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PODCAST

Buffering

Zack Kilgore and Gabe Petersen

Buffering - Powered by Calix is a weekly podcast hosted by Zack Kilgore and Gabe Petersen from the Calix Success and Field Strategy teams. We break down how marketing, data, and AI drive real-world growth, from customer experience to emerging tools and trends. With 25+ years of combined experience, Gabe and Zack cut through the noise on what drives results, where organizations get stuck, and how to optimize performance and growth. Views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the

business marketing

All Episodes

00:50:43

Live from WTA: Competing in the Age of Starlink and LEO

Buffering ·

2026/10/07

This week on Buffering, Gabe sits down with Kyle Redman of ATC to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing broadband providers today: competing with Starlink. From its massive marketing presence and growing subscriber base to its simple buying experience and undeniable cool factor, Starlink is changing the competitive landscape and forcing providers to rethink how they win and retain customers.Join Kyle and Gabe as they explore why customers are not always making purely technical decisions,

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00:18:54

The Psychology of Buying: What Your Customers Can't...

Buffering ·

2026/10/02

This week on Buffering, Gabe sits down with Melina Palmer, founder of The Brainy Business and a leading voice in behavioral economics, to explore the psychology behind why people buy. From the subtle power of how products are presented to the hidden fears and motivations that shape decisions, the conversation uncovers why small changes in marketing can have an outsized impact on customer behavior.Join Melina and Gabe as they explore how behavioral economics applies to broadband marketing, pricing

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00:37:12

The Managed Wi-Fi Problem: When Operator Language...

Buffering ·

2026/09/22

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe take on one of broadband’s most debated terms: managed Wi-Fi. While operators know exactly what it means, customers may not see the same value in the language. From confusing product names to Wi-Fi being treated as an add on, the conversation explores what happens when industry terminology gets in the way of the customer experience.Join Zack and Gabe as they unpack why internet and Wi-Fi are increasingly inseparable, whether managed Wi Fi should be part of the

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00:35:35

Drag and Drop Your Way Out: Building Websites in the...

Buffering ·

2026/09/15

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe explore how AI is changing the way websites are built, maintained, and personalized. From moving beyond rigid templates and drag and drop editors to creating custom websites in minutes, the conversation looks at why businesses may no longer need to settle for a website that looks like everyone else's. They also dig into AI assisted development, structured content, email templates, the case against embedding PDFs, and why your website should be more than a

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00:40:57

The Taglines We Need to Retire: 10 Broadband...

Buffering ·

2026/09/08

This week on Buffering, we are counting down ten broadband marketing taglines that might be ready for retirement. From “blazing fast” and “future proof” to “powers every device in your home,” we break down why generic claims fall flat and how we can replace them with experiences customers can actually see, understand, and trust.Join Zack and Gabe as we rethink how we market speed, reliability, local service, and value based offers. We explore how transparency and real proof can help us differentiate

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00:40:44

The Experience Provider: Are Legacy CX Playbooks Are...

Buffering ·

2026/09/01

This week on Buffering, we’re retiring six customer experience mantras that may have helped build businesses but won’t necessarily help them grow. Inspired by Customer Experience expert Jon Picoult, we explore “the customer is always right” to “every interaction should delight,” Zack and Gabe challenge the CX absolutisms that oversimplify increasingly complex customer journeys. They explore why not all friction is bad, why NPS can’t tell the whole story, why more personalization isn’t always better,

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00:39:51

The Enablement Gap: From Task Assistance to Governed...

Buffering ·

2026/08/24

This week on Buffering, we’re going beyond the AI slop problem and asking a bigger question: how can organizations actually enable their employees to use AI well? Zack and Gabe break down the training gap, why simply handing employees powerful AI tools isn’t enough, and how organizations can create clear standards for what good AI use looks like. From prompt libraries and AI labs to forklifts and ski slopes, they explore practical ways to build AI skills across an entire organization.Join Zack and

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00:40:06

The AI Slop Trap: Are We Outsourcing Our Brains?

Buffering ·

2026/08/18

This week on Buffering, we dive into the AI slop problem and the growing debate over whether AI is making people dumber. From cringy LinkedIn posts to low effort AI generated content, Zack and Gabe explore why bad AI is creating skepticism around the technology and why writing off AI because of its worst use cases may be a mistake.Join Zack and Gabe as they unpack how to use AI as a strategic partner rather than an answer machine. They discuss critical thinking, foundational knowledge, AI as a

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00:43:15

The Next Connectivity Disruption: Starlink is Going...

Buffering ·

2026/08/10

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe take a deep dive into Starlink's latest moves and what they could mean for Communication Service Providers (CSPs). With Starlink reaching 12 million subscribers, expanding beyond broadband, and making its ambitions in mobile increasingly clear, the competition is no longer limited to rural and unserved markets. Zack and Gabe explore why Starlink is becoming a broader connectivity threat, why technical superiority does not guarantee market immunity, and how

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00:35:29

The Golden Circle of Broadband: What’s the Why Behind...

Buffering ·

2026/08/04

This week on Buffering, Zack is joined by Kristin and Christina for a conversation about one of the biggest challenges facing Communication Service Providers (CSPs): standing out in a market where speed and price have become commodities. Using Simon Sinek's Golden Circle framework, they explore why subscribers don't choose providers because of gig speeds alone, and how leading with purpose, customer experience, and meaningful value creates stronger differentiation than another speed

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00:37:22

Winning in the AI Era: How CSPs Can Future-Proof...

Buffering ·

2026/07/21

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe explore what it really means to become AI-native—and why simply using ChatGPT is no longer enough. They discuss how Communication Service Providers (CSPs) can move beyond basic prompting to embed AI into existing workflows, improve websites, automate repetitive tasks, accelerate development, and unlock new levels of productivity. Along the way, they tackle why AI fluency is becoming a competitive advantage and share a thought-provoking challenge: would your most

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00:46:49

Inside Meta Ads Manager: A Step-by-Step Guide for CSPs

Buffering ·

2026/07/14

This week on Buffering, we’re diving into one of the most powerful tools available to Communication Service Providers (CSPs): Meta Ads Manager. Zack and Gabe walk through how to build high-performing Facebook and Instagram campaigns from the ground up, covering best practices for campaign structure, audience targeting, creative strategy, budgeting, and the settings that can make the difference between wasted spend and measurable growth.Join Zack and Gabe as they share a practical, screen-share

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00:41:44

The Next Broadband Battle: Defending the Subscriber...

Buffering ·

2026/07/07

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

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00:36:16

The Discount Trap: The Hidden Cost of Promotional...

Buffering ·

2026/06/23

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

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00:38:18

The Cool Gap: Why Better Technology Doesn't Always Win

Buffering ·

2026/06/15

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

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00:48:50

Winning with AI: The 90 Day Blueprint for Business...

Buffering ·

2026/06/09

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

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00:44:03

Broadband Websites vs. AI: What Service Providers Are...

Buffering ·

2026/06/02

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

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00:34:08

A New Era for Search: Google's AI Revolution

Buffering ·

2026/05/26

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

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00:37:39

The Conversion Crisis: What Bad Websites Actually Cost

Buffering ·

2026/05/19

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

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00:37:31

Architecting Intelligence: A Long-Term Approach to AI...

Buffering ·

2026/05/11

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

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