The $75B Networking Opportunity in AI | Anshul Sadana, Nexthop

Learn more about Nexthop AI at https://nexthop.ai/ Guru Chahal sits down with Anshul Sadana, founder and CEO of Nexthop AI, to unpack why the AI boom is forcing cloud operators to rethink networking from the ground up. Anshul shares how earlier cloud waves demanded new architectures at massive scale, and why AI has created a similar inflection point where speed, customization, and power efficiency matter more than ever for hyperscalers building modern data centers. Drawing on his experience leading at Arista Networks, Anshul explains Nexthop AI’s joint development model, a partner approach that sits between buying off the shelf hardware and building everything in house. He and Guru discuss why hyperscalers need networking that fits their unique physical and operational constraints, why product cycles are accelerating, and why power efficiency has become a key metric as operators try to keep expensive GPUs running at full utilization. #InvestmentMemoPodcast #Lightspeed #NexthopAI Chapters: 0:00 Welcome, Anshul Sadana! 4:04 Anshul Sadana’s Career in Networking 6:09 Why AI Is Creating a New Networking Wave 7:33 How Hyperscalers Build Their Networking Infrastructure 9:44 Why Hyperscalers Build Instead of Buy Networking 13:24 Why the JDM Model Is Possible Today 17:32 What Hyperscalers Care About Most: Power and Speed 19:57 Why Traditional Networking Vendors Struggle to Compete 21:08 The Teams Needed to Build AI Networking Hardware 22:13 Managing Tariffs and Global Supply Chains 26:22 Anshul Sadana’s Leadership Style 29:14 How Nexthop AI Maintains Culture While Growing 29:57 The Market Opportunity for Nexthop AI 32:48 Advice for Founders Building Infrastructure Startups 35:13 How Nexthop AI Decides Its Product Roadmap 37:53 What Anshul Sadana Looks for in Investors ABOUT THE INVESTMENT MEMO PODCAST The Investment Memo is a podcast interview series where founders see their original investment memo for the first time and revisit the deal that started it all. The memo becomes the spine of the episode — sparking honest conversation about early conviction, risk, growth and the relationship that formed between founder and investor. Stay In Touch: Website: www.lsvp.com X: https://x.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn:   / lightspeed-venture-partners   Instagram:   / lightspeed   The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily represent the views of Lightspeed. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.