As enterprises grapple with unprecedented network complexity driven by cloud migration, AI adoption, and evolving compliance demands, the need for absolute visibility has never been more critical. Bobby Condon, the newly appointed Chief Revenue Officer at Forward Networks, brings a proven track record from scaling companies like Fastly and Dynorganizations that fundamentally transformed their respective markets. In this exclusive VMblog Q&A, Condon discusses why he joined Forward Networks at this pivotal moment and how the company’s digital twin technology is delivering an average of $14.2 million in annual ROI for customers who can no longer afford to manage networks based on assumptions.
The conversation explores how AI workloads are fundamentally reshaping network architectureshifting from traditional north-south traffic patterns to intensive east-west communication that demands extreme precision and low latency. Condon reveals why network digital twins, once considered an unsolvable problem, have become essential infrastructure for enterprises navigating the dual challenges of AI integration and agentic operations. With customers describing Forward’s platform as indispensable to their operations, Condon outlines his strategy for global expansion and his commitment to empowering IT organizations with capabilities they’ve never had access to before.
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VMblog: Why is this the right time for you to join Forward Networks?
Bobby Condon: When I join a company, I look for a place where I can build long-term customer relationships and a team that is committed to the mission. That only works when the technology is transformative and becomes something customers rely on to meet their goals. I have been intentional about choosing companies whose products fundamentally change how people work and quickly become indispensable.
Right now, organizations depend on the network more than ever, and complexity has never been higher. IT leaders are being asked to modernize at an accelerated pace, migrate critical operations to the cloud, and keep up with constantly shifting regulatory expectations. Without a clear understanding of their network, progress becomes impossible. Digital twin technology gives teams the visibility and certainty they need to manage complexity, meet compliance requirements, and ensure performance. You can only move forward when you know exactly where you stand. Forward Networks provides that foundation.
I was also struck by the tangible impact the platform has. In my first week, I spent most of my time with customers and prospects. The unanimous feedback was that Forward gives them two rare advantages: time and trust. That is a powerful combination. But the platform also delivers bottom-line benefits; on average, customers are seeing $14.2M in annual ROI from using the platform.
VMblog: How do you see the network changing as organizations adopt AI and agentic operations?
Condon: AI changes network behavior dramatically. We are shifting from predominantly north south traffic to far more east west activity, which increases network strain. AI workloads require extremely low latency, high bandwidth, and rapid adaptation.
This means network management now demands a level of precision that assumptions and manual processes alone cannot support. Teams need accurate, current insight into how the network behaves and what could happen as conditions shift. Agentic operations will allow us to automate many repetitive tasks, but only if the underlying data is trustworthy and specific to the environment. Forward is the only platform that provides the level of mathematical accuracy and currency required to support both AI adoption and Agentic operations.
VMblog: What will your priorities be in your first 6-12 months?
Condon: My priority is to expand our global reach so we can engage with more enterprises and introduce them to technical capabilities they have never had access to before. Many CIOs are understandably skeptical at first – the idea of a true network digital twin has long been viewed as an impossible problem to solve, so the most important step is getting in front of them, learning their environment, and showing them what the Forward Enterprise platform can deliver for their own environment. This is not about selling. It is about empowering IT organizations to eliminate problems that were previously too complex or time-consuming to solve with confidence.
Doing this well requires spending meaningful time with customers, understanding what they need today and how their environments are evolving, and collaborating with the product team to ensure our roadmap reflects those requirements. It also depends on the entire company staying connected to customer success. When every team understands the technical challenges enterprise IT faces, we can remove friction, deliver measurable value, and support customers as they modernize on a global scale.
VMblog: From your experience at Fastly, Dyn, and Oracle, what lessons will you apply here?
Condon: I have been fortunate to help scale companies that redefined established workflows by introducing new capabilities. At Dyn, we reshaped how organizations thought about DNS infrastructure. At Fastly, we changed expectations around content delivery and edge architectures and built a company that ultimately went public. Those experiences taught me how to translate a founder’s vision into a global go-to-market strategy that resonates with large enterprises.
They also reinforced the importance of close collaboration between sales, product, and engineering. Scaling Fastly’s media business required the entire organization to set ambitious goals and execute in unison. Finally, I learned the value of long-term relationships. My teams tend to stay for years, and so do customers. When you operate with integrity and truly understand your customers and their environments, success and retention follow. I plan to carry those principles forward here.
VMblog: What excites you most about Forward Networks’ technology?
Condon: The sheer rigor behind the platform is what stands out. Many vendors say they can model or analyze networks, but Forward does it with mathematical accuracy at enterprise scale. When I speak with customers, what I hear consistently is that the platform has become central to how they operate. One customer told me that without Forward, they would not know where to begin. That is what transformative technology looks like.
I am also excited that Forward’s approach represents how network operations should work. It gives customers authoritative insight into their environment, supports them through major transitions like cloud adoption and AI integration, and is trusted by some of the largest and most demanding enterprises in the world. That level of trust speaks to the strength of the technology.
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