Charles Lyons-Burt 
Jason Brumfield has spent more than two decades building and modernizing telecommunications networks that support federal agencies and military missions. Now vice president of U.S. federal sales at Ribbon Communications, he describes his move to the infrastructure OEM as a professional homecoming, returning to the equipment side of the business after years in the carrier and service provider space.
Brumfield joined Ribbon in 2025 following leadership roles at Nortel Government Solutions/Avaya, Lumen (formerly Level 3/CenturyLink) and Intel. His introduction to the federal mission began with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he supported telecommunications systems powering hospital networks and call centers. That early work in veteran healthcare communications expanded into broader civilian agency support and later into partnerships with federal systems integrators and the Department of War focused on mission-critical connectivity.
At Ribbon Communications, Brumfield now leads the company’s U.S. federal practice, helping military installations and civilian agencies strengthen the resilient communications infrastructure that underpins secure government operations.
He sat with ExecutiveBiz for a Spotlight interview during which he discussed the company’s work with the defense community, opportunities in cloud and novel uses for AI.
ExecutiveBiz: Let’s begin with your thoughts on the current opportunities to deliver better capabilities to warfighters and how Ribbon is harnessing those opportunities.
Brumfield: Our role as an infrastructure provider is to support communications service providers, whether that’s major carriers, federal systems integrators or directly supporting mission partners like DISA, the military and the warfighter. In today’s digitized battlespace, every soldier, resource, and weapon system is a node within a multidimensional military network. Information dominance has become the modern battlefield’s decisive edge — linking sensors, shooters, and decision-makers in real time.
The biggest opportunity we see is around resilient connectivity and software-defined infrastructure, with all of that converging into AI-driven decision-making. We’re helping shift from platform-centric systems to networked, mission-centric capabilities. That includes networking, transport modernization, edge computing and enabling access to data wherever it resides.
The goal is to help warfighters pull from disparate data sources and make critical decisions faster. Think about a forward operator gathering intelligence. They may rely on wireless, satellite, broadband fiber or other domains. We help ensure they maintain information superiority – the ability to collect, process, and share information faster and more accurately than an adversary so they can make intelligent decisions in the field. For us, the opportunity is in helping harness those disparate communication paths to enable faster, smarter decision-making.
EBiz: Is there a recent project or effort you’d like to draw attention to?
Brumfield: Because we’re an infrastructure provider, we’re already delivering globally to defense networks. We’re helping move that data from the forward operator all the way into secure cloud environments. From a communications standpoint, we’re supporting the Department of War, including the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Army and the Navy. Additionally, we’re supporting a number of global governments today.
EBiz: What barriers remain in achieving widespread 5G deployment for warfighters?
Brumfield: From our perspective, spectrum access and security are two of the largest barriers to widespread 5G deployment.
We do see near-term progress being driven by hybrid architectures, where 5G augments existing tactical transport networks. We enable secure tower data extraction, real-time network visibility, automated disruption response, and resilient mission-critical communications in contested environments.
We support transport-agnostic architectures and provide failover capabilities, especially in contested environments where interference or signal degradation may occur. Ultimately, resilience at the user level remains a challenge in the 5G space, particularly in contested environments.
EBiz: Could you highlight the opportunities in the cloud space, and how they’re changing the federal landscape?
Brumfield: Cloud transforms the ability to deliver and enable rapid deployment at large scale, whether in hybrid or sovereign environments. We see federal IT shifting from asset ownership to service consumption. But the success of that shift depends on reliable transport backbones, core equipment and service management.
Our role is enabling modernization and transformation toward pervasive cloud utilization. For a warfighter use case, forward units can push data from sensors or field systems to the cloud or a tactical node. We help transport, encrypt and secure that data across multiple pathways.
We also apply routing policies and security parameters to ensure the right person accesses the right data for the right mission. It all comes back to enabling faster, more informed decisions in the field.
When we talk about unlocking the cloud, it’s about taking edge data and getting it to the cloud securely so it can be analyzed, whether by AI or other tools, and used reliably in real-world environments.
EBiz: Where does the name Ribbon come from?
Brumfield: “Ribbon” was chosen to represent a new, unified identity that symbolized the “weaving together” of disparate, complex, and real-time communications networks. Part of it relates to optical transport. That’s core to our business, providing a single, cohesive, resilient and secure communications system. To “wrap around” existing networks, serving as an underlying fabric of continuous connectivity.
The company has a history backed by some of the strongest communications equipment makers in history, like Nortel, Genband, Sonus. Some employees have stayed with the company in its various forms for 30 or 40 years. The assets that power the internet have been around a long time. The challenge is modernizing and layering in new technology to keep supporting the mission effectively. That’s where we are today, connecting disparate data sources quickly and securely, ensuring data centers receive reliable, valuable data.
EBiz: Let’s close with AI. Where do you see it headed, and how does Ribbon use AI?
Brumfield: AI is progressing from pure analytics to operational decision advantage. For us, that includes edge AI and network autonomy. The question is how we apply AI to network operations and human-machine teaming.
The real advantage comes from integrating AI into workflows and building operator trust. AI-driven network automation can create self-healing, autonomous transport paths, so forward operators don’t lose connectivity during dynamic missions.
We also see AI-enhanced decision tools for warfighters, powered by assured, low-latency transport. That can mean faster threat insights, optimized routes and mission recommendations at the edge.
While we’ve talked a lot about transport, encryption and security, it’s all leading to AI-driven autonomous networking. We’re applying AI in the core of the network to improve resiliency, security and proactive threat protection, bridging operations and operators together.
EBiz: Is there anything we didn’t touch on?
Brumfield: We’re excited to be part of the network that powers so many people, especially those defending the country at home and abroad. We also support services that impact all Americans, whether that’s the Social Security Administration or protecting our skies with the FAA.
We support countless partners and integrators in delivering that mission. At the end of the day, we see ourselves as the core infrastructure. All the AI conversations and modernization efforts depend on the infrastructure underneath, and that’s where we operate.
Who Is Jason Brumfield?
Jason Brumfield is vice president of U.S. federal sales at Ribbon Communications. He joined the company in 2025 and brings more than 25 years of experience in telecommunications and government contracting.
Over the course of his career, Brumfield has held leadership roles at Nortel Government Solutions/Avaya, Lumen (formerly Level 3/CenturyLink) and Intel. His background spans civilian federal agencies, federal systems integrators and the Department of War, with a focus on mission-critical communications and infrastructure modernization.
What Is Ribbon Communications?
Ribbon Communications is an infrastructure original equipment manufacturer that provides optical networking, transport and communications equipment powering global carrier and government networks.
The company supports major telecommunications providers as well as U.S. federal agencies, including the Department of War and civilian organizations such as the Social Security Administration, Treasury, Transportation and the FAA. Ribbon’s portfolio centers on secure, resilient transport infrastructure that enables cloud adoption, AI-driven capabilities and mission-critical communications across federal and global networks.
