Ryan Grewell is the Chief Innovation Officer at Nextlink, a leading internet service provider serving communities across a dozen states. With over a decade of experience in telecommunications, Ryan previously founded and successfully exited an ISP in Ohio that served more than 20 counties.

He currently leads innovation initiatives, including the development of Infara.ai, an AI solutions platform focused on telecom and adjacent industries. Ryan has driven the adoption of AI across network operations, customer experience, quality assurance, and automation, bringing a unique perspective that spans building, operating, and scaling real-world systems.

A passionate advocate for leadership and team development, Ryan is dedicated to empowering others and fostering organizational success through technology and innovation.

Ken Garnett spent nearly two decades as co-founder and C-suite leader of Cal.net, a rural broadband provider serving thousands of households across California. During that tenure, he held nearly every executive role (CTO, COO, CFO, and Chief Strategy Officer), secured over $120 million in government funding, and completed five acquisitions.

After retiring from Cal.net at the end of 2024, Ken founded BeyondChat.ai, an AI orchestration consulting practice for organizations ready to move beyond chat-based tools into AI that completes goals, not just answers questions. His core thesis – that the future of AI is orchestration, not conversation – has been featured in InfoWorld and presented at the AI Insights Summit and AI Mastery Summit.

Ken is a Certified AI Consultant and MindStudio Level 3 Certified AI Agent Developer. He continues to serve Cal.net as a part-time strategic advisor and Secretary of the Board.

Teresa McGaughey is Vice President of Global Field and Partner Marketing at Calix North America, where she helps broadband service providers deliver exceptional subscriber experiences and accelerate profitable growth. With nearly 30 years in telecommunications, Teresa’s career spans software development, product management, international sales, and global marketing. She has led teams that brought the industry’s first Ethernet-based access systems to market and holds a patent in router‑on‑a‑chip technology, reflecting deep technical rigor and innovation.

At Calix, Teresa’s field and partner programs unify product, marketing, and sales motions to help providers launch differentiated services faster. Her thought leadership—across videos, white papers, and executive forums—guides BSPs worldwide on transforming subscriber experience and monetizing the smart home and small business.

Teresa chairs the Fiber Broadband Association’s In‑Home Experience Committee, engages regularly with customers and partners, and is a sought‑after speaker at industry events. Her contributions have been recognized with multiple honors, including Chairman’s Quarterly Awards, President’s Club, International Sales Win of the Year, and most recently, CRN’s Women of the Channel Award (2025) for leadership and impact in the IT channel.

Claude Aiken is the Chief Strategy Officer/Chief Legal Officer for Nextlink Internet and leads the company's work on strategic market development and M&A, as well as heading its legal and external affairs practices.

Prior to joining Nextlink, he was President and CEO of WISPA, leading the association to significant growth in budget, membership, and relevance. Claude joined WISPA after nearly a decade at the Federal Communications Commission. While there, he served as advisor to Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner Clyburn.

He also held senior leadership positions in the Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel, as well as key staff attorney roles throughout the Commission.

He has received multiple awards for his work and has held positions on federal advisory committees and corporate boards. Claude holds a law degree from New York Law School and an English degree from Grove City College.

As Chief Technology Officer and co-founder at Aterlo Networks/Preseem, Scot is responsible for the technology direction of Preseem, and managing the intellectual property of the company.

Scot has been working in the networking equipment industry for over 20 years. Before Preseem, Scot was a Senior Architect at Sandvine, where he contributed to many innovations across all product lines, and met fellow Preseem co-founders Dan Siemon and Gerrit Nagelhout. Scot has filed several patents and has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Aterlo Networks/Preseem and a self-proclaimed “networking geek,” Dan is responsible for the product direction at Preseem. Dan’s market knowledge and expertise have been informed by almost 25 years of ISP industry experience, including three years as the owner and operator of an ISP and 13 years on the board of directors for a local provider.

As CEO, Dan is focused on providing the best tools and analytics to the ISP community to help them gain and retain customers by measuring, analyzing, and improving subscriber QoE. Prior to co-founding Preseem, Dan was a Senior Product Manager at Sandvine, working on 3GPP and wired network products. Dan holds an MSc in Computer Science from Western University in London, Ontario.

Bjørn Ivar Teigen Monclair is the VP of Network Intelligence at CUJO AI, former Head of Research at Domos, and has a PhD from the University of Oslo. His research interests are in queuing theory, distributed systems, and Machine Learning with applications in modeling and optimizing real-world networks.

With deep roots in the ISP and Customer Experience sectors, Andrii saw a critical gap in the industry: operators were sitting on massive amounts of customer data - call recordings, billing interactions, support tickets - but had no practical way to turn any of it into insight.

Combining his industry expertise with a focus on AI-driven intelligence, Andrii founded QueSee with a mission to help ISPs move beyond basic analytics. Using AI to transform raw data into actionable Customer Experience and Retention strategies, QueSee helps operators protect and grow their bottom line, while keeping their customers happy.

In the last 20 years, Nathan Stooke went from programming PCs to building Wisper into a successful multi-million dollar Internet service provider.

With headquarters in Mascoutah, IL, Wisper now services Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. In 2018, the FCC announced that Wisper ISP won $220.3 million of federal funding in the FCC's rural broadband auction, the Connect America Fund Phase II. This money will be distributed to Wisper over a period of 10 years. Wisper was one of 103 providers to win financial support from across the country.

As CEO of Wisper, Nathan has provided high-speed Internet service to tens of thousands of happy customers; many in rural, underserved areas where previous service providers had been spotty or nonexistent.

Stooke is a well-respected businessman in the St. Louis area; he was selected as a "Top 30 Under 30" by the St. Louis Business Journal and named on the list of the "Top 100 St. Louisans to Know" by the St. Louis Small Business Monthly. Wisper was named one of the Top 20 Small Businesses in 2014 and one of the 50 Fastest-Growing companies in St. Louis by St. Louis Small Business Monthly.

Jeff Little is the CEO of Above Wireless LLC and an expert in using AI for work, construction, and business operations. He brings a practical, field-driven perspective on how AI can improve efficiency, decision-making, and execution in telecom and infrastructure environments.

Joshua Seidemann focuses on federal regulatory issues as well as technology and market trends affecting the rural telecom industry. 

He leads research initiatives for Smart Rural CommunitySM, an initiative that promotes inter-industry collaboration to deploy broadband-enabled applications to improve agriculture, education, health care and other sectors. 

Josh is the staff liaison for the NTCA Innovation and Business Opportunity Committee and has served on industry bodies administered by the FCC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, state governments and university systems.

The internet industry is at an inflection point. AI, edge computing, network automation, and next-generation infrastructure aren't future considerations; they're decisions ISP leaders are making right now.

As the opening keynote at the Proactive ISP Virtual Summit 2026, Ian Khan delivers a forward-looking blueprint for how ISPs can move beyond connectivity to become intelligent digital platforms — unlocking new revenue streams, optimizing operations, and staying competitive in a rapidly transforming landscape.

Ian Khan is a globally recognized futurist, USA Today bestselling author of Undisrupted, and creator of the Future Readiness Score, a framework trusted by Fortune 100 companies and governments to navigate disruption. He is the executive producer and host of The Futurist on Amazon Prime Video, and has been featured on CNN, BBC, and Bloomberg. Learn more about Ian's work at www.IanKhan.com.

Matthew Stooke is a data scientist focused on applying machine learning to real-world ISP operations. He has built and deployed an end-to-end churn prediction system, translating raw network, billing, and support data into actionable retention strategies.

His work centers on bridging the gap between predictive models and day-to-day decision-making, with a focus on working through imperfect data and driving measurable business impact.

With more than two decades of experience in the operations and technology space, Josh Turiano brings deep technical expertise and a people-first mindset to his role as Chief Innovation and AI Officer at Blue Stream Fiber. Since joining the company in 2019, Josh has held several leadership positions, overseeing engineering, systems, and network operations.

Josh’s career began in 2004 on the helpdesk, and he has since grown through the ranks, holding roles in training, analysis, integration, and engineering leadership. He’s led complex product launches, supported critical systems, and driven innovation across both technical infrastructure and customer experience. Today, he is focused on harnessing AI and automation to predict and solve customer issues before they arise, eliminating the frustrating, familiar telecom "interrogation" and delivering a smoother, smarter support experience.

Outside of work, Josh is passionate about 3D printing and community service. He currently serves as a board member of the Society of Cable and Technical Engineers South Florida Chapter, having previously held the role of Vice President. He is also actively involved with Extra Life, a charity that supports children’s hospitals, helping raise funds for children in need.

Benny Fallica is a telecom professional with over 18 years of experience at Nokia, spanning business development, sales, strategic planning, and product management. He currently leads efforts to expand Nokia’s broadband and home devices business in North America. With his expertise in access technologies, Benny works closely with ISPs and enterprises to navigate deployment challenges and deliver innovative, scalable connectivity solutions.

Larry is passionate about advancing the broadband industry through both technology and dialogue. With 25+ years of experience spanning ISP ownership, network operations, and software development, he brings a unique perspective to broadband challenges. As founder and former president of Excel.Net, he understands the operational realities facing ISPs. Now as a Technical Product Manager at Sonar Software, he helps build the platforms that power broadband operators worldwide.

He is also co-host of The Bandwidth Podcast, where he and his fellow co-hosts deliver honest insights about what's really working (and what isn't) in broadband deployment, regulation, and operations.

Larry has also been married to his beautiful wife Shelly for more than 30 years and they have also been blessed with two children.

Veronica Kolstad is a Senior Product Manager at gaiia, where she leads workflow automation and AI product development. Before gaiia, she was at Meta, driving AI platform and governance strategy for frontier Large Language Models, and she has shipped Machine Learning products across the energy and B2B SaaS sectors. She holds a Master's in Computer Science and has spent her career at the intersection of emerging technology and real-world operations.

Matt Larsen started deploying wireless broadband in 1999 and is experienced in the design of data networks, NOC operations, wireless deployments, voice over IP implementation, business development and overall management of ISP operations.

In 1995, Larsen was part of the volunteer group that launched FortNet, the first ISP in Fort
Collins, Colorado. After moving to Scottsbluff, Nebraska in 1997, he started Scottsbluff Networx, an ISP that provided competitive dialup Internet access in Western Nebraska and was the first non-ILEC to offer DSL service in Nebraska. Frustrated with the incumbent bureaucracy, Matt turned to wireless as an alternate way to deliver broadband, bypassing the phone companies completely.

In November 2000, Larsen sold Scottsbluff Networx to Airwave Wireless, a company that held LMDS and cellular licenses for the Scottsbluff area. From November 2000 through October 2003, Larsen worked on ISP operations for Airwave, and concentrated on business development and the deployment of unlicensed wireless broadband systems.

In October 2003, Larsen left Airwave to pursue opportunities in wireless broadband access and established Vistabeam.

Vistabeam has deployed wireless broadband systems covering approximately 45,000 square miles across Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.

Matt Larsen is one of the innovators in the wireless broadband industry, a founding board member and past President of WISPA, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, and a member of BITAG, the Broadband Infrastructure Technology Advisory Group. Matt has also been a speaker at WISPCON, ISPCON, EC-Expo, NARUC, FCC Wireless Broadband Access Task Force and Mountain Connect; received the 1999 Visionary Rising Star Award from the Scottsbluff/Gering Chamber of Commerce; received the WISP Consultant of the Year Award at
the Spring 2004 WISPCON, received the WISPA Operator of the Year Award for 2010.

Vistabeam was named WISPA Operator of the Year for 2025, Provider of the Year at the 2018
Mountain Connect Conference and was awarded a Cornerstone Award at the 2023 Broadband
Communities Summit.