FROM THE INDUSTRY
And how is STL engaging with AI beyond serving the data centre market? There are two parts to this. First, how we use AI in our own business – smart manufacturing, digital twins, Industry 4.0 and even dark factories where you can turn off the lights and the plant runs on its own. We have teams working on these solutions. Second is providing solutions for future AI needs. We have products like the 864 fibre Intermittently Bonded Ribbon (IBR) cable on display here – it’s one of the thinnest in the world. It may sound simple, but it’s incredibly difficult to manufacture. It helps data centres interconnect and grow longer and faster than with any other cable, with minimal space requirements. What are your objectives for 2026? We’ve set our direction with these four pillars, and we’ll continue focusing on them while strengthening our teams at all levels. The focus is on scaling up these verticals and moving from being a optical fibre cable connectivity company to an all-encompassing data centre, copper and telecom solutions provider. We’re emphasising solutions for customers by co-creation and co-development rather than just selling commodities or products. How are the current tariff uncertainties affecting your business? It’s an ever-changing environment, which is challenging, but I believe the company that finds solutions fastest will take the lead. We have a distinct advantage with local manufacturing in the US, which definitely helps. Our strategy has always been what I call being “glocal” – having a global presence across 100 countries while maintaining local manufacturing and connections. Whether it’s our factory in Europe or the US, we’ve been working closely with our customers to solve their challenges. A pragmatic approach and STL sounds well-positioned. We’re trying to be. We’re committed to maintaining our leadership position through innovation. We’re seeing tremendous
That’s refreshing to hear in what’s becoming an aging industry. How else are you attracting young talent? Our plants and R&D centres, at least in India, have a very young population – the average age is below 35. We’re also very proud of our diversity and inclusion efforts. At our Italy factory, ~38% of the workforce is women. In India, we’ve trained rural women to work with us, and we have departments completely managed and run by women – like our fibre colouring department. I remember interviewing your colleague about this. It’s impressive work. It’s always a team effort, but yes, for our leadership team at STL, we’re all personally committed to making a real impact. We’re not just here to make money and run a business – though that’s obviously important – but to do it in a sustainable way that benefits society. Speaking of sustainability, you were ahead of the curve when we last spoke. What’s happened since? We’ve made tremendous progress! Last time we discussed zero waste to landfill and zero water discharge. Now all our plants are certified for both. We’ve gone further – we are in the process of getting all our products eco-labelled, meaning they use renewable energy for a significant portion of their manufacturing. But here’s the really exciting part: our glass manufacturing facility in Maharashtra, India, is now using green hydrogen and green oxygen. We’re leaving no carbon footprint. We partnered with a company called Hygenco and established a captive plant adjacent to ours to produce green hydrogen. Our team and partner ecosystem conceived the idea, and we committed to it. You know the SCTE hosts awards for this kind of innovation… I was just talking to my team about this – we don’t shout about it enough. We will definitely pitch ourselves for that!
demand from enterprise and data centres, and telcos continue to build networks. The new solutions we’ve developed are generating significant interest from UK customers too. The data centre space is so innovative right now – underwater facilities, micro data centres for schools and housing estates using the heat they generate. It’s fascinating. There are studies suggesting AI could end up consuming more power than the entire world produces today. We need to prepare for that. Can we create network solutions that consume less power? Can we design systems that take up less space? This is where innovations like Multi-core fibre, Hollow-core fibre come into the picture. Gone are the days when there was enough land and power to build a data centre anywhere.
We’re being a bit more intelligent about what’s necessary and what the impact is, aren’t we?
Exactly right. And that’s what makes this such an exciting time to be in this industry.
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DECEMBER 2025 Volume 47 No.4
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