Survey of telco respondents who are or claim to be responsible for deploying and investing in AI solutions. This survey is a good example of the disconnect that can occur between survey perceptions and private commentary from folks who drive investments inside a company. (see comments)
While this survey paints a fairly rosy outlook for AI in Telecom, Tom Nolle has heard almost the exact opposite. I know Tom from my days in networking, and I have no doubt Tom is still as plugged into the telco business as ever. As Tom notes, this disconnect could stem from the types of questions asked or respondents exaggerating. It could also stem from communication disconnects inside telco companies. I suspect both the survey and Tom have the correct views on perception vs reality - and perhaps the time scales of operations. This survey is also a good example of the trend toward MUCH more specificity on the types of personal and corporate use. Alas, even in this survey, if every telco offers a self-service chatbot for support (like AT&T’s POS), then that could be for both improving employee productivity or enhancing customer experience. On the “enhance network operations,” I suspect that one is heavy on the perception that it is a good AI application as opposed to Tom’s observation that AI is nowhere in that realm yet. Lastly, while Tom is plugged into network operations and product management, nVidia has telco customers buying data center gear, and I imagine a good number of the 450 survey respondents are folks in the nVidia Rolodex.
“The survey was fielded from October to November 2024 and included a mix of single-choice and multiple-choice questions. Respondents represented a global mix of telecommunications companies, including network operators, system integrators, internet service providers, network equipment providers, independent software vendors, and more. Sixty percent of respondents are senior executives and directors, while 40 percent are individual contributors. In terms of roles, 80percent of the respondents represent engineering, network operations, architects, data engineering, cloud ops, and IT. This year, the survey includes a dedicated section on the adoption, implementation, and challenges of generative AI solutions.”
The Rightstack Research DB
