It’s been standard practice for telecommunications companies to pursue ongoing productivity improvements, adopting new technologies as they become available. So, it’s no surprise that in recent years, telecom workforces have been declining by about 1% to 5% annually across most regions worldwide, including Europe and the Americas. Asia-Pacific is an exception, and there was a small rebound across most regions last year following the Covid-19 downturn (see Figure 1).

Now, as artificial intelligence (AI) reaches an inflection point, it’s poised to unleash step changes in operations and business models that weren’t previously possible. Similar to other sectors, telecommunications companies are abuzz with exciting potential use cases that could transform their industry.

These changes arrive amid a major industry transition already underway. Intensifying revenue and cost challenges have hampered many telcos’ total shareholder return, pushing them to make changes, in some cases radical ones. These challenges are squeezing large, integrated telcos in particular. At the same time, telcos have been increasing their investments in technology, including digitalization, process automation, and adoption of AI tools, as they look to increase productivity and stay ahead of the curve.