Without clean data, Al becomes a liability

Ashish Surti, Executive Vice President & Chief Digital & Information Officer at Colt Technology Services, on navigating post-acquisition complexity, reimagining enterprise architecture, and AI with purpose

- Jatinder Singh

COLT TECHNOLOGY Services, a global digital infrastructure provider, is no stranger to complex connectivity. Its recent acquisition of Lumen EMEA—adding 3,800 enterprise customers and an extensive fibre asset network—highlights more than just increased bandwidth. It signifies a strategic shift towards a deeper digital transformation.

At the helm of this shift is Ashish Surti, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital & Information Officer (CDIO), leading the integration of a sprawling IT estate, overseeing large-scale cloud migration, and exploring the real business value of generative and agentic AI.

Colt, a leading pan-European fibre provider, now extends its presence across key global markets: Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and North America. The company says that it is in "Chapter Two " of its journey, which is shaped by the Lumen EMEA acquisition, which significantly strengthens Colt's European footprint and customer base.

In an exclusive conversation with Jatinder Singh, Executive Editor, CIO&Leader and R. Giridhar, Group Editor, 9.9 Group, Surti reflects on the complexities and payoffs of enterprise-scale transformation, touching on everything from data migration and AI governance to architecture alignment and customer trust. Here are excerpts from the interview.

CIO&Leader: You recently completed a significant acquisition of a fibre asset company. What are your biggest challenges from a technology or information systems perspective?

ASHISH SURTI: This acquisition of Lumen marks Colt's first major venture of this scale, and the need to scale our IT platforms by 60% almost overnight is a substantial shift for us. Our typical focus in the telecom industry is optimizing existing assets, networks, or IT infrastructure, so this marks a pivotal transition.