TADSummit is the thought-leadership event in programmable communications / telecoms for over ten years.

The audience includes CxOs from many of the programmable communication companies, open source leaders, and telcos. It’s a strategy, technology, and reality focused event with no BS. Check out the preview for TADSummit 2024 here https://alanquayle.com/2024/05/tadsummit-tadhack-global-2024/ (10 minute read). You’ll hear presentations and analysis others do not expose.

Some parts of programmable communications are exploding, e.g conversation intelligence. Check out all the TADSummit Innovators. While other parts are struggling with SMS spam and robocalling plaguing customers to the point they reuse email instead of SMS.

In North America some CSPs (Campaign Service Providers) and Brands feel they are under attack. Costs are up, operational complexity has exploded, and volumes are down. Carrier access in messaging is predominantly controlled through one entity. 2024 has been tough, what’s going to happen in 2025? Can a new foreign owned business even enter the US market for messaging? TADSummit is the ONLY place you’re going to have a full and frank discussion

Core themes are:

• Truth in Telecoms (The conscience of telecoms)
• Truth in AI, Industry4.0, Identity
• TADSummit Innovators (Innovators you must meet)

TADSummit Sponsors

Agenda

Keynotes

The Rise and Rise of vCon

Thomas McCarthy-Howe, CTO STROLID, Innovating Automotive Conversations

• IETF Update
• vCon and SCITT: SCITT is the supply chain integrity transparency and trust standard. As a supporting protocol to vCons. If conversations are inputs to work flows, SCITT can assure their integrity.
• vCon at TADHack and a summer intern project at Jambonz. Jambonz projects now have vCons, e.g. Vida from Lyle Pratt.
• vCon at STROLID, review of top use cases, learning so far.
• vCon in 2025, some predictions.

Why TNID Matters

Noah Rafalko, Founder CEO TSG Global

• My journey: from traditional telecoms, through VoIP, landline SMS, to the wild west we find ourselves in with rampant spamming, robocalling, and fraud.
• My mission: to create the plumbing of secure paths outside of the wild west, where brands and consumers can have TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) compliant communication that are verifiable thanks to self sovereign communications / identity.
• TNID can stop SIM swap fraud. The carrier and customer have both claimed their identity (TNID profile) and have an existing relationship. A SIM swap request would need the customer’s approval on their preferred channel.
• The core idea is using SSI (Self Sovereign Identity, your TNID profile) as the store of your identity, verified credentials, and beyond that the scope of the TNID profile is up to you, for example opt-ins, access rights, approvals, etc.

Conquer the world or win the customer? A cross road moment for CPaaS players seeking to shore up investor confidence.

Matteo Gatta, Founder GenNoor, ex-CEO BICS

• The CPaaS aggregation model is changing
• From SMS to Channels, the software opportunity
• The meaning of scale in the AI-powered transition to CXaaS
• Which concrete customer’s problem Network APIs help to solve, today?
• Data and Cloud Sovereignty, local anchor or necessary burden?

Evolve or Get Left Behind* The Next Generation of CPaaS is Here

Dinesh Saparamadu, Founder and CEO, hSenid Mobile

CPaaS is evolving from a traditional telco-centric model into a unified, AI-driven, omnichannel ecosystem. Businesses can now leverage tools like AI-powered sales agents and omni-channel engagement solutions across platforms such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Viber.

• SMS and traditional VAS are no longer sufficient; personalized, richer communication is crucial to meet modern customer demands.
• Real-world case studies will highlight how businesses are leveraging next-gen CPaaS to boost customer acquisition, retention, and growth.
• Embracing next-gen CPaaS is essential for maintaining a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic digital world.

General Sessions

Truth in Telecoms

By The Numbers

Alan Quayle, Founder TADSummit and TADHack, Independent Consultant, Focused on Reality not Marketing BS.

Quantifying the extent and impact of SPAM, Robocalling, Artificially Inflated Traffic, and other Frauds over the PSTN and around the world.

Understanding the losses driving large brands away from SMS. Survey results and case studies.

Understand the monetary and social impact of frauds over the PSTN.

Case study reviews, some painful examples to understand how horrific the impact can be on the individuals, their close and extended family.

Why has the PSTN degraded?

What should be done now, next year, and into the future? Is regulation the only way given the poor performance of self-regulation in messaging. Why has the industry walked away from facing reality?

The 20+ year Governance and Certification Gap in A2P SMS. When is it Going to End?

Daniel Gill, Founder and CEO Augnet

• Quantifying the scope and scale of the AIT (Artificially Inflated Traffic) problem facing the A2P SMS ecosystem today.
• Learning from Skype, being unable to answer in 2011/2012 simple SMS governance and certification questions as Microsoft took Skype over. And those questions remain unanswered today.
• Augnet was created to address the lack of governance in SMS messaging using a vast network of real devices (both SDK in apps and SIM app). 
• No certifications in the SMS supply chain mean things like performance measurement are challenging, almost guess work, DLR (Delivery Receipts) can be faked. Hence it’s open to abuse by the industry itself and any bad actor with a little bit of knowledge.
• The bad actors can be a company or an employee within a company, hence the emergence of A2P Revenue Assurance.
• Adoption of Augnet has been slow, what needs to happen to accelerate it, and finally close the Governance and Certification Gap in A2P SMS.

A2P Revenue Assurance, Carriers Can Take Back Control!

Ivan Maksic, Poacher Turned Gamekeeper

Over the past ten years carriers have become increasingly reliant on aggregators to help address the issue of A2P fraud. Given the complexity of number spoofing across numerous international AA60/63 inter-operator agreements.

This path has not always led to successful outcomes. Given the rise of AIT (Artificially Inflated Traffic) to the point brands have moved to other forms of transport, such as email (that shows how bad things have become) and passkeys

An international group of ‘poachers turned gamekeepers’ will perform an external, silent evaluation over one month of popular use cases from 30 to 40 brands that are driven by both bots and people. No internal network access is required.

They will deliver a quantified status report across the use cases on the extent of revenue leakage. After which, optionally a plan can be created to remove those sources, and protect against further leakage. No internal network access is required, the carrier can take operational control.

Several evaluations will be presented to explain the depth and breadth of the leakage analysis, and subsequent A2P revenue assurance.

Wadaro, how in-SIM software is revolutionizing telecoms

Robert Wakeling, Founder and CEO, Wadaro

• Wadaro improves mobile customers’ quality of experience (QoE) using in-SIM software. We’ve been doing it for 20 years.
• Wadaro enables telcos to measure the experience customers actually receive. Not a signal measured in a van driving down a road in a completely different radio environment.
• And we do so much more. SIM farms can be a thing of the past. Regulators can confirm coverage and performance targets. Telcos can optimize network investment based on customers’ actual experience. Measure actual dropped call rates. Intelligence at security incidents. And so much more.

Can a new foreign owned business even enter the US market for messaging?

Alex Kinch, Wholesale telecommunications expert

Understanding the changes in the US messaging market. You can no longer just grab some SMS enabled numbers and send / receive traffic. Those days are long gone.

A quick review based on personal experience of the complexity of messaging in the US across 10DLC, toll free, short codes, TCR, Twilio, Syniverse, Neustar/NANPA, and the many other agencies involved in limiting the competitiveness of the US messaging market.

Will it get easier after November’s elections? Unlikely, but in the medium term will things change?

The Future of Business Messaging

Scott Warner, Business Consultant

• Trends in Use Cases
• New Technology (Rich Messaging, AI etc).
• Challenges of Fragmentation 
• Operator approaches
• Opportunities and threats

The Truth of RoboCalling in the US

Alex Quilici, CEO @ YouMail

• Defining and Quantifying the Problem part of the RoboCalling Problem.
• What is working vs. what is not working.
• How to REALLY solve the problem.
• What about solving the RoboTexting problem?

What Kevin Cares About

Kevin Graham, Mobile Technology and Cloud Communications Leader Mobile Engagement | A2P Messaging | Network APIs | CPAAS

How Drachtio and Jambonz are changing the World of Programmable Telecoms.

Dave Horton, Creator of jambonz, the open source voice gateway for CX/AI, and drachtio.org, the open source framework for SIP Server applications

• History of Drachtio and Jambonz, from ideas to products
• Review of Drachtio customers and use cases, e.g. Vida
• Review of Jambonz customers and use cases, e.g. Cognigy, Vapi, Consig, Voxist
• How do open source projects survive?
• Jambonz roadmap and contribution to the next phase of programmable telecoms: embedding it everywhere.

Truth in AI

TADSummit Panel Discussion. Are LLMs about to disrupt enterprise SaaS (Software as a Service)?

• Karel Bourgois, Founder & CEO Voxist,
• Paul Sweeney, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Webio
• Lyle Pratt, Vida.io Founder & CEO
• Nikhil Gupta, Founder, CTO @ Vapi (YC W21)
• RJ Burnham, Founder & CEO at Consig AI

In 2020 we ran a panel at TADSummit on “Serverless and RTC (Real Time Communications).” The conclusions from that panel continue to ring true today, 4 years later.  The importance of examining the specific workloads, AGM (Amazon, Google, and Microsoft) define developer fashion, so serverless is required to remain relevant. The key is some workloads are well suited to serverless, and some like the real time communications core are not, even today. We brought together people working at the coalface of that segment of programmable communications. The result passed the test of time.

One of the current memes on LLMs (Large Language Models) is their impending disruption of enterprise SaaS. An AI agent is claimed to replace many enterprise SaaS, across customer communications, workflows, accounting, sales operations, enterprise resource planning, etc. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO Klarna, announced earlier this year that Klarna’s new OpenAI-powered assistant handled two thirds of the Swedish fintech’s customer service chats in its first month. Not only were customer satisfaction metrics better, but by replacing 700 full-time contractors the bottom line impact is projected to be $40M. They’ve shut down SFDC and Workday SaaS. Klarna is an important data point, and as I’ve pointed out over the years BABS (Bay Area BS) can have a heavy spin.

When I examine what the innovators are doing, it’s highly focused, so the problem is constrained. Webio – debt conversations, Vida – specific SME customer conversations and scheduling, Voxist – I think is the broadest offer at the moment on capturing enterprise processes through voice. From academics I’m seeing discussions on the need to combine LLM + ML (Machine Learning) to deliver unique insights and fewer hallucinations. 

• The shift seems to be predicated on Agentic Architectures. What is an Agentic Architecture? What are the factors impacting its development?
• Most see Vertical LLM’s being the sweet spot, given the limited availability of enterprise data. Everything else gets eaten by the LLM Platforms (OpenAI, etc.). Are these assumptions correct?
• Where do you see the current Agentic Architecture successes? What are the numbers? What are the timelines, 2, 5, 10 years?
• How does LLM/Agentic change the specifics of what CX/ xCaaS does today? Voice, Messaging/ RCS/, eMail, Webchat = channels but what happens in and around these channels in this future picture.
• How does innovation in communications platforms translate into real value in AI and agent-based systems? Where do we see the most significant shifts occurring, and how do these technologies deliver beyond just the communications layer?

Voice AI: Breaking Past the Bullshit

RJ Burnham, Founder & CEO at Consig AI

While AI is the latest buzzword, there’s a lot of hype overshadowing the real advancements. The world of voice AI is evolving at breakneck speed. What was impossible a few years ago is now within reach.

But with these advancements come new challenges. From barge-in issues to streaming models, we need to rethink our approach to harness the full potential of voice AI. Having worked on voice “AI” since the 90s, I’ve seen the technology grow and transform.

This talk dives into the complexities, addresses the current gaps, and explores cutting-edge solutions that are reshaping the industry.

Topics will include:
* Rethinking barge-in for seamless interactions;
* Tackling real-time processing and latency; and
* Leveraging streaming models for better performance.

When are we going to get GPT4o (Her) in open source?

Nikhil Gupta, Founder, CTO @ Vapi (YC W21)

GPT4o brought sci-fi Her to real life, a feat many thought was years away.

Their demo has invigorated the community and a thousand flowers are blooming.

Let’s talk about:

• What are the most promising approaches?
• What are the unknowns?
• When can we expect something in open source?

Vida Voice AI

Lyle Pratt, Vida.io Founder & CEO

• Vida provides lifelike and realistic AI voice and messaging agents for SMBs, SMEs, Developers, and Individuals via its in-house proprietary platform. Answer calls and texts with AI that always works and is never busy.
• Lyle’s multi-decade journey in voice AI, from BetterVoice, through some big companies, to Vida
• Why we built Vida and how the go-to-market is immediately delivering
• Vida roadmap and why Jambonz?
• Build voice AI in 2024

Webio: Revolutionizing Debt Conversations with Conversation Intelligence

Paul Sweeney, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Webio

In this session, Paul Sweeney, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Webio, will showcase how their platform is transforming the way debt conversations are managed, leading to better outcomes for all stakeholders. Through a live demo, attendees will witness firsthand how Webio’s innovative approach leverages conversation intelligence to navigate the complex landscape of debt collection.

Collections environments often present some of the most challenging customer service interactions due to the sensitive nature of conversations about money. Webio’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology sets itself apart by its ability to detect various vulnerabilities, sentiments, and the likelihood of payment from the end-user. This enables collections agents to tailor their approach and provide a more empathetic and effective service.

Webio’s solution also prioritizes end-to-end data privacy, compliance, and audit trails, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure and that all interactions adhere to regulatory standards. Notably, Webio’s platform operates independently, without the need to rely on major cloud providers like Amazon, Google, or Azure.

Last year, at the TADSummit in Paris, Webio shared its framework for the future of custom enterprise language models. In this session the company will demonstrate how multiple small models, each tailored to a specific task, can be orchestrated to deliver highly effective and efficient communication solutions.

SCITT and vCon AI governance for conversations, at scale

Steve Lasker, Director of Ecosystem DataTrails

• An introduction to Supply Chain Integrity, Transparency and Trust (SCITT), an IETF standard.
• Why does managing the compliance of goods and services across end-to-end supply chains matter? For example, SCITT could be the end of deep fakes!
• SCITT supports the verification of goods and services where the authenticity of entities, evidence, policy, and artifacts can be assured.
• Combining SCITT and vCon deliver AI governance for conversations, at scale. As vCons move through the lifecycle, SCITT builds a transparent ledger, enabling regulators and auditors to keep consumers safe. Consent is built into the vCon/SCITT combo.
• Some SCITT use cases to help you understand the relevance of SCITT and why the combo with vCon is essential for business use cases.

TADSummit Innovators

Unified compliance for human and AI agents with Call Score

Surbhi Rathore, CEO & Co-Founder, Symbl.ai

• Symbl.ai’s journey so far: offering state-of-the-art understanding and generative models with an end-to-end platform for building real-time voice intelligence  in your applications.
• Call Score, is a GenAI-powered evaluation tool that scores today’s hybrid workforce of human and AI agents using text and voice
• There have been multiple incidents of voice agents hallucinating while interacting with customers, thereby negatively impacting customer trust.
• With ‘Custom Criteria’ & ‘Scorecards’, different scoring logic can be used for their human & AI agents and directly integrate call scores into their CRM, BI tools or custom applications.
• Call Score helps business leaders make data-driven decisions by providing them in-depth visibility into the performance of their customer-facing teams by analyzing “what they are saying” and “how they are saying it”.

Programmable Global Carrier Digital Services

Sebastian Schumann, Networks & Services International, Deutsche Telekom

– Demystifying ‘digital’ from a wholesale perspective

– Service portfolio including programmable communications and workflow automation 

– Service portal, enabling a new kind of wholesale business

Voxist’s Real Time Enterprise AI

Karel Bourgois, Founder & CEO Voxist, President Le Voice Lab, VP of Technology Hub France IA, Member of the AI Expert Panel Bibliothèques Sans Frontières · International Corporate and Administration Volunteer.

• What do we mean by Real Time Enterprise AI? It’s a delightful, natural chatbot that harnesses not only the tapped knowledge in your enterprise (documents), but all the untapped knowledge in voice:
  • Everyday customer, partner, employee conversations, voice mail, dictations, conference calls, training, etc.
• AND all the communications that are missed:
  • Corporations are facing a 30k person year knowledge deficit as baby boomers retire. Capturing that knowledge through voice is by far the most efficient method and is urgently required. 
  • Operational communications are another gap, for example the daily pre-shift briefings and end of day reviews in a factory, not to mention the continuous interactions between operators and their colleagues.
• Voxist has built simple methods to capture voice in a variety of situations so enterprises finally have an adequate knowledge base across their operations.
• We’ll wrap up by exploring some use cases to highlight the important role voice plays in fully understanding your business.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act for the International Audience

Eric Troutman, Czar of the TCPA, Tsar of the TSR, Telecom Attorney, Partner Troutman Amin, LLP, Founder TCPAWorld.com, Founder and President R.E.A.C.H

What is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act?

Eric Troutman is one of the industry’s leading Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action defense lawyers. The TCPA is the primary federal law governing the regulation of telephone solicitations.

Why is there so much litigation around it?

Where the promise of fast cash and ambiguity intersect, you’re likely to find litigation. With millions (or even billions) in potential TCPA exposure arising out of pedestrian and unavoidable so-called crimes – like accidentally calling the wrong number when your customer changes cell phones without letting you know – the TCPA quickly became the plaintiff’s bar golden goose. It’s the biggest cash cow.

How can you protect my business?

Troutman Amin is a true legal powerhouse, built specifically to assist companies with their most complex litigation and compliance needs.

Understanding the Brands and their Messaging Needs

Holly ‘The SMS Queen’ Depies, SMS and Contact Center Technology Consultant, Nobelbiz

What do brands want from messaging?

A quick review of the US messaging market for the international audience, it’s unique..

Beyond SMS, do brands care about RCS or MMS or WhatsApp today?

How does spam get into SMS? 

Why doesn’t everyone just use Twilio, Syniverse or Sinch? 

Wootag’s Journey

Raj Sunder, Founder and CEO Wootag

At the first TADSummit in 2013 Raj Sunder, then Vice President – Value Added Services at Bakrie Telecom presented on “New Business Models for Telecom Application Success”

Shortly after TADSummit, Raj began a journey that led to the founding of Wootag in 2014, now Wootag is 10 years old.

Wootag harnesses the power of human curiosity with simple, immersive interactions, directly within any visuals.

Wootag is an interactive video provider, that is they tag videos at particular points with calls to action. For TADHack 2015 they made a ‘click to call’ with Apidaze. Wootag has experimented with click to call services in Indonesia and experienced call through rates as high as 22%, which is amazing.

The purpose of this session is to catch up with Raj and his adventures with Wootag. While not squarely in the programmable communication space, we love to catch up with innovators we’ve crossed paths with over the years and learn from them.

Truth in Industry 4.0

Slash the Industry 4.0 Gordian Knot – Simplify Digital Transformation with Programmable Communications

Matthew D Smith, Chief Executive Officer, fieldcloud SAS

• The Byzantine Maze: Navigating Complexity in Industry 4.0
• The Gordian Knot: Cutting the BS of Digital Transformation
• Overcome Vested Interests: Breaking Down Barriers from Incumbent Vendors
• Escape The Labyrinth: Ensuring Long-Term Success in Industry 4.0

Truth in Identity

Realizing the Benefits of Business Identity for Optimal Consumer Contact

Gerry Christensen, Head of Caller ID Reputation® Partnerships and Expert in Communications Identity and Trust

• Recognize the role of business identity in service provisioning and administration
• Identity business identity attributes and how they are used by service providers to support platforms and enterprise
• Understand how business identity info is leveraged to improve consumer contact metrics
• Understand how business identity relates to lawful conduct and compliance with federal and state regulations
• Recognize how communications technologies are evolving to support more robust business identity use cases
• Understand how the convergence of KYC, UI/UX, consent management, monitoring, authentication and validation supports a Trust Framework for improved consumer contact

Lots more coming soon.