.jpg)
Connected Nation
This is Connected Nation – an award-winning podcast focused on all things broadband. From closing the Digital Divide to simply improving your internet speeds, we talk technology topics that impact all of us, our families, and our communities.
The podcast was honored in 2024 with an Award of Excellence for Podcast Series - Technology. This is the highest honor given by the Communicator Awards. More recently, the podcast received an Award of Distinction in 2025. It received the same honor in 2023 and 2022.
Learn more about the national nonprofit behind this podcast at connectednation.org.
Connected Nation
From metaverse to AI: what’s next for broadband?
On this episode of Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from Mountain Connect 2025 as we sit down with broadband entrepreneur Scott Sampson, CEO of Blueprint Broadband and founder of Light Craft and Mac Mountain to talk about the fast-changing tech landscape.
Hear how his ventures are supporting ISPs with financing, operations, and shared services and why collaboration is the key to closing the Digital Divide.
Recommended links:
Jessica Denson (00:00):
This is Connected Nation, an award-winning podcast focused on all things broadband from closing the digital divide to improving your internet speeds. We talk technology topics that impact all of us, our families, and our neighborhoods, need a little energy boost. Well, this episode of Connected Nation is the podcast for you. We catch up with Scott Sampson, formerly with Fiber Fast, about his latest ventures and how he can help other ISPs. I'm Jessica Desen, and this is Connected Nation. I am at Mountain Connect, Denver, Colorado, and one of my favorite people to interview stopped by earlier, and I was like, come back later after I eat some lunch. And he's here. Scott Sampson, welcome you legend. You <laugh>. I always, you wanted me to call him a broadband God, but I'm gonna go with legend, <laugh> legend. I'll take legend.
Scott Sampson (00:58):
I always love talking to you. It's always a great conversation. A great a, there's a lot of fun. And I mean, this is actually, it was funny, I was talking about you the other day and I was talking about, you know, this was all good
Jessica Denson (01:07):
Stuff. Oh,
Jessica Denson (01:08):
All
Scott Sampson (01:08):
Always good stuff. But I was talking about, you know, podcasts and everything that go on in this world, and I said, yours is the best one. I love doing yours out of all of them. But I said, and I, I go back to the same thing. I think I said to you before, why do I love this industry? Wait five seconds. It will change completely. I mean, wasn't it a year ago, we were all talking about the metaverse and people were putting on goggles. That's how we're gonna live. And now it's about ai. And I've sitting there going, so true. Well, y'all need to shut up. It's not going, AI is not taking off anytime soon.
Jessica Denson (01:37):
<laugh>. We have too many data centers. It's
Scott Sampson (01:38):
Fa it's just like the internet. It will all go away tomorrow.
Jessica Denson (01:42):
It's funny, I've heard so many different things about AI in the last month that were different than three months ago. It's so crazy.
Scott Sampson (01:49):
Yeah. Well, we don't have the power grid. I mean, they wanted to take all the cars, electric, you know, and we didn't have the power grid for it. Now, AI is a hundred times worse than electric cars. Uh, in ev uh, I mean, we don't have the data centers to control AI with all the data requirements that it has. It just won't work. It's work
Jessica Denson (02:07):
And the amount of energy.
Scott Sampson (02:08):
Oh, yeah. I mean, they, somebody was talking about like, uh, nuclear power plants and how many we need. It was like 90 or something. It was something ridiculous. And they said, do you know how many we're building in the US right now? And I went, no. How many? I was thinking 10, 20, none. And I went, that's a problem.
Jessica Denson (02:24):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (02:25):
And they said, yeah, we don't have the power to actually do this. And I'm like, I don't know if those numbers are true or not. Uh, but I know we have a power grid problem, so how can we take AI to the next level? I mean, I think it's one of those ones that will slow down a little bit. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. But the internet itself is not going to change. I mean, it's still, I it's past that. If I interviewed about 10 years ago and I said, it's now this, the internet's now this weird teenager <laugh>. And as a teenager is, it was trying to figure its
Jessica Denson (02:56):
Way. Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (02:57):
Now, I think it's in its early twenties now. It's starting to get its life and starting to get its career going. And now it's trying to figure out, okay, do I start having children? Do I start expanding? And I think that's where it's at more now than it's ever been. You really take a look at where we're going and what we've been, where we've been at. I mean, hell, when I first got on the internet, it was about looking up a cat, playing the piano
Jessica Denson (03:22):
<laugh>. It still is.
Scott Sampson (03:23):
Yeah. Well, I still love the cat playing the piano, but now you look at it and it's like, I, I can't live with out ai I can't live in, and it's really an LLM. It's really, it's interesting to look at. And I look at like different programs and I've, you know, chat GBT and all the other ones that are out there. You need to ask it one question, why do you lie? 'cause you know, most of those LLMs lie.
Jessica Denson (03:45):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (03:45):
They want you to feel good. And I'm like, well, that's great. Don't lie to me. I mean, hell, I'll write my own just to have it so I have more fun. But What do you wanna talk about? Sorry.
Jessica Denson (03:56):
Uh, well, first off, let's, let's, I, I'm gonna digress a little bit. Oh, it's, and, uh, share your new roles, uh, your CEO of Light Craft. Light Craft. Yep. And CEO and co-founder of Blueprint
Jessica Denson (04:08):
Broadband. Correct.
Jessica Denson (04:09):
And if, if my listeners can tell, I I'm sure they can, that you have a lot of energy. You're bubbly. Um, I'll tell you in person, he's lean. He's got a, a cool bowling shirt on. I told you, like us, I called it cool. He's got vans on with these little skulls. He is. He is. You, you, you're rock. You rocking an attitude. You're rocking an attitude, is what I'm trying to say. I like it. Um, but you're so full of energy. Is that how you're able to run these two companies?
Scott Sampson (04:35):
Two, I'm running actually three.
Jessica Denson (04:37):
Oh, okay. What's the third plus? Of course,
Scott Sampson (04:39):
I own my consulting firm, Uhhuh, which is S Squared <laugh>. So I'm actually a little busy right now. Uhhuh <affirmative>. Um, I actually, I've been on the road quite a bit. I've, I've, when you saw me last, I think last year, I did 220 plus days. Uh, right now I'm at about 135
Jessica Denson (04:55):
Days. I think I saw you in San Diego last, right? Yeah.
Scott Sampson (04:57):
Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And that I, right now I'm at about 130 plus days already on the road. Oh, wow. Um, I, I have a lovely wife who supports me a hundred percent. I love her to death. Make sure I get that out there. So it's public.
Jessica Denson (05:10):
Yeah. Get it.
Scott Sampson (05:10):
Um, but yeah, so Light cr, so we'll actually start with Blueprint Broadband. So a year ago mm-hmm <affirmative>. My partner Alex reached out and he wanted to start a new business with me. Uh, we're doing a lot of what we did before, uh, a lot of fiber to the home, but we're also doing fiber to the biz. We're also looking at brown fields, not just Greenfield. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. We're looking at how to do what we did the first time with Fiber Fast. How to do it better. And
Jessica Denson (05:36):
How, what do you mean about Brownfield and Green? S
Scott Sampson (05:38):
So Greenfield Builders are with new home construction,
Jessica Denson (05:41):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (05:41):
So we're looking at talking to builders already got a few lined up. We've got right now just in our pipeline, about a hundred thousand homes, uh, already working on contracts to try to get these going.
Jessica Denson (05:50):
Mm-hmm
Scott Sampson (05:51):
<affirmative>.
Um, and then that's a greenfield, that's new home. Gotta wait until they build the house. Brownfield is the next to it that's already built. So Jessica Denson (05:58):
That's been waiting for something. Right.
Scott Sampson (06:00):
They, well, they might have already something Uhhuh, but they have just DSL or cable or what, you know, where do you find land? You're not finding it in the center of Denver,
Jessica Denson (06:09):
Right.
Scott Sampson (06:09):
Center of valet. You might build four town homes, but you're not building 200 homes. 2000 homes, 20,000 homes. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. You're building that out by the Denver airport, or you're building that out in the middle of Oklahoma.
Jessica Denson (06:23):
Right.
Scott Sampson (06:23):
So it's where can you build, so that's a greenfield. Brownfield are the neighborhoods that are already built and could have been there a hundred years. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, we do that a lot up in Maine and Vermont. We're doing a lot of that in build. Uh, we're looking at a lot of rural difference. Uh, commercial is actually a big one that we're adding in, uh, looking at how to deal with commercial. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Because, you know, a lot of these builders, same problems, they're looking for how to supply internet and good quality internet. They want to take care of their customers. So I'm always looking at how to help customers get a better product and make some money.
Jessica Denson (06:55):
Uhhuh <affirmative>
Scott Sampson (06:55):
Money's always good. <laugh>, but Yeah. So that's
Jessica Denson (06:58):
Blueprint. It pays the bills. Yeah,
Scott Sampson (06:59):
It does pay the bills. My wife, it keeps my wife in. Wife happy. Keeps me in
Jessica Denson (07:02):
Shoes. Yeah. There you go. <laugh>.
Scott Sampson (07:03):
But, and you know, I really look at the industry as this is where it's at. Uh, the Internet's not changing. I mean, it's just getting faster every day. So you've gotta try to stay ahead of it. And some of the products that are out there, I mean, I hate to say it for the carriers, DSL, they all know it's dead.
Jessica Denson (07:20):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (07:20):
I mean, it's the product that's going away. Coax is trying to catch up. Wireless, you know, the satellites and stuff. It's good for if you're really rural, but Fiber is the next a hundred year product. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. It will replace Copper as the a hundred year product. I mean, copper Dies and it's dying. It's a, was a great product. It did what it was supposed to, but now we look at Fiber. So that's with Blueprint, that's what we're doing. Uh, we're just getting that going. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Uh, been about a year in, and like I said, we've already got quite a bit coming.
Jessica Denson (07:49):
So what is your footprint with that? It's Vermont. Where else are you guys? Did you say Vermont?
Scott Sampson (07:54):
Nationwide.
Jessica Denson (07:55):
Oh, nationwide. Okay. Because
Scott Sampson (07:55):
I can't do it just one location.
Jessica Denson (07:57):
Okay. Gotcha. So,
Scott Sampson (07:57):
Uh, looking at, uh, you know, looking at multiple states, Nevada, Texas, Florida
Jessica Denson (08:02):
Mm-hmm
Scott Sampson (08:03):
<affirmative>. Um, really where we can go, where's the builders going and where they take us.
Jessica Denson (08:07):
Gotcha.
Scott Sampson (08:07):
You know, we're talking to some of the big boys and where do you want us to go and what's, where's your big markets?
Jessica Denson (08:13):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (08:13):
I'm, you know, looking right now we own an ISP up in, up in, uh, we don't own, we're the biggest investor,
Jessica Denson (08:21):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>
Scott Sampson (08:21):
Into an ISP up in, up in the Northeast. Uh, that's a lot of Brownfield.
Jessica Denson (08:27):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (08:28):
Uh, some build outs, a lot of rural, so a lot of CDs
Jessica Denson (08:31):
Trying to help them out. Gotcha. So it's a mix of different things like that.
Scott Sampson (08:33):
Yes.
Jessica Denson (08:33):
And so Light craft.
Scott Sampson (08:35):
Light craft. So that's our shared services model. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So when I built it before, uh, I had to build it from scratch. I had to go hire marketing, I had to go hire finance. Well, since we're already invested into a company, we're looking at how we can now share the services that they've got. So we're building Light Craft. Light Craft is shared services. It will have, it will have marketing, it will have customer service, it will have it, it will have operations. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. It will have everything I need so I don't have to go do it again.
Jessica Denson (09:05):
Gotcha.
Scott Sampson (09:05):
So I can just sit there and go, I need marketing, and I will, it's funny for me, it's really great.
Jessica Denson (09:09):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (09:10):
So running Blueprint, I just contact myself and say, I need Marketing
Jessica Denson (09:13):
<laugh>.
Scott Sampson (09:13):
And I just say, here's what I need. Um,
Jessica Denson (09:16):
So is that something smaller ISPs can use or different companies
Scott Sampson (09:19):
Do? That's where initially it wasn't going to be
Jessica Denson (09:22):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (09:22):
But when we started looking at it and we started talking to some of our investors, they were more interested in the light craft side of it and saying, so if we have a company that's struggling, can we drop light craft in to take over? Oh. And we're like, well, yeah, that's what we're doing with Blueprint. And they're like, no, no, no. Can we do that? And we're like, well, yeah. If you go build it, your,
Jessica Denson (09:44):
Oh,
Scott Sampson (09:45):
Hey, yes. We can sell that to you <laugh>. And so it's becoming its own entity of what we can do. Uhhuh. <affirmative> and being able ano another product. Because I think there's a lot of ISPs out there that are still struggling. Yeah. And it's not struggling with, I mean, you can go hire, hire an OSP design team,
Jessica Denson (10:03):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>,
Scott Sampson (10:03):
There's a lot of them out there. And a lot of really good ones. I've used a lot of these good ones. And so you could hire us to do that if that's just what you need. Uhhuh, and you can go shopping. But what if you want OSP design Marketing also procurement and a finance team and all this stuff, and you just, you want out, we'll come in, we'll take a percentage, uh, we'll go run it for you. You'll still probably make as much, if not more, because now you don't have to go have a marketing person. A hundred percent. You could have a 10% marketing person that's already built flyers for other divisions for us or other companies, and we'll supply it to you right away. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. It becomes very interesting for the smaller business or the growing one that just, Hey, I've gotten to 10,000 customers now what? I don't know how to take the next step. And then with Mack Mountain, who's actually the overall investor, he's my Mack Mountain is also my partner in Blueprint.
Jessica Denson (10:56):
Uhhuh. <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (10:57):
But they own light Craft. In the light craft side of it, we look at how do you go get money? You know, we have a fund
Jessica Denson (11:04):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (11:05):
We have multiple funds. We work with the different companies we work with. We can actually help you find funding. You know, Hey, I've got a project that's a build. I need a million dollars.
Jessica Denson (11:15):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (11:15):
That's great. Most of us, when I owned an ISP years ago, and if I needed a million dollars, I had three options. <laugh> take it outta my pocket.
Jessica Denson (11:25):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (11:26):
Which most of the time I didn't have.
Jessica Denson (11:27):
Right.
Scott Sampson (11:28):
Uh, go borrow it from friends and family, which I didn't want to ruin that relationship with my friends and family <laugh> or go get an SBA loan, go to the bank. And then I had to give up my, my family and everybody and give all my blood that I had.
Jessica Denson (11:41):
Right.
Scott Sampson (11:42):
That was the three options. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. I never knew of anything else. There are so many PEs out there, the private equity companies, venture capital, that, that there's a ton of money out there. We're, we're now seeing it because of bead.
Jessica Denson (11:54):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (11:55):
Well, how do I get ahold of that? How do I, who do I call? Do I call Brookfield BlackRock?
Jessica Denson (12:00):
Yeah. If you don't know, you know. Yeah. They, they won't even talk
Scott Sampson (12:03):
To you. I mean, unless you have, you know, a hundred thousand customers, they're, they're not looking at the small investments. They're looking at the bigger investments. They're looking at how to make this. So we are looking at some of these smaller guides. Some of these people are looking for bead matches. Some of 'em just looking, going, ah, it's not a bead project. I've got this build. It's a thousand new homes that are being built in my neighborhood. I just happen to know the builder, but I now need, you know,
Jessica Denson (12:30):
Investment money.
Scott Sampson (12:31):
I need investment money. How do I do it? And so we can come in and we could do a joint venture with you. We could do we'll private equity and you just pay us a percentage. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. You name it, we'll figure it out. Which is, that's what's different with the Mac Mountain side of it. We're a lot more creative than I think a lot of these other guys are. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. They're just so set to their book of how they do it. We'll be more creative. JVs are probably our prime example of what we try to do of how to do it well. Mm-hmm
Jessica Denson (13:00):
<affirmative>. So you're really malleable to what's the need of that
Scott Sampson (13:02):
Particular group. You know, and these are a lot of mom and pops mm-hmm <affirmative>. You know, they just didn't know how to do it.
Jessica Denson (13:07):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (13:07):
And we'll take a lot of the risk off of it, because if you go take a loan and you have to pay back 6% or 15%, you know, sometimes if you're not running the company correctly, you could be in trouble.
Jessica Denson (13:19):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (13:19):
Versus us. We could sit there and go, we'll do a joint venture. We'll take, we'll take most of the risk. We'll put in the capital. You'll make a smaller percentage, but you'll still get it done. And you'll get to be the operator. Oh. Or, Hey, by the way, you need us to help with that. We
Jessica Denson (13:34):
Can
Scott Sampson (13:34):
Help with that. We go drop that in with Light Craft.
Jessica Denson (13:35):
And 'cause you have this host of experience that you can pull from and this group that you can pull from. And what, you said there was a third company. What's the third company?
Scott Sampson (13:42):
Well, that's the company we we're invested in. Uh, well that's Mack Mountain.
Jessica Denson (13:46):
Oh, that's Mac Mountain. Gotcha.
Scott Sampson (13:47):
Mack Mountain, then Light
Jessica Denson (13:48):
Craft. Craft.
Scott Sampson (13:49):
And then, like I said, my partner
Jessica Denson (13:51):
With, see, it's like, it's hard to keep up. It's with my,
Scott Sampson (13:54):
Well then there's my consulting firm and then there's other things. But yeah. That, that's a different day, different
Jessica Denson (13:58):
Conversation. And, and why is it important for you to come to things like Mountain Connect?
Scott Sampson (14:03):
Well, this was a, this was interesting because I wasn't coming. I didn't think I'd be in town. Ah. Um, uh, one of my vendors actually pinged me and asked me if I was gonna be here. And I said, I don't think so. Uh, I just, for one day buying the ticket and coming down and she said, what if I get you a ticket? And so, yes, I got a badge. It's not my company <laugh>. And I don't even, I, but they're, they took care of me and got me to come down. And it's coming to these shows. I forget of how many people I know. And it's good to run into
Jessica Denson (14:34):
These people. We do. I see you walking around and everybody's saying hi. And,
Scott Sampson (14:38):
And I know this is, I think people forget how small the internet industry is.
Jessica Denson (14:44):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (14:45):
The ISP world, we're small, we're tiny. Uh, there's not a ton of us out here. And we are, I'm not here to take over the world. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. I love helping these people. I I love talking about this. I love, I mean, I think it comes across,
Jessica Denson (15:00):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (15:01):
Even on this Uhhuh, I love this industry. This industry is so much fun. And the people that are in it are great people. And it's coming here just to see if I can help or just to learn. I mean, I learn more from coming to these events and talking to people
Jessica Denson (15:16):
Mm-hmm
Scott Sampson (15:18):
<affirmative>. Than anything else. And I think anybody into the industry, I don't care if you just pick one event a year, go to it.
Jessica Denson (15:23):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (15:23):
Go to the one that's local. Go to the one that's down the street. This is one down the street from my house. And I've actually never been to Mountain Connect. I know that's weird. But most of the time I'm not in town when it happens.
Jessica Denson (15:34):
Because you, you live in Colorado, right?
Scott Sampson (15:35):
I live about 12 miles down the street.
Jessica Denson (15:38):
Somebody told me Casa Bonita is the place to go here. Is that
Scott Sampson (15:41):
True? Atd Get in. I heard it's like 90 day reservation
Jessica Denson (15:43):
To get it. Oh
Scott Sampson (15:44):
Gosh. Somebody told, I I went there before, uh, the South Park boys bought it.
Jessica Denson (15:48):
Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (15:49):
Uh, I have not se seen it since they
Jessica Denson (15:51):
Remodeled. Oh, they bought it? Oh,
Scott Sampson (15:52):
Oh yes. Well, they were the one that made it famous.
Jessica Denson (15:54):
Oh, I didn't realize that. It
Scott Sampson (15:56):
Was, yeah, it was all a part of South Park <laugh>. You go watch it. Uhhuh Casa Bonita was part of the show. And
Jessica Denson (16:01):
The c the CSU people from Pueblo told me to. That's, that's the place to go. Yeah.
Scott Sampson (16:06):
You can get in. I heard, like I said, I've, I had somebody tell me they,
Jessica Denson (16:09):
Can I drop your name and they'll be,
Scott Sampson (16:11):
I will not be any help on that. The, you know, Scott, the internet guy?
Jessica Denson (16:14):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (16:14):
They'll go, yeah. What? Sure. Who, who? <laugh>. But that's, I've heard. Well, I went there. It was a dump. Needed to be remodeled.
Jessica Denson (16:23):
Uhhuh
Scott Sampson (16:23):
Uh, my cousins actually took me and my wife and my kids. Oh. Uh, we had fun, but it was, the food wasn't great. And I, I heard,
Jessica Denson (16:32):
I heard the food is Midland <laugh>. Yeah, I've heard that
Scott Sampson (16:34):
Too. I heard the food is phenomenal now.
Jessica Denson (16:36):
Oh, it's,
Scott Sampson (16:37):
I've heard they've really cleaned it up. I, I Only positive things about it.
Jessica Denson (16:41):
Oh, I try to get in
Scott Sampson (16:42):
While you're here. Oh yeah. If you can get in, lemme know. I'll, I'll come show up with you.
Jessica Denson (16:45):
I'll call you. Come on, Scott.
Scott Sampson (16:47):
This, you know, it's funny. This is a good event. I mean, it is a little smaller than like Metro
Jessica Denson (16:53):
Connect. Yeah.
Scott Sampson (16:53):
Or Fiber Connect. Uh, I mean, those are big, big, big, big kid shows. Uhhuh this one's a little and it's a lot tighter of people.
Jessica Denson (17:01):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (17:01):
And the people are, I think I, I'll say they're friendlier here, but when I'm at Fiber Connect, I'm each of there Uhhuh, you know, here in like six, eight months, I'll say the same thing.
Jessica Denson (17:11):
Oh, I
Scott Sampson (17:12):
Love this show. It's
Jessica Denson (17:12):
Great show ever.
Scott Sampson (17:13):
<laugh>. No, I do. Like I
Jessica Denson (17:14):
Said, everybody is really friendly. Uh, what's Colorado? Yeah. I, everybody's nice here. Enjoy it. Yeah,
Scott Sampson (17:20):
It's good. And everybody's in shape and healthy yet.
Jessica Denson (17:22):
Yeah. It's, yeah, it's true.
Scott Sampson (17:24):
I know.
Jessica Denson (17:24):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (17:25):
I moved here. That's what I said. You're all in healthy. <laugh>. Take a
Jessica Denson (17:28):
Smoke. You're pretty in shape.
Scott Sampson (17:29):
I tried it.
Jessica Denson (17:30):
Yeah. Let's have a pushup contest.
Scott Sampson (17:32):
Yeah. Okay. Just
Jessica Denson (17:32):
Kidding. <laugh>. So, uh, what's next for you then? Uh, is it building these companies out? Um, is it coming up with the next big idea? Scott Sampson (17:40):
What is it? It's building these, I gotta get these going. Uhhuh, <affirmative>. I mean, you know, we just started a year ago. I mean, that's, uh, when my I left was the first part of August. Uhhuh <affirmative>, uh, I left Fiber Fast. Uh, love the love those guys. They were great people.
Jessica Denson (17:54):
Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (17:54):
Um, so now it's about building this, uh, I figure. And then at some point, as my wife always says, I will retire. It will be at my desk, <laugh>. I might be dead. And she will look at my computer, hit send on the email. I was typing <laugh> and uh, and then called 9 1 1. And I'm like,
Jessica Denson (18:12):
Great. What does your wife do?
Scott Sampson (18:14):
Uh, she actually owns her own company. Uh, uh, she, uh, she's a reseller, uh, Uhhuh, or she, I think she calls herself an antique dealer or an art dealer.
Jessica Denson (18:22):
Awesome.
Scott Sampson (18:22):
Uh, she, uh, buys and sells, uh, on the internet. Actually. She, uh, she'll buy from like, local estate sales or Goodwills,
Jessica Denson (18:31):
Or what's her name?
Scott Sampson (18:32):
My wife's name. Uhhuh is
Jessica Denson (18:33):
Han Rahan.
Scott Sampson (18:35):
And she goes by Ray because most people can't say
Jessica Denson (18:37):
Han. That's, that's a great name.
Scott Sampson (18:38):
Yes,
Jessica Denson (18:39):
Yes. Rahan. You've got a big job. <laugh> all. She,
Scott Sampson (18:41):
We appreciate it. Her job is managing me.
Jessica Denson (18:43):
Yes. <laugh>. So, no, she's, she's a great, so we started the conversation talking about ai. Um, what do you think is the next big thing? Or is that it? Is that what gonna be, that's gonna hold the conversation for the next several years?
Scott Sampson (18:56):
Well, like I said, I mean the, the Metaverse, I, you know, I think I heard a government report they thought every home's gonna need, this is why bead was big,
Jessica Denson (19:05):
Right?
Scott Sampson (19:05):
Is every home was gonna need eight gig into their house. <laugh>. Um, AI is very interesting. Our LLMs are very interesting in the aspect of what they can do. I mean, I, I can't do my day without using it at least once or twice.
Jessica Denson (19:20):
Uhhuh,
Scott Sampson (19:20):
You know, taking a report saying, Hey, gimme the summary of this. Gimme the key points. You know, as I'm reading it, you know, I, nobody wants to read an 800 page doc,
Jessica Denson (19:29):
No <laugh>.
Scott Sampson (19:29):
Um, you know, I'm still waiting for the holodeck that, you know, star Trek has. I, I'm not sure what's next. I mean, I hear a lot of things are coming, you know, have fiber usage. I was talking to a gentleman while having launch. Um, I, I'm not sure I, this is the first time I've seen a lot of things coming.
Jessica Denson (19:49):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (19:49):
And this time it's now, I mean,
Jessica Denson (19:52):
Wide open, huh?
Scott Sampson (19:53):
AI is sort of just taken over.
Jessica Denson (19:56):
Mm-hmm
Scott Sampson (19:56):
<affirmative>. But where does that go?
Jessica Denson (19:57):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (19:58):
I mean, does, did disrupt the medical industry, the movie industry? I mean, do, do we not have actors and actresses anymore? Is everything gonna be AI generated and you don't need it? I hope not. <laugh>. I mean, I, I read an article about a band
Jessica Denson (20:13):
That
Scott Sampson (20:13):
Turned out to not be real, and everything was created within an AI system. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I'm like, what changes in the world? I mean, people are worried about their jobs, you know, but you need somebody to keep an eye on the road.
Jessica Denson (20:27):
Right.
Scott Sampson (20:27):
And even with this, you know, like I said, everybody needs to ask our AI system why it lies.
Jessica Denson (20:33):
Right. I, I am a, um, I, I, I adopt AI in certain things and, and with our comms team, we even have guidelines like I've put in place for ethics. Like if I, if I interview you, it's my job to tell the story, not in ai.
Jessica Denson (20:48):
Right.
Jessica Denson (20:48):
It's our social contract with each other. It's kinda the way I view it, but I might use it to help me come up with a great headline. You know what I mean? Um, but also when I've talked with my team and other marketing people just on AI in general, is that it's only as good as the information you put in it. It's only as good as what you're, who's feeding that information. And it's funny, if you really work on an AI agent bot, it starts to sound like you <laugh>. Well, it's,
Scott Sampson (21:15):
It's the same that, that has not changed. Uhhuh, <affirmative>, I, I've worked with programmers for 30 years.
Jessica Denson (21:20):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (21:20):
I've been in this industry for, and it was always good data and gets good data out. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. You put garbage in, you get garbage
Jessica Denson (21:27):
Out, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (21:28):
That's no different. Um, I, I was reading an article, it was, I'm pretty sure it was an MIT professor talking about programming and saying, well, AI's gonna take over that world. And he goes, how do you teach AI today? And it was the gentleman said, actually, I make sure they understand how code works. They have to write the code themselves because AI does make mistakes. You read it on bottom of them. Yeah. All of 'em. It says, check this information. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Because it could be wrong. And I've had some numbers and I went, nah, I don't think that's right. And I said, double check it. Or I ran it through a different AI system, got different numbers and so I had to go verify 'em. I think you're gonna have more verification, just like you do with entry level employees. I don't sit there and hey, build me a model.
Jessica Denson (22:17):
Right.
Scott Sampson (22:17):
And then take it and go hand it to investors and say, I need $10 million. Give this money because this is what a 19-year-old kid made for me.
Jessica Denson (22:27):
Right.
Scott Sampson (22:28):
You have to still check it as being right or wrong. And that's where I think that's more what it's gonna be. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. With roles, I mean, everybody said, you know, you had, you know, the automation of building cars or any, any assembly line. I would change the world. Oh, we're losing all the jobs 'cause we're not gonna do it by hand anymore.
Jessica Denson (22:50):
No.
There's a Scott Sampson (22:50):
Human, but all it, all it did was create different jobs. That's what I think people need to look at. Okay. This might replace coders, right? It might, but you're always gonna need the coder to check the code.
Jessica Denson (23:04):
Right.
Scott Sampson (23:05):
You're gonna always have to sit there and be able to sit and say, Hey, I programmed this, this router, and it's telling it to go from A to Z, but it's messing up from B2C mm-hmm <affirmative>. And you're gonna have to human, I think you can give it to an AI code and say, go tear it apart.
Jessica Denson (23:22):
Right.
Scott Sampson (23:22):
But you might still need the person to verify that when they put it back into the system that it's Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Or the person that takes it from one to another to code, to verify it between one another, it will create new jobs. I don't think we get into, uh, what was it, Wally, all sitting in a chair <laugh> and run the world for us. Uhhuh. I, I don't think I agree with you. I don't think there yet. Could it happened in 10 years, 20 years, maybe five years. Could it, Hey, if I could read the future <laugh>,
Jessica Denson (23:53):
I have money. You would be sitting here with me. You'd be on a yacht somewhere. I'd be, I'd be in my little bull chair going Jessica,
Scott Sampson (23:57):
Who <laugh>.
Jessica Denson (23:57):
Yeah, yeah,
Scott Sampson (23:58):
Yeah. I'd own my own island. I mean, I, but you know, it's where we take it and how we, it's a tool.
Jessica Denson (24:07):
Yeah.
Scott Sampson (24:07):
And that's what thing I think people are afraid of new tools. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. This is a new tool. We just gotta figure out how to use it the best way. And hey, if they can gimme five minutes back in my own day so I'm not working 70, 80 hours a week,
Jessica Denson (24:20):
<laugh>. Yeah.
Scott Sampson (24:21):
That's the greatest thing that can happen for me. <laugh> and I, I'll be honest, I'm even trying to write my own mm-hmm <affirmative>. On my own ai. And actually, I know there are ones that are out there, but I want to isolate it on my computer that's not dictating open, letting somebody else read my mail.
Jessica Denson (24:34):
Right.
Scott Sampson (24:35):
Because I wanted to read my mail.
Jessica Denson (24:36):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (24:37):
Summarize it for me, and then write the response based on, well, you said it because it becomes me at some point.
Jessica Denson (24:43):
Right. It really does. Uhhuh,
Scott Sampson (24:44):
Actually, this was the greatest thing. Um, a buddy of mine was talking about ai,
Jessica Denson (24:48):
Uhhuh <affirmative>,
Scott Sampson (24:48):
And he said, he was talking about the interaction with it and how it becomes you. And he goes, well, then I can go put my picture in it and then it can record my voice. Is that me after I die?
Jessica Denson (25:02):
<laugh>
Scott Sampson (25:02):
And wait, dude, that's sort
Jessica Denson (25:04):
Of deep. That is, I met a marketing guy at a conference in New York recently, and he's recording everything he's doing on AI just for that same thing, or recording everything to put it into AI for the same thing, to, for himself to be alive after he's his death. Well, you go, I'm like, what? Well, it's very true.
Scott Sampson (25:22):
You go to your great-great grandparents,
Jessica Denson (25:25):
Right?
Scott Sampson (25:25):
I, I don't even know if I have a picture of them.
Jessica Denson (25:27):
Right.
Scott Sampson (25:28):
I don't know what they look like. <laugh>, my great-great grandchildren might be able to have a conversation with me.
Jessica Denson (25:33):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Scott Sampson (25:34):
That might know everything I
Jessica Denson (25:36):
Have about how you would think you,
Scott Sampson (25:38):
Because I've done podcasts with you, I've done other podcasts, Uhhuh, I've been recorded, I've done speeches, I've, I've spoken to, you know, all these AI systems. If I take 'em and take all that data I've put in and dump it onto another system, that's me. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Is that me?
Jessica Denson (25:55):
Yeah. It's very, it's a very interesting and challenging question. And I don't know the answer a bigger mind than mine.
Scott Sampson (26:02):
I know. That's why I'm sitting there going, I mean, I, I was always the kid that said, so if I went through the transporter on Star Trek, is that still me? 'cause it tore me apart and put me back together.
Jessica Denson (26:12):
Oh,
Scott Sampson (26:12):
Well now you take that same question and say, well, if I dump all my information that I've ever had and dump it into a computer,
Jessica Denson (26:18):
Is that me? Yeah. Is that me? Is that you? Yeah.
Scott Sampson (26:20):
Is it my clone? I don't know.
Jessica Denson (26:23):
It's, there are so many interesting ethical questions around it and I mean, I feel like some of 'em are ethical. Like, is that right? Is that wrong? Is that, you know what I mean? Like,
Scott Sampson (26:33):
Weren't they cloning sheep back in the eighties?
Jessica Denson (26:35):
Yeah. <laugh>,
Scott Sampson (26:38):
Was that right? Was that wrong? I,
Jessica Denson (26:39):
I know a lot of people got upset. I remember Dolly. That's all I remember, Dolly. Oh my, oh my gosh. I feel like we can pontificate for
Scott Sampson (26:45):
Hours. Oh yeah. I could talk
Jessica Denson (26:46):
For hours. Yeah, you could. So I'm gonna wrap it up though 'cause we've gone, um, about 26 minutes if you could believe it. This flies by with you, Scott. It always does.
Scott Sampson (26:53):
I love talking
Jessica Denson (26:54):
Again. Scott Sampson, CEO of Light Craft, CEO and co-founder of Blueprint Broadband. And he's also with Mam Mac Mountain. Mac Mountain, and then he does consulting. He probably will have a new company next year when I see you, <laugh>. Probably. I'm excited. I can't wait to <laugh> to see what you do next. Again, thank you so much, Scott. Thank you.
Scott Sampson (27:14):
Yeah, always love it.
Jessica Denson (27:15):
Always love it. I will continue our coverage from Mountain Connect 2025 on the next episode of Connected Nation. Until then, I'm Jessica Denson and this is Connected Nation. If you like our show and wanna know more about us, head to connect nation.org or find our latest episodes on all major podcasts.
