WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:02.600 Val, Aparna, welcome. Aparna, to you first. 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:05.920 Let's focus on small and mid-sized businesses. 00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:09.920 Where are they at when it comes to digital? You know, when you 00:00:09.920 --> 00:00:12.840 talk about small and medium businesses, you're talking 99% 00:00:12.840 --> 00:00:17.720 of the US businesses, 46% of the workforce, and almost the same 00:00:17.720 --> 00:00:21.840 amount of the economy running on small and medium businesses. 00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:24.640 So you're talking of all different sizes. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:28.320 And the one thing that's absolutely clear is a tech-first 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:32.120 story for each one of the them to differentiate and, at the 00:00:32.120 --> 00:00:35.120 same time, make sure that they've got the cost 00:00:35.120 --> 00:00:37.360 efficiencies done right. For them, 00:00:37.360 --> 00:00:40.960 digital comes in—and I try to split it so it's just easier— 00:00:41.400 --> 00:00:44.280 it's the four Cs. You're talking about connectivity, of course 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:46.280 I'm Verizon, so I have to talk about that. 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:49.560 But it's the fabric. Connectivity for your base as 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:52.240 well as for all your devices and people. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.200 Then you're talking about cybersecurity, a huge deal for 00:00:56.200 --> 00:01:00.200 the small and medium businesses, especially because 95% of the 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:01.960 actors are after the money. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:05.480 The next one is all about collaboration. 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:07.920 So how do you communicate with your customers? 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:09.920 How do you communicate with each other? 00:01:10.080 --> 00:01:11.120 So a huge deal. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.320 And last but not the least, it's about the cloud solutions. 00:01:14.600 --> 00:01:16.520 So there's an app for that, as they say, right? 00:01:16.520 --> 00:01:19.960 So all those solutions, that's really what small and medium 00:01:19.960 --> 00:01:23.640 businesses need to be thinking about—the four Cs. And what help 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:26.480 then, Val, do they need on that digital journey? 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:27.480 Well, it's interesting. 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:28.600 We've been doing a lot of GenAI 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:31.800 work with some of the small and medium-sized businesses, and 00:01:31.800 --> 00:01:35.200 what we see coming out from them is they want to use this moment, 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.440 this digital transformation, to leapfrog their slower, bigger 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:38.800 rivals. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.361 So what they're looking for is, how can GenAI 00:01:41.401 --> 00:01:45.001 help me take some of the service work that perhaps potentially 00:01:45.001 --> 00:01:47.801 was a cost before and create sales out of that. 00:01:47.961 --> 00:01:50.841 So they're looking to leapfrog, bring in the best technology 00:01:50.841 --> 00:01:53.601 that they can and really make the most of the moment that 00:01:53.601 --> 00:01:54.841 they're in now. 00:01:54.841 --> 00:01:58.521 How can larger companies cater to the needs of the smaller 00:01:58.521 --> 00:01:58.881 ones? 00:01:59.161 --> 00:02:02.121 You know, for that, it's worth thinking about what it is that 00:02:02.121 --> 00:02:04.521 these small and medium businesses need. 00:02:04.521 --> 00:02:06.801 Obviously, they don't have as much of a deep pocket. 00:02:08.161 --> 00:02:12.481 Obviously, what they need is the wherewithal to know even to go 00:02:12.481 --> 00:02:13.841 to the right places. 00:02:14.041 --> 00:02:18.481 So, really, the way we think about it is, the large companies 00:02:18.481 --> 00:02:23.001 then can give them a one-stop shop for their solution needs or 00:02:23.001 --> 00:02:25.321 at least help them access those. 00:02:25.601 --> 00:02:28.481 The second piece is about finding them where they are. 00:02:28.481 --> 00:02:31.201 A lot of these small businesses—you're talking about 00:02:31.201 --> 00:02:34.481 the lawn mowing company, you're talking about the hairdresser, 00:02:34.481 --> 00:02:36.721 or then the AI company that's starting up— 00:02:36.921 --> 00:02:40.761 they want to connect with you in their own terms. 00:02:40.761 --> 00:02:44.001 So it could be local, it could be digital, it could be a call. 00:02:44.601 --> 00:02:46.561 So we've got to make sure we're accessible. 00:02:46.881 --> 00:02:50.721 The third piece is, and Verizon does this in a nice way through 00:02:50.721 --> 00:02:54.201 our Verizon small-and-medium business-ready platform, is 00:02:54.201 --> 00:02:57.841 giving them the networking access to a lot of courses, to a 00:02:57.841 --> 00:03:00.201 lot of talent, to a lot of mentorship. 00:03:00.561 --> 00:03:02.121 How do you open a small business? 00:03:02.121 --> 00:03:03.721 What does it mean to scale? 00:03:04.201 --> 00:03:07.881 And last but not the least, small businesses, like I said, 00:03:07.881 --> 00:03:09.721 come in all shapes and sizes. 00:03:09.961 --> 00:03:13.361 They want to be treated with what I call as the 00:03:13.361 --> 00:03:15.161 segment-of-one mentality. 00:03:15.441 --> 00:03:17.201 That's really important for them. 00:03:17.521 --> 00:03:17.681 Yeah. 00:03:17.921 --> 00:03:20.162 And building on the segment-of-one point, I would 00:03:20.162 --> 00:03:20.882 add two things. 00:03:20.882 --> 00:03:24.002 One, they want the best-of-breed solution that works for them. 00:03:24.002 --> 00:03:26.642 They don't want to bring a general problem statement and 00:03:26.642 --> 00:03:27.522 then customize it. 00:03:27.522 --> 00:03:29.482 They want something that's ready to go out of the box. 00:03:29.482 --> 00:03:30.242 So best of breed. 00:03:30.402 --> 00:03:32.602 And then the second is managed service. 00:03:32.762 --> 00:03:35.482 They don't have large IT departments with which they can 00:03:35.482 --> 00:03:36.602 oversee the technology. 00:03:36.602 --> 00:03:40.282 They want you, as a provider, to take away all that pain and just 00:03:40.282 --> 00:03:43.522 make it focused on the value that it's creating for them. 00:03:43.522 --> 00:03:45.602 Really being their digital champion. 00:03:46.722 --> 00:03:47.762 Very good. 00:03:47.762 --> 00:03:49.962 Aparna, Val, thank you so much. 00:03:50.802 --> 00:03:51.402 Thank you.