI-powered insights for customer interaction, as they help organizations predict network issues before they arise, offering a more proactive service model. The shift from reactive to proactive support underlines the customer-centric approach that NaaS now represents.

For organizations, the lesson is to look for NaaS providers that can deliver a single, unified management platform or “single pane of glass” view. This model simplifies network operations and provides transparency, ensuring clients can monitor performance and gain actionable insights in real time.

Integrating NaaS for Future-Ready Networking

The collective insights from these industry experts underscore a fundamental message: NaaS is no longer a supplementary technology but a core strategic component for any organization aiming to lead in a digital-first world. By combining on-demand connectivity, multi-cloud AI support, and embedded security, NaaS provides the infrastructure necessary for resilience and innovation.

Businesses should prioritize NaaS providers that offer:

• Scalability for diverse workloads, particularly those supporting AI and real-time applications.
• Quantum-Safe Security features, essential as cyber threats grow more complex.
• XLAs over SLAs to ensure a customer-first approach that emphasizes user experience and business outcomes.
• A Unified Management Platform to streamline network visibility and improve operational efficiency.

At aconnic , we are committed to delivering NaaS solutions that embody these principles. We see NaaS as a catalyst for growth, enabling our clients to adapt quickly, innovate securely, and deliver exceptional experiences. As digital transformation accelerates, our goal is to support organizations in harnessing the full potential of NaaS to thrive in an interconnected, AI-powered world.

In a rapidly changing digital landscape, organizations that adopt these forward-thinking approaches to NaaS will be best positioned to lead in their industries, navigating the challenges and seizing the opportunities of tomorrow.