A Look at Google’s Cloud WAN for the AI Era
In an increasingly distributed and digital-first world, enterprise networks are under immense pressure to deliver high performance, security, and simplicity while being agile enough to support emerging technologies like AI, GenAI, and IoT. At the webinar “Connect Your Global Enterprise with Cloud WAN: A Network Built for the AI Era,” we discussed Google’s Cloud WAN offering, a fully managed, cloud-native global backbone designed to help enterprises simplify wide area networking, optimize performance, and reduce operational complexity.
The event featured analyst insights, customer case studies, technical overviews, and discussions with Google Cloud executives and product managers. The central message was clear: Cloud WAN is not just a new service, but a strategic evolution of Google’s planet-scale network infrastructure—now made available to enterprise customers.
Nestlé’s Network Transformation: Bridging the Gap Between Edge and Cloud
One of the highlights at the event was a case study from Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, which is undergoing a substantial digital transformation. Nestlé’s IT organization aims to modernize operations across digital commerce, manufacturing, and customer engagement—initiatives that demand resilient, adaptive networking infrastructure.
Historically, Nestlé relied on a hybrid WAN model, combining MPLS and internet as underlays with SD-WAN overlays. While this approach provided traffic control and security, it presented scalability and performance limitations. By adopting Google Cloud WAN, Nestlé transitioned to a more streamlined architecture. Cisco SD-WAN headends were deployed in Google Cloud, with the Google backbone used as the underlay—resulting in measurable improvements in performance (up to 40%), resilience, and cost efficiency.
Nestlé’s new network model enables full MPLS replacement, faster provisioning, and the ability to connect branch sites with reduced latency. Importantly, it facilitates seamless integration with Secure Service Edge (SSE) providers and aligns with the company’s broader goal of supporting AI and IoT use cases.
Google’s Vision: From Internet Backbone to AI-Ready Infrastructure
Muninder Singh Sambi, VP and GM of Cloud Networking at Google provided an in-depth look into the evolution of Google’s network—from its origins in supporting Search and YouTube to becoming a backbone for cloud computing and AI. With more than 2 million miles of fiber, 33 subsea cables, and over 200 points of presence (POPs), the scale and reach of Google’s network rivals that of major telcos.
According to Sambi, the launch of Cloud WAN is a natural progression of Google’s networking innovation. It’s designed for enterprise consumption in the distributed cloud and AI era, focusing on simplifying operations, improving security, and enabling consistent global connectivity.
Key use cases include:
- High-performance data center interconnects, facilitated by Cross-Site Interconnect, a Layer 2 service offering protected capacity and predictable pricing.
- Branch and campus connectivity, where Cloud WAN extends Google’s premium tier backbone for up to 40% performance improvement and significant TCO reductions.
Citadel Securities, a global market maker, was another early adopter and conveyed its story on the webinar. With hybrid environments spanning cloud and on-premises infrastructure, Citadel relies on Cloud WAN to support the low-latency, high-throughput demands of its trading and research platforms.
Technical Architecture and Ecosystem Integration
Google product managers Manisha Gupta and Peter Blum provided a detailed technical walkthrough of Cloud WAN’s capabilities. Its integration with the broader Cross-Cloud Network portfolio is central to the solution, including Cloud Interconnect and Cross-Cloud Interconnect services. These allow customers to build resilient, high-bandwidth connections between on-premises environments, cloud regions, and other public clouds.
Cloud WAN consolidates disparate WAN architectures into a single managed solution. This reduces operational overhead, security gaps, and licensing complexity. Through integrations with SD-WAN vendors and SSE partners such as Palo Alto Networks and Broadcom, customers retain flexibility while gaining centralized control.
Additional innovations include:
- Network Connectivity Center (NCC) as a centralized orchestration hub.
- NCC Gateway, which integrates SD-WAN with security stacks and provides high-performance access to cloud-native firewall and SASE services.
- Cross-Site Interconnect, enabling data center-to-data center L2 connectivity over Google’s global network.
This architecture supports various enterprise needs, from reducing the branch network footprint to enabling cloud-delivered services like DHCP/DNS/IPAM, wireless LAN management, and AIOps.
Analyst Perspective: A Well-Timed Solution for a Complex World
To close the event, I highlighted how Google Cloud WAN aligns with enterprise needs in today’s complex IT environments. Recent research shows that 80% of organizations believe their network complexity has increased, while 93% view networking as critical to achieving business outcomes. With growing data traffic, rising AI adoption, and limited IT staff, traditional WAN architectures are often inadequate.
Google’s approach addresses these challenges by:
- Offering a unified network fabric globally.
- Enabling integration with existing networking and security tools.
- Reducing operational burden through automation and lifecycle management.
- Delivering visibility and control without sacrificing scalability or performance.
Importantly, Cloud WAN isn’t an experimental launch—it’s built on infrastructure refined for over a decade, powering services used by billions of users. The introduction of Cloud WAN allows enterprises to tap into that same infrastructure for their cloud transformation and AI readiness.
Moving forward
Google Cloud WAN represents a significant step forward in enterprise networking. As organizations contend with distributed applications, hybrid infrastructure, and the need to support legacy and next-gen workloads, Cloud WAN provides a unified, high-performance, and secure alternative to traditional WAN architectures.
With its global reach, deep integration ecosystem, and AI-era readiness, Google Cloud WAN is poised to become a foundational component for enterprises looking to modernize and future-proof their networks.
For more information, please visit the Google Cloud WAN website
