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.

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.

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 companies—and why the battle for the future of connectivity may be won long before a customer ever looks at a speed test.

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 leadership—not technology—is 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.

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 “what not to do” 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.

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.

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 “refresh your website every few years” 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.

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 today’s AI race: “AI orphans.” 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 tomorrow’s technical debt.

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 firm’s Customer Experience ROI Study, Jon shares why companies that win on experience don’t 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 “nice-to-have,” 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.

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 “good enough” experience that’s 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.