How “labor-light” design is changing how broadband gets built

Building broadband faster isn’t just about technology. It’s about how you design it.

In this episode of Connected Nation, Clearfield’s Anis Khemakhem explains how “labor-light” fiber solutions, modular design, and practical innovation are helping networks scale faster, stay resilient, and prepare for the real-world demands of AI.

Related links:
Clearfield website
Clearfield LinkedIn
Anis Khemakhem LinkedIn

Transcript

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Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (00:07):
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.

(00:20)
On this episode of Connected Nation, I talk with leadership from Clearfield. We discuss resiliency, redundancy, and readiness for AI all by using a labor light design. Find out what that means, plus my guest holds several patents. Make that a hundred plus.

(00:42)
I'm Jessica Denson and this is Connected Nation. I am at Fiber Connect 2026, which is taking place in Orlando, Florida, May 17th through the 20th, and I am now joined by Anise Kamalkam. I hope I got the name right. <laugh>

Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (00:58):
You

Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (00:59):
Got it. Uh, he is the chief commercial officer with Clearfield. How are you doing?

Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (01:03):
I'm doing great.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (01:04):

Thank you for joining me.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (01:04):

Thanks for having me on the podcast.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (01:06):

Thanks for joining me. And, um, I hope I got it right. I, I traditi- I'm, for some reason, I think it's my Texas background or something. <laugh> I sometimes struggle with people's names, but I think I got that one right. I got that right. I mean, Kimakom. Yeah. It's a victory for me. <laugh> Yeah.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (01:19):

Absolutely.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (01:19):

So, uh, Anise, uh, talk what, about Clearfield and what you guys do and, um, where your footprint is. Is it national, global, that type of thing?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (01:28):

Yeah. So, uh, I've been with Clearfield for two years. Uh, Clearfield is a fiber connectivity provider. Mm-hmm. Uh, we manufacture fiber products from, uh, pedestals to, uh, fiber distribution hubs, cabinets, and inside plant racks, panels, and of course, a lot of the cable assemblies and trunking solutions. Um, so it ranges from the central office to data center inside plant environments- mm-hmm. ... all the way out to the home. So a lot of fiber drops that go to, that enable fiber to the home deployments and fiber to everywhere deployments.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (02:10):

So you actually provide that physical side of it, that, that the actual, the ISPs need.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (02:17):

The absolutely the physical layer. Mm-hmm. We are in the physical layer business and we really focus on fiber connectivity and anything around fiber connectivity. Mm-hmm. Uh, our active cabinets, for example, we integrate some of our OEM partner solutions or whoever our customers choose, uh, for their shelves that they use. And we integrate them into our active cabinets where we work with them on, uh, cooling and, um, power solutions that they, that, that, that equipment requires. And then we do the integration in our facilities in Minnesota and, and, and other locations, uh, in North America.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (02:56):

Cooling and power, that's, that's interesting that you bring, bring up those two things because energy is a big discussion right now and the need for it when it comes to data centers and other things that are- Yes. ... connecting fiber across the country and well, the need for fiber for that. Are you doing, is, does Clearfield tackle that in a certain way? Is it an important part of, of everything?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (03:19):

Well, it's important to our customers, so it's important to us.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (03:21):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (03:22):

Uh, however, how we tackle it is a little bit different. Uh, our expertise is in building the enclosures, making sure the equipment is main- is, is protected. Mm-hmm. Um, and in fiber, right? So fiber management is very critical. Mm-hmm. As those environments become more and more dense, you need more fibers per rack unit- mm-hmm. ... uh, or by physical space. Uh, we partner with those who are just as good at, at managing power- mm-hmm. ... and providing power, battery backup, and also cooling solutions. Mm-hmm. And that's, that's really fascinating technologies that, that those partners are doing a great job solving those, those challenges. Mm-hmm. And boy, do they have some challenges ahead of them- <laugh> ... Which is a good, good challenge to have is, is the fact that the equipment is getting, um, is getting better, it's getting hotter- mm-hmm. ... because of the amount of compute that happens in these, in these shelves.
(04:19)
Um, and the power draw is pretty significant. Mm-hmm. Um, I've seen a lot of advancement, a lot of creative solutions- mm-hmm. ... that we, we really, uh, really love learning about and integrating in our solu- in, in our, in our products. So the short answer is we partner to solve that problem rather than try to do it ourselves and we play part of that, that ecosystem that provides those solutions.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (04:46):

And you, I asked you because you have speaker on your, your tag and I asked you, uh, what did you speak about? And you said about innovation. Yes. So you mentioned that just now several times. So talk about what your, um, panel is focused on and why innovation is such a important thing for you. They o- they obviously think you're doing something right because they invited you to do the panel. <laugh>Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (05:09):

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, you know, innovation first of all is in the fabric of Clearfield.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (05:15):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (05:16):

Um, we take a lot of pride in solving practical problems- mm-hmm. ... with practical solutions or, or complex problems with com- with, with practical solutions. Um, our solutions are all about labor light. What I mean by that is how do I make installation as easy as possible for our customers? Mm-hmm.
(05:39)
How do we help them turn up service as quickly as possible and achieve revenue as quickly as possible? So that simplicity philosophy is very important. Modularity becomes very important as well. Mm-hmm. Um, so as we look at, uh, innovation, I look at innovation that it has to be practical. It ha- you know, it has to solve a, an actual problem and that you can scale it and if you can't do that, then it stays in the lab. Mm-hmm. Uh, cool innovation is really great, uh, but if it doesn't scale, it doesn't help solve the core problem. Personally, my background, um, I have quite a few, quite a few patents throughout my career- Uh-huh. ... I've been in this industry for 28 years. Mm-hmm. And, uh, uh, you know, it's really fun to take a complex challenge and, and, and, and to address and come up with something creative, something innovative and something practical that we can then integrate in, in a product or provide as a solution.
(06:44)
So that's something that, uh, when I joined Clearfield, it was, was a great match because that's the mindset that we have is go f- go solve a problem.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (06:54):

That, I love that. And, um, I'm gonna put a pen in your patent thing, so I'm gonn come back to that. Don't think I- Okay. Okay. ... missed that. Um, but I did wanna bring up one thing. You mentioned modularity. Why is that an important thing? Is it so that things can f- you kinda gotta fit a puzzle together in different kind of situations or what is, what do you mean by that?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (07:13):

It's a, it's a great question. Mm-hmm. Um, we're in a really interesting and fun time in our industry. Mm-hmm. It's very exciting to see the, a couple of things. First of all, the speed by which networks need to be deployed, the number of, of applications that are ahead of us and the conversion of technologies and markets. So you think about wireless, you think about broadband and wireline, telco, the traditional telco model, or, or the data centers and AI, which is obviously the, the buzz- It's wild right now. Yeah. Right? Age of AI. <laugh> The age of AI, that's what we're living in. Mm-hmm. So that technology shift is unprecedented in my opinion and they all have to work, these technologies have to work together, right? Now, that's what I mean by conversion of those technologies and as we design products, if they are module, it allows our customer to scale.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (08:13):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (08:13):

And if they're modular, it allows our manufacturing to scale so we can, so we can service our customers in a much more, um, timely way. And so designing upfront some of these features and designing upfront that, that, um, modularity and scalability is only gonna help us and help our customers really be ready for the future. And as build as you go- mm-hmm. ... is another thing that, you know, that's what a lot of them are looking for. Now you take that and you, you solve the density issue challenge, um, and you also, um, uh, we also do a lot of plug and play- mm-hmm. ... type solutions, and that really removes a lot of the uncertainty and the dependence on labor scale. Um, so if we can do some of those things, it speeds up the deployment. If we can do some of those things, it make, it, it, it makes their network more resilient-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (09:15):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (09:16):

... and more and more that's gonna be important. And, uh, the, the other thing we do is we help our customers train their sales or their, their installation base to ensure that they are ready to go when they are out in the field. This is a very capital intensive- Yeah. ... environment. However, the biggest cost is not the actual equipment, or at least for, on, on the physical layer, it's the labor, it's the truck roll, it's the, the, the rework that if it has to happen and if you scale up, then can you go in and not duplicate? It cannot be a linear equation or linear line to cost of CapEx costs or overall cost-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (10:03):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (10:04):

... to, to, to, um, to, uh, expansion of the network. It has to be incremental cost rather than, uh, linear, uh, additional cost.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (10:14):

So you're able to build out and build upon that foundation rather than having to go back, rip out the foundation, start over.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (10:20):

Exactly.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (10:21):

Mm-hmm. And it really goes back, I'm struck by what you said at the beginning was that you talk about practicality and, and really solutions and so that modularity really offers that, comes back to that full circle, that idea.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (10:35):

Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. The, the modularity piece, the, the, the simplicity, the labor light design- mm-hmm. ... those are things that are core to, to everything I've, I've mentioned. It's core to speeding up those deployments. Um, you know, you think about a network that was built 20 years ago and now we're going back and, and every fiber, there's no, no such thing as dark fiber anymore- <laugh> ... Because our, I mean, there is, but it, it's just, you know, we're using up every fiber. We're using up every resource because of this, this AI boom, like, like you mentioned. Mm-hmm. Um, and it's only gona continue. The applications are endles.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (11:16):

So let's dive into that AI boom a little bit and being ready for AI. Is, as you're designing these things and moving forward with this and offering solutions, as you said for your customers, w- where does AI fit in for you as a company and for how you're, um, working with your customers and h- how they're then going further with it. Those different areas of it from how you're using it to how your clients are using it to how then they will feed into how people are using it. Yeah. How do you see all that ecosystem working?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (11:52):

We're, we're in a, uh, in a really fun technology cycle.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (11:58):

Yeah.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (11:58):

And, um, it's gonna change a lot of things. I, I gave an example, uh, earlier we, the world, the word Google- mm-hmm. ... is now a verb. Yes. You know, you Google something, right? I wonder in two years, what are we gonna do with AI even in our daily life? Are you gonna cloud something? Are you gonna <laugh> ChatGPT something? Uh, what are you, right? So that becomes part of what we do, part of our vocabulary, part of what we, you know, how we research and get efficiencies out of it in our personal lives. Mm-hmm. And there are so many good tracks in this, by the way, I'll give a plug to, to the organization, uh, the organization committee on, and, and, and Fiber Connect that did a great job really educating all of us about the, what we can do with AI and what can be done with AI on the carrier side, but also on, on how it works.
(12:53)
So that's one. The second thing, how does Clearfield, how does it fit with Clearfield? To me, the way, the way I look at AI is efficiency. Mm-hmm. How do we come more effi- efficient? How do we serve our customers better and, um, we are just scratching the surface. I mean, there's a lot of things that can be done to ensure that we're simply more efficient. We can do our job better and quicker- mm-hmm. ... and, and serve our customers a little bit even, even better than we have in the past. So we are just starting to scratch the service with some, some, some, uh, analytics things that helps us understand our customer behavior, understands where our products are going, uh, life cycle of our products and so on, um, a little bit on the marketing side. So we're really just starting to dabble and I think next year when we have this conversation, we might be in a different stage in that journey.
(13:50)
The third ge- the third thing is the infrastructure-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (13:52):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (13:53):

... to make this happen. Yeah.
(13:55)
That's the part that gets me most excited because, um, well, first of all, we're seeing the demand. Mm-hmm. It's a good challenge to, to, to solve is the supply chain and all those things that come with it. Um, I'm confident that we, while we are Clearfield, feel really confident that we can deliver, but also we can scale and, uh, we have built great trust with our customers and, and, and our customers and because of the conversion of these technologies are moving across the board, you know, there is a lot of, a lot of, um, companies that are emerging, there's a lot of, a lot of, uh, shift in this industry that our position is, is very solid because we have been a trusted partner. Now, the next thing is really ensuring that we continue to be nimble and, and that's what we're known for, but also scale that, that, that, uh, ability to support this, this, uh, built.
(14:54)
Mm-hmm. The great thing about it is all gonna be fiber. Fiber is the only medium that really can support the amount of data that has to be transferred and the amount of compute that has to be done. And as we go from a central office that, that might be converted to, to more, to look more like a data center-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (15:13):

Uh-huhAnis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (15:14):

<affirmative>. Um, as we go into building data centers, not only hyperscale data centers, but other telco data centers and such, then we're gonna go out to the edge for making sure that the applications can be supported.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (15:26):

Mm-hmm.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (15:27):

Um, it, it's gonna be, it's gonna be really an exciting time to help build an infrastructure and a mesh, a mesh network that's gonna support a lot of these app AI, AI applications. Uh, I think for example about, you know, uh, precision ag, but I also think about, uh, autonomous driving- Yeah. ... these are things that are right here. Mm-hmm. There's no longer the far future. It's within the next few years and how do we build a network? In my opinion, one of the things that we, that, that we need to make sure it's robust is that network, network, because if you're driving in a, in a vehicle, you wanna make sure that your compute power is there. 100% of theJessica Denson, Podcast Host (16:08):

Time without the connectivity there. <laugh> Right?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (16:10):

Yeah. So- Yeah. And, and last point about that, not to talk about it, you know, the core of our customers are, are community broadband customers- mm-hmm. ... for Clearfield. And, and I believe that's an exciting opportunity- LikeJessica Denson, Podcast Host (16:25):

Tier two, tier three-Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (16:26):

Yeah. ... level ISEs. A lot of rural, rural ASPs and, and, uh, and also including the tier ones and T2s as well. But, you know, that's, that's really the core of, of the clear field customers. R- a lot of re- these rural carriers are gonna have another opportunity in the future, I believe, with some of these applications where they, they, they will help build, uh, a, a u- ubiquitous connectivity- mm-hmm. ... across our, our country, but hopefully globally as well.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (16:54):

Are you hearing anything from those community, um, organizations? Any fears or specific challenges that we're seeing over and over again? Or is it just like we're looking at the opportunity right now and, and we're excited?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (17:10):

That's a tough question because I would describe it more uncertainty- mm-hmm. ... than fear. I don't think there's fear. I think it's uncertainty of what does this look like? Yeah. What, what's my part of that ecosystem that I play in and how do I make sure that, um, my network that I built can be, I can capitalize on it. It's an investment. Mm-hmm. And, um, I wouldn't describe it as fear. It's just a lot of- Uncertain. ... unknown and uncertainty and there's a lot, it's moving very fast. It's moving very fast. <laugh> Right. And so that's, that's how I would say that than, than fear at all.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (17:51):

So you brought up, you said resilient, the need for resiliency. How do you focus on that? What are some things that you're seeing that are needed? Is it resiliency against storms? Is it resiliency against, um, technical failure? What is that? Is that all encompassing?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (18:07):

It's, it's all encompassing, I'll give a couple of examples. Mm-hmm. It is against storms and, and, and, and harsh environment in general. Um, if we're putting un- uh, put unhardened equipment into a sh- into a cabinet, we wanna make sure that that cabinet can withstand and protect the gear inside it, right? But that cabinet can be an environment, uh, such as Florida where we are today, where you have high humidity, um, you get a lot of storms here- Alligators. ... in the Caribbean alligators, you gotta protect against alligators- Yeah. ... and squirrels. Uh-huh. <laugh> Um, but it's true these are practical life challenges that, you know, if a cabinet is sitting there, you know, it could be even drivers. Um, so there's a lot of elements that play into it. If we're in the Caribbean, it's all the hurricanes that go through and we just actually had a, had a, uh, white paper with a customer in the Caribbean that, you know, their network has to be upJessica Denson, Podcast Host (19:07):

BecauseAnis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (19:07):

Their emergency services have to be in first response have to have that connectivity, uh, in addition to the, to the people who, who need that we, we rely on that going to our customers in Alaska and the environment is very different. Mm-hmm. I live in Minnesota and that alone is different where you go from negative 40 degrees to, to 100 plus degrees with some humidity inJessica Denson, Podcast Host (19:30):

Some- Not to mention the build season. You can't get into the ground even at some certainAnis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (19:34):

Times, right? Uh-huh. Yeah, so you're limited. So that's one part of the reli- resilience. So the resilience comes from our ability to control the quality of the product we put out there for all these environments and do the testing that is needed to ensure that, that their assets, our customers' assets are protected, especially when they need them, which is in case of, you know, extreme. Uh, the second thing I would say that's part of the resilience is, is redundancy. That's something that a lot of our, we work with a lot of our customers so we understand what is their plan, what's the redundant, the redundancy that they're putting up? Are they designing a ring? How is this mesh? You know, we go to traditional networks, then you go into AI, mesh networks, you know, this edge computing thing, how are they all interconnected and how are they, how are they, uh, um, uh, getting redundancy so we don't have any of these, you know, if a fiber is cut, then-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (20:34):

Yeah. And so you have something that, that keeps it going. You don't get that call from the customer. Yeah, absolutely. It's like what's going on. Absolutely. So before I let you go, talk a little bit about your background, Anise. Where, how did you get into this? Um, are you, uh, where are you from? Just talk a litle bit about how you ended up with Clearfield.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (20:52):

Yeah. Um, so I, I was born and, and, uh, grew up in Tunisia, which is in Northern Africa. Um, and I, uh, actually went to the University of Minnesota,Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (21:11):

That's a big leap. <laugh>Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (21:12):

It's a big leap. Um, we, yeah, most of the time I visited in the summer so, you know, my first winter was a, was a, was a, a change for me. Mm-hmm. Uh, love it there. I've been a resident there since 1993.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (21:25):

Oh, wow.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (21:25):

And, uh, and, uh, I, I enjoy it. This is, that's home for me and, uh, I started with ADC Telecommunications many years ago-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (21:35):

Uh-huh.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (21:35):

... and then, uh, through the acquisition to TE and then I moved into Emphanol was Ethanol for 10 years. I left the industry for about five years. Uh-huh <affirmative>. Uh, it was, it was fun to explore the, uh, the aerospace industry- Oh. ... and, and other similar industries in the same connectivity space. Mm-hmm. Um, but, you know, coming to Clearfield was really homecoming for me because first of all, they're based in Minnesota, uh, with a lot of people that I've known for a long time and I respect and a, uh, culture that is second to none. So it's been really a blessing last two years to be part of this organization and continue to evolve Clearfield into, into what, what this industry and what this market needsJessica Denson, Podcast Host (22:21):

And I said I was gonna put a pin in it. So before I let you go, talk about the patents that you have. Yes. What do you, what is it that you ... It's kind of a humble brag, you know? I have a few patents, I have no patents, just for the record. <laugh>Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (22:33):

Yeah. I started my career in engineering. Mm-hmm. And I loved it, um, and, uh, I was able to, to, I think I, like, I can't, there's, there's a count out there of how many patents, it's over 100 patents- <laugh> ... That, that I have now under my name, which is kind of fun. That's cool. Yeah. My kids keep me updated. <laugh> I say, "Hey, you know, how many do you have? " I said, "I don't know, " because they see the plaques in my office and- Uh-huh. ... I have a few of them under my desk and, um, so they keep me updated. But, you know, what's, what I'm most proud of is, is these are ideas in products that solve a problem, a real problem. Uh, I started in broadcast years ago, so we did anywhere from coax connectors. I went to the first HD cameras-Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (23:15):

Uh-huh Oh, wow. ... orAnis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (23:16):

First, uh, 10 ADP cameras. So that was fun. Then we got more slowly into the fiber world and, uh, and, um, uh, some, some audio, actually some audio equipment. Oh. Yeah, my little Zoom H. <laugh> Yeah. H6. So we did some of that. So it's been, I've been really blessed to be able to be an organization that encourage creativity. Mm-hmm. And at Clearfield, we take that to heart and we make it to doJessica Denson, Podcast Host (23:41):

That. Just like finding solutions to things you see out there, is it just fun for you?Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (23:45):

It is. Mm-hmm. It is. And, and it's, uh, when it, when you have that ah moment that you go and, and design it or work with really, really smart designers that help you just create different ways to solve a problem that, you know, the simplest, the simplest you make it, the better it is. So my role's always, it's called the kiss rule- Uh-huhJessica Denson, Podcast Host (24:08):

<affirmative>.Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (24:08):

Keep it simple.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (24:09):

Yeah, keep stupid. Yeah. <laugh> I'll add that for me. And then- I need, I need the kiss rule because I'm not a technical person, I'm a creative. <laugh>Anis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (24:17):

It's, it's just better. The simpler it is,Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (24:19):

ThenAnis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (24:19):

Why didn't I think about that? When, when somebody says, "Why didn't I think about that? " That means you have something. Yeah,Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (24:24):

That's awesome. <laugh> Well, Anise, Kamal, come. Did I do it right? Yes, come on, come, yep. Come on, come. I gotta roll it all together. Yeah. Come on come. I really appreciate your time. He is the chief commercial officer with Clearfield and, um, I will include a link to the, in the description of the podcast to the, to the company and to your LinkedIn. Um, really appreciate your time. Thank you so much, Anise. ThankAnis Khemakhem, CCO, Clearfield (24:44):

You so much. I appreciate the time.Jessica Denson, Podcast Host (24:46):

Mm-hmm. I'll continue my coverage from Fiber Connect 2026 in upcoming episodes of the Connected Nation podcast. Until then, I'm Jessica Denson and this is Connect to Nation. If you wanna know more about us, head to connectednation.org and you can find our latest episodes on your favorite podcast platform.