Singapore – A new industry survey has exposed a stark disconnect between how telecom leaders view artificial intelligence and how prepared their organisations actually are to deploy it, according to the latest data from HCLTech, in partnership with Mobile World Live.
Sixty percent of telecom leaders identify AI as a key driver of future revenue. However, only 25% believe their organisations are ready to operationalise AI at scale.
That 35-percentage-point gap points to a broader industry struggle: moving from a traditional telco model to an AI-native “TechCo.” Legacy infrastructure, incomplete cloud-native modernisation and persistent skills shortages continue to hold companies back, according to the report.
Beyond AI readiness, the data highlights growing anxiety over core business models. Nearly 70% of respondents agree that connectivity services are increasingly commoditised, a trend that strengthens the case for differentiated digital services and platform-led growth strategies.
Yet innovation is not keeping pace with that pressure. Close to 80% of surveyed organisations launched fewer than five new digital products or services in the past year, underscoring ongoing bottlenecks in product engineering and time-to-market execution.
Ecosystem collaboration emerged as a recurring theme in the findings. Nearly half of telecom leaders cite partnerships with hyperscalers, AI platform providers and software vendors as essential to accelerating innovation and monetisation.
Despite this growing reliance on external partners, success metrics have not evolved at the same rate. Operational efficiency and cost optimisation continue to dominate how companies measure the outcomes of AI and digital transformation initiatives, rather than revenue growth or customer experience gains.
Commenting on the findings, Anil Ganjoo, Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Telecom, Media and Technology at HCLTech, said, “The telecom industry is at a defining moment as AI transforms networks into intelligent, platform-driven ecosystems and this research recognises that connectivity alone is no longer sufficient to sustain growth. HCLTech’s AI-intrinsic approach helps telcos accelerate the shift to become TechCos, further scaling innovation and embracing AI-native and autonomous operations.”
The report arrives as telecom operators worldwide face mounting pressure to justify AI investment amid tightening capital budgets and increasing competition from hyperscalers moving into adjacent connectivity and platform services.
