Connectivity, Data, and People: The New IT Ecosystem

In this live episode of The Bridgecast, recorded at the Lumen Lounge during the Channel Partners Conference, host Scott Kinka welcomes Danny Benedetti, Vice President of Partner Solutions, and Jim Ortbals, Senior Vice President of Global Partner Solutions at Lumen. Together, they dive into the evolution of one of the industry's most significant players—from the legacy of CenturyLink and Level 3 to becoming a purpose-built infrastructure provider for the AI era.

The discussion moves beyond traditional connectivity to explore how organizations can "cloudify" their networks to scale bandwidth on demand. With Jim joining the conversation on his first day in the role, the episode offers a unique look at leadership during rapid change and the strategic importance of building a "digital workforce" through AI agents. Whether you are managing complex M&A integrations or preparing your infrastructure for agentic AI, this episode provides a roadmap for translating technology into business outcomes.

What you will learn:

How to shift from static to dynamic networking to support the AI economy
The leadership superpowers required to guide teams through constant industry change
Strategies for managing the human fear and systemic risks inherent in M&A integrations
Why internal AI agents are creating immediate ROI by building a digital workforce
The importance of humility and servant leadership in a high-stakes tech environment
Why network control must move from the provider into the hands of the customer

About the Guests:

Danny Benedetti is the Vice President of Partner Solutions at Lumen Technologies, where he has spent 16 years leading channel strategy through multiple industry shifts. He focuses on helping partners deliver value to enterprise customers in increasingly distributed IT environments.

Jim Ortbals serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Partner Solutions at Lumen. A veteran of the service provider and cybersecurity space, Jim has held leadership roles at Cisco, VMware, Zscaler, and BeyondTrust before joining Lumen to lead their global channel organization.

To find out how Bridgepointe Technologies helps businesses make IT decisions faster with world-class engineering support and ongoing guidance, head to https://bridgepointetechnologies.com/

Episode Highlights:

[05:41] Leading Through the "Hard"

Danny Benedetti explains that leading through change is about more than logistics; it's about caring for the people you lead. When change creates fear, leaders must steady the boat and help their teams see the opportunity on the other side. Danny shares a core philosophy he uses with his team: "Everything you want is on the other side of hard."

[09:00] Cloudifying the Network

Lumen is moving away from static, telco-controlled networks to a model where the network scales on demand. This "cloudification" allows enterprises to dial bandwidth up or down and move workloads to hyperscalers seamlessly via tools like the Multi-Cloud Gateway. As Danny puts it, Lumen is becoming the "backbone for the AI economy" by ensuring infrastructure can scale with the needs of the enterprise.

[14:48] The Human Element of Integration

Managing corporate mergers isn't just about systems; it's about human fear. Danny notes that people often worry about their own place in a new organization rather than what's best for the technology. Jim adds that from a systemic perspective, security must be a primary focus to ensure integrations don't create new attack vectors while chasing productivity.

Episode Resources:

Danny Benedetti on LinkedIn
Jim Ortbals on LinkedIn
Lumen Technologies Website
Scott Kinka on LinkedIn
Bridgepointe Technologies Website
The Bridgecast on Apple Podcasts
The Bridgecast on Spotify
The Bridgecast on YouTube