Time of growth, expansion

Sampath takes over the reins of Zayo at a time of growth and expansion.

Smith, who became Zayo’s CEO in 2020 when he succeeded founder Dan Caruso, transformed the service provider, built through a mix of organic network expansion and acquisitions of key assets, into one of the largest independent network operators serving AI and enterprise customers throughout the U.S.

He advanced deeper integration, automation, internal AI adoption, network service excellence, and disciplined capital allocation while accelerating Zayo’s network expansion. During his time as CEO, Zayo more than tripled its planned fiber expansion, with projects now spanning more than 15,000 route miles.

One of his most recent accomplishments was the company’s completion of its acquisition of Crown Castle’s Fiber Solutions Business, adding approximately 90,000 route miles and 40,000 on-net enterprise locations. The Crown Castle Fiber deal is significant in that it will enhance its position on two key fronts: expanding its optical wavelength service portfolio to reach more sites and increasing its U.S. fiber-lit building count.

By acquiring Crown Castle’s fiber solutions assets, Zayo added approximately 90,000 route miles and 40,000 on-net enterprise locations to its network.

Having built out a 133,000-mile network in North America and Europe, which includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers, Zayo’s efforts earned it prominent positions on Vertical Systems Group’s 2025 U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings and Wavelength Services LEADERBOARD. The company’s completed Crown Castle deal will likely shake up the rankings on these leaderboards as well as its Ethernet service standing.

Sampath noted that Zayo has an opportunity to leverage and extend its network capabilities to meet growing AI needs.

"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 Sampath. “We already connect more data centers in the U.S. than anyone else, and that is increasingly important as AI companies and large enterprises look for the scale, reach, and performance AI-driven infrastructure requires.”

A transition process

While Smith is retiring as CEO, he will continue to serve on Zayo’s Board of Directors.

Smith will remain in his role until August 31, 2026. Sampath will assume the role of CEO on September 1, 2026.

During the transition period, Smith and Sampath will work closely with Zayo’s Board of Directors and leadership team to ensure continuity for customers and stakeholders.

Smith said that he is “confident he is the right leader for Zayo's next chapter, and I look forward to supporting him and the entire organization as a member of the Board.”

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