Ever since the first automation provided by the introduction of the Strowger telephone exchange in the late 19th century, networks have been increasingly automated. Fast forward to 2022, and the challenge facing network providers is scaling up this level of automation considering massive increases in complexity, new levels of agility to operate services, and rising demand from customers within the modern telecommunications ecosystem. This paper describes a significant new industryacademia partnership to address these challenges: Next Generation Converged Digital Infrastructure (NG-CDI) is creating a vision for the building and operation of a futureproof network infrastructure and its autonomic management. In this paper we highlight three exemplar activities within the NG-CDI research programme that illustrate the benefits of taking a highly collaborative interdisciplinary approach and show how academia and industry working closely together has delivered a range of direct and positive impacts on the business.