Zayo appointed former Verizon executive Sowmyanarayan Sampath as CEO, effective September 1, 2026, as the fiber network operator enters its next phase of expansion across AI infrastructure and enterprise connectivity markets. Sampath will succeed Steve Smith, who will retire as CEO on August 31 and remain on Zayo’s Board of Directors.
Sampath brings more than two decades of telecom and digital infrastructure experience, most recently as CEO of Verizon Consumer and previously as CEO of Verizon Business. Zayo said his priorities will include commercial execution, enterprise growth, and scaling the company’s network to support AI workloads, distributed applications, GPU clusters, hyperscale data centers, and other high-capacity connectivity requirements. Zayo operates 224,000 route miles of fiber across North America, connects more than 400 markets globally, and reports 32 million fiber miles across its network.
Smith led a major expansion of Zayo’s network footprint and operating strategy. During his tenure, Zayo more than tripled its planned fiber expansion program to projects spanning over 15,000 route miles and completed the acquisition of Crown Castle’s Fiber Solutions Business. That transaction added approximately 90,000 route miles and 40,000 on-net enterprise locations. Smith also advanced network automation, internal AI adoption, service operations, and capital allocation initiatives before the planned leadership transition.
• Incoming CEO: Sowmyanarayan Sampath
• Effective date: September 1, 2026
• Current CEO Steve Smith retires August 31, 2026, and remains on Zayo’s Board
• Sampath previously served as CEO of Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business
• Zayo network: 224,000 route miles across North America
• Fiber footprint: 32 million fiber miles
• Global reach: More than 400 markets
• Planned fiber expansion projects: More than 15,000 route miles
• Crown Castle Fiber Solutions acquisition added approximately 90,000 route miles
• Crown Castle transaction added approximately 40,000 on-net enterprise locations
• Strategic focus: AI infrastructure, hyperscale connectivity, enterprise networks, automation, and high-capacity fiber services
“As AI workloads, distributed applications, dense GPU clusters, and hyperscale environments change where capacity is needed, and as large enterprises manage increasingly complex connectivity needs, the network is the ultimate constraint, and Zayo is built to solve this,” said Sowmyanarayan Sampath.
🌐 Analysis: Sampath takes control of Zayo following a substantial increase in the company’s fiber footprint through organic network construction and the Crown Castle Fiber Solutions acquisition. The leadership transition places a former Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business CEO in charge as Zayo integrates acquired assets and positions its long-haul and metro fiber infrastructure for growing data center interconnection, cloud, enterprise, and AI infrastructure traffic.
