Calix Unveils AI Platform, Workflow Tools and Broadband Network Expansion at ConneXions

Key Points

• Calix is expanding its AI strategy with the Communications Language Model Foundation, specialized “Calix Gems” models and Workflow Studio, which will let broadband providers automate operations, service, marketing and subscriber-support processes across different systems.
• Customer examples showed potential benefits including faster troubleshooting, proactive network maintenance, fewer truck rolls and targeted service sales. ALLO Fiber said an AI operations agent cut intermittent-issue analysis from about 15 minutes to 30 seconds.
• Calix also outlined a broader product roadmap focused on network simplification and managed connectivity, including expanded managed switches, 50 Gbps PON, Wi-Fi 8 development, SmartMDU, ScamWatch and a Wi-Fi 7 outdoor unit.

Calix NYSE: CALX used its ConneXions conference to outline an expanded artificial-intelligence strategy, including new workflow tools, specialized communications-focused AI models and additional managed networking products designed for broadband providers.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Weening said the company began shifting major product-development resources toward AI in late 2023 and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in its platform. He said all Calix customers were AI-enabled by the end of March, with AI embedded across the company’s platform.

Weening acknowledged that the platform transition slowed some implementations and created challenges for customers, but said the investment is intended to deliver more automation, security and operational capacity. He said Calix plans to deliver more capabilities in 2027 than it did in the prior two years combined, citing AI-driven productivity improvements and the company’s completed third-generation platform launch.

AI platform and workflow plans

Calix announced the Calix Communications Language Model Foundation, or CLM Foundation, which Weening described as a specialized AI foundation tailored to broadband-provider operations. The company also introduced the concept of Calix Gems, smaller domain-specific models intended for areas including marketing, security, repair and troubleshooting.

According to Weening, Calix expects those models to be deployed across its cloud, network equipment and subscriber-premises devices. He said specialized models could range in size depending on the use case, including models designed to operate locally on a GigaSpire device to identify and stop cyber threats in homes and businesses.

The company also announced Workflow Studio, a tool intended to let customers customize AI workflows around their own business processes. The platform is designed to connect Calix agents with third-party systems using agent-to-agent, or A2A, technology and Model Context Protocol, or MCP.

Weening said reference workflows will cover operations, service, marketing and subscriber experiences. For example, an operations workflow could identify a network issue, supply diagnostic information to a network employee, determine whether subscribers should be notified and compile insights after the incident is resolved. Calix said marketing workflows are expected in November.

Calix Chief Marketing Officer Juergen Lindner said the A2A and MCP technologies are intended to enable workflows that extend across application, vendor and system boundaries. He said the model could allow agents to coordinate information from different systems while preserving controls around identity, permissions and expense or policy limits.

Customer examples highlight service and sales opportunities

Several broadband-provider executives discussed how they are using Calix products and evaluating AI-driven automation.

• ALLO Fiber CEO Shane West said the company serves more than 250,000 subscribers across Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona. He said operating on a single platform has reduced complexity compared with multi-vendor environments. West said ALLO’s trouble-ticket index was 40% lower than that of a multi-platform network he previously operated. In one AI use case, he said an Operations Agent reduced the time needed to understand an intermittent connectivity issue from about 15 minutes to 30 seconds.
• RTC COO and Assistant General Manager Brooks Goodall said the cooperative serves roughly 15,000 broadband subscribers in western North Dakota and eastern Montana. He said proactive agents could help identify network issues before customers report them, improve first-call resolution and reduce costly truck rolls across its remote service territory.
• Conexon COO John Walburn said Conexon Connect serves 145,000 subscribers in nine states. He said the company has used segmentation capabilities to target outdoor Wi-Fi offers to customers with potential use cases such as pools, spas and ponds. Walburn said its outdoor Wi-Fi attach rate among its existing customer base was approximately 0.72%, while the rate for new subscribers had reached about 2.1%.
• CoastConnect President and CEO Chris Rhodes said the Mississippi Gulf Coast provider serves about 27,000 internet subscribers and has recorded a net promoter score above 90 for two consecutive years. He said 70% of customers use the company’s app and that subscriber-facing AI could help customers resolve basic issues through natural-language interactions.

Network and product roadmap

Weening also reiterated Calix’s push toward network simplification, arguing that providers can reduce operating complexity by consolidating network functions onto its platform rather than managing separate broadband network gateways, routers and other systems from multiple vendors.

The company said it is expanding its managed-switch portfolio for homes, businesses and multi-dwelling units. Weening said the products are designed to give providers greater visibility into connected devices and reduce service issues associated with unmanaged networking equipment.

Other planned or ongoing initiatives cited by Calix include 50 Gbps PON capabilities, Wi-Fi 8 development, SmartMDU expansion, ScamWatch identity-protection services, grid-monitoring investments for utility customers and a new Wi-Fi 7 outdoor unit that Weening said is expected to be available in volume in February.

Throughout the event, executives emphasized that customers will need to decide which workflows and operational changes to prioritize. “There is no version of the future where AI is optional,” Weening said, arguing that AI adoption will be central to competing on customer experience, operating costs and subscriber growth.

About Calix (NYSE:CALX)

Calix, Inc NYSE: CALX provides cloud and software platforms, broadband access systems, and related services to communications service providers. Its solutions are designed to help providers deploy, manage, and monetize broadband networks while improving the subscriber experience across residential, business, and community markets.

The company's offerings include the AXOS broadband access platform, Calix Cloud software, and a portfolio of hardware and subscriber-premises equipment. These products support fiber, fixed wireless, and other broadband networks and can provide capabilities such as network automation, analytics, Wi-Fi management, cybersecurity, and connected-home services.

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