Tony Poulos, TelecomTV (00:08):
Hi, I'm Tony Poulos, and we're coming to the end of the TelecomTV AI-Native Telco Forum in Düsseldorf. It has been some event. The number of people, the number of operators, vendors, and industry analysts that have turned up has been quite amazing. Some of the major themes that have emerged from this are really about the recent launch of ANTA, TelecomTV's initiative, which is the AI Native Telco Accelerator. And on the back of that has been the release of the AI-Native Telco Index, which is a real input from over 56 telecom operators worldwide to help us understand how the rollout of AI-native telcos is actually happening. Some of the interesting takeaways from the show have been the telcos needing to share AI-native experiences and knowledge. That's across the board. Issues with scaling AI across the network infrastructure is a recurring theme that's happened over the last two days, and it's been dominated by discussions about data, data, data, data - things like data readiness, verification.

(01:16):
Is it trusted? Is it connected? Is it operational and available in real time? Most importantly, is the data AI-ready? That's the question that's been coming up over and over again. Intent-driven orchestration has been the goal of many of the operators as they move towards an AI-native telecoms operation. And AI has to be part of the network, not just running over it, and that's a recurring theme that has been happening. Operators and the wider industry are talking about how we move from AI pilots to measurable impact, and what are the challenges to AI adoption? Agentic AI, of course, is getting a lot of hype right now, and the speakers were asking how it will move beyond chatbots and copilots. And the question came up about access to AI models still being a bottleneck for operators, or has the right operational data become more of an issue - or the bigger issue?

(02:12):
There was also intense activity around the demo pods and partner areas. Our event was sponsored heavily by a number of organisations that made the whole event possible, and they weren't let down. They were busy the whole time with people wanting to know more about what they were doing and what things they had to offer for the industry as a whole. Delegate interaction and networking, definitely a major highlight of the event. We've had a wonderful cocktail evening on the opening night, and people were chatting the whole time. We virtually couldn't clear the room. For me personally, the highlights were the seniority of delegates and the quality of presenters and panellists. It was quite amazing. The complex issues around becoming an AI-native telco were addressed in terms that could be easily understood, and nothing was considered off limits. It was quite refreshing to see operators, vendors, and analysts all working together.

(03:06):
The absence of hype was extremely comforting. This event has surpassed all expectations, and we do so hope to see you at next year's AI-Native Telco Forum here in Düsseldorf.