Advertise on podcast: Inside Out: A TM Forum podcast

Affordable mobile telephony has helped people across Africa to bridge the digital divide. But are we on the cusp of creating a new divide - the AI divide? In this podcast Khaoula Elagouni, head of AI for African languages at Orange, talks about the initiatives that the operator is undertaking to ensure that people across Africa can get access to AI services.

Charles Molapisi, MTN's Group Executive for Technology and Information, discusses with TM Forum's Willie Stegmann the importance for technology leaders to focus on business outcomes.  He outlines how MTN Group is using AI to reduce costs, improve customer experience and simplify operations, and notably in the mature, low-margin market of South Africa. In addition, he explains why MTN is the investing in software engineering hubs across Africa to develop local digital and AI skills and reduce reliance on external vendors.

In this episode of Inside Out, Mark Newman and Willie Stegmann speak with Vodafone Group CIO Ahmed El-Sayed about the transformation of the technology function in the AI era. Topics covered include how to bring AI across the entire software development lifecycle, people transformation and the changing roles of software engineers and architects, and building AI into customer journeys.

TM Forum members at this year's DTW Ignite 2026 demonstrated many examples of how AI adoption and autonomy have entered a new phase of adoption. They also debated how to address the challenges of effecting organizational change and implementing trustworthy AI at scale, as you will hear in this summary. In keeping with the theme of AI deployment, TM Forum's AI agent, AIVA, drew on dozens of presentations and debates from the event to produce the summary. Meanwhile, Aaron Boasman-Patel, Vice President Innovation, TM Forum is the 'human in the loop' providing the curation and narration.

Peter Leukert, Chief Digital Officer at BT, discusses with TM Forum how an AI-native future depends of nurturing future skills and building strong foundations in data management, cybersecurity, testing and software engineering

Mark Sanders, Chief Architect, Tesltra, discusses with Guy Lupo, Executive Vice President, AI & Data Innovation, TM Forum, how the operator is addressing security, governance and trust as it builds the next phase of network autonomy on a foundation of a composable architecture Sanders and Lupo explore Telstra's vision of a knowledge plane, which transforms data into structured, machine-readable intelligence that enables autonomous network systems to make trusted decisions. Alongside this, they address the concept of model-as-a-service and why it is emerging as a critical capability, helping telcos harness rapidly evolving AI models without being overwhelmed by complexity, cost or risk. The also focus on the importance of trust as telcos evolve their architectures, operations and use of AI to create autonomus operations that deliver new customer experiences.

Telefónica has set ambitious goals for network autonomy in Spain, Brazil and Germany, as the group's Global Chief Technology and Information Officer, Andrea Folgueiras, discusses with George Glass, TM Forum's CTO. Folgueiras explores how and why the company is taking a holistic approach to delivering autonomous networks, from redesigning processes end-to-end, through to rethinking organizational structures, addressing governance and reskilling people.

In early 2026 Swisscom started a multi-year effort to modernize the digital software core that powers its B2C and B2B businesses. In this webinar we talk to CTIO MarkDusener about the role of AI in the transformation and how it offers CSPs the possibility of transitioning to an open, composable architecture even across those applications, which until now have remained dependent on legacy systems.

Few people are better qualified to reflect on the future of our industry than former T-Mobile USA President of Technology Ulf Ewaldsson. In this podcast Ulf explores how the mobile industry can catch a ride on the AI wave as it transitions from 5G to 6G, the future path to relevance and prosperity for mobile operators, and the growing investment gap between the USA, Asia and Europe.   Guest Speaker: Ulf Ewaldsson, Former CTO, T Mobile USA   Host:  Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum

Ashish Surti, Chief Digital Information Officer, Colt Technology Services, discusses how AI is accelerating software development and the challenges of developing longer-term technology strategies in a swiftly changing environment. Among the topics he covers is the changing relationships with vendors; how AI is impacting internal software development, as well as measuring the business value of AI. Guest speaker: Ashish Surti, Chief Digital Information Officer, Colt Technology Services Hosts: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum Joanne Taaffe, Editor in Chief, TM Forum

Howard Watson, who is retiring from his role as BT's Chief Security and Networks Officer, shares his perspective on today's telecoms industry gained from more than 40 years in the technology and telecoms space.   Guest speakers: Howard Watson, Chief Security & Networks Officer, BT   Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum Joanne Taaffe, Editor in Chief, TM Forum

Axiata Group is one of the most innovative operator groups in Asia. Its Ideamart API monetization platform is the most successful of its type in the global CSP community. In this podcast we talk with Axiata Group CIO Anthony Rodrigo and TM Forum Executive Vice President Willie Stegmann about the external and internal forces that are forcing CIOs to "reinvent" the IT function in the AI era. We also hear from Anthony about the emergence of Axiata Digital Labs as the software engineering function that is transforming IT operations across Axiata opcos. Discussion points What are the most important business drivers for the "reinvention" of the IT function? What are the key dimensions of your transformation journey? How do ensure successful achievement of benefits/ outcomes? As Co-Chair of the CIT&E Mission, is ODA still relevant? What must change ? Why do you think Axiata is so much more advanced in its thinking - and its implementation of modern, open, cloud-based approaches to enterprise architectures? Have you been able to measure / track the benefits of an open digital architecture? Tell us about Axiata Digital Labs and its relationship / synergies with the group IT organization and opco IT functions. How does the "group" IT function work with the opcos across the Axiata group. Platform / API monetization. Where we are at and where we are going. Where are you in terms of leveraging AI within the IT organization? Guest Speakers: Anthony Rodrigo, Group CIO, Axiata Willie Stegmann, EVP, Composable IT & Ecosystems, TM Forum Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum

Indonesia's IOH is seeking to change how it serves customers and runs its business by becoming an AI-native techco. This entails building sovereign AI solutions for enterprises; supporting the country's efforts to democratize the use of AI tools by Indonesians for Indonesians; and using AI to enhance its network and business operations.   A central concern for IOH and other telcos is trust, particularly in complex, multi‑agent AI environments where autonomous agents can generate code, create other agents, and change behavior in real time. Both speakers stressed that traditional governance, security, and monitoring models are no longer sufficient for these dynamic systems. Linked to trust is data sovereignty and security. Cheung emphasized the importance of keeping sensitive data and AI models within national borders, noting that enterprise and government customers require strong assurances that data remains under local jurisdiction. Ensuring sovereignty across increasingly global and software‑driven AI supply chains adds further complexity.   They also discussed how audits and procurement reviews are too slow and costly for an AI ecosystem that may involve thousands of agents and suppliers. Instead, they argued for platform‑based governance, continuous monitoring, and industry‑wide trust frameworks that treat trust as an ongoing business capability rather than a one‑off compliance exercise.   Finally, both acknowledged the difficulty of demonstrating near‑term value from AI investments while simultaneously building long‑term foundations, highlighting the need for shared case studies and reusable platforms to balance cost, risk, and innovation.   Guest speakers: Desmond Cheung, CTO, IOH Guy Lupo, EVP - AI and Data Innovation, TM Forum   Host: Joanne Taaffe, Editor in Chief, TM Forum

Orange Group CIO Koen Vermeulen is in no doubt about the impact of AI on the telecoms sector, Rather than viewing it merely as a tool to accelerate transformation, Vermeulen reckons that AI represents a transformative force that is changing how industries are operating. In this podcast we explore how and where AI is already being adopted within Orange's IT organization. The use of AI to drive greater speed in the IT organization is a theme comes up regularly in our discussion and Koen speaks with huge enthusiasm about using the power of AI to fundamentally transform the Software Development Lifecyle. Guest Speakers: Koen Vermeulen, Global CIO, Orange Willie Stegmann, EVP, Composable IT & Ecosystems, TM Forum Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum

Rene Felber is Chair of the TM Forum TPAC (TechCo, People and Culture) Collaboration Project, and he is joined by Ishari Siriwardane, General Manager for Transformation at SLT and key member of the group. In this podcast they speak to TM Forum's Principal Analyst Dean Ramsay about group's aims and progress.  The conversation focuses on the impact AI is having on telecoms people and culture and what strategies the group are seeing from a leadership perspective. Are telco leaders making the right decisions on reskilling?