Press Launch
Sowmyanarayan Sampath appointed CEO to drive the corporate’s subsequent section of AI-related and enterprise progress; Steve Smith to stay on Board following retirement
Zayo (“the Firm”), the main digital infrastructure community supplier, as we speak introduced a deliberate CEO transition, appointing former Verizon govt Sowmyanarayan Sampath as Chief Govt Officer (CEO), efficient September 1, 2026. Sampath will succeed Steve Smith, who will retire as CEO following a transformative tenure that established Zayo because the foundational spine of the AI economic system. Smith will proceed to function a member of Zayo’s Board of Administrators.
Underneath Steve’s management, Zayo has developed from an acquisition-built community operator into the most important unbiased digital infrastructure community supplier and a powerhouse of connectivity serving AI firms and enterprises throughout the U.S. Sampath’s appointment supplies long-term management and bolsters Zayo’s market-leading place.
Sampath brings greater than 20 years of large-scale digital infrastructure expertise, most not too long ago serving as CEO of Verizon Client, after beforehand main Verizon Enterprise and BCG’s world telecom follow for carriers the world over. His intensive background in main multi-billion-dollar enterprise and wholesale companies by means of transformation and speedy expertise shifts positions him to speed up Zayo’s business execution, scale for the calls for of AI-driven progress, and meet rising demand for high-capacity connectivity.
“On behalf of the Board, I need to thank Steve for his management and the essential function he has performed in strengthening Zayo’s market place,” stated Kevin Turner, Chairman of Zayo’s Board of Administrators. “Steve has sharpened Zayo’s technique and positioned the Firm for its subsequent section of progress. This deliberate transition displays the energy of our enterprise, the depth of our management workforce, and the Board’s confidence within the path forward. Sampath’s observe file of scaling complicated networks and driving enterprise income makes him the correct chief to maximise the potential from Zayo’s market-leading property.”
“I’ve great respect for what Steve and your complete Zayo workforce have constructed, together with its extraordinary bodily footprint on the exact second the worldwide economic system calls for uncompromised bandwidth,” stated Sampath. “As AI workloads, distributed functions, dense GPU clusters, and hyperscale environments change the place capability is required, and as massive enterprises handle more and more complicated connectivity wants, the community is the final word constraint, and Zayo is constructed to unravel this. We already join extra knowledge facilities within the U.S. than anybody else, and that’s more and more essential as AI firms and enormous enterprises search for the dimensions, attain, and efficiency AI-driven infrastructure requires. I look ahead to working with this workforce as we construct on Zayo’s momentum, strengthen assist for our clients and launch the following period of digital infrastructure progress.”
Underneath Smith’s management, Zayo strengthened its place because the community associate of alternative for purchasers with complicated, high-capacity connectivity wants. He superior deeper integration, automation, inside AI adoption, community service excellence, and disciplined capital allocation whereas accelerating Zayo’s community enlargement. Throughout his tenure, the Firm greater than tripled its deliberate fiber enlargement, with tasks now spanning greater than 15,000 route miles. He additionally accomplished the acquisition of Crown Fort’s Fiber Options Enterprise, including roughly 90,000 route miles and 40,000 on-net enterprise places. In his function on the Board, Smith will draw on his many years of trade experience to proceed advising the Firm.
“Main Zayo has been a privilege, and I’m deeply happy with what our workforce has constructed as we put together the Firm for the following technology of digital infrastructure,” stated Smith. “I’ve at all times inspired my groups to play to be remembered, and this workforce has finished precisely that by constructing a stronger, extra targeted Zayo. Sampath is a confirmed operator with the trade experience, buyer focus and expertise main at scale to construct on that success. I’m assured he’s the correct chief for Zayo’s subsequent chapter, and I look ahead to supporting him and your complete group as a member of the Board.”