Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries at breakneck speed, with new capabilities emerging almost daily. As telcos race to harness its potential, questions around ethical use, safety, and practical implementation loom large. 

In this episode, I dive deep into the world of AI with Neerav Kingsland, head of business development at Anthropic, makers of the AI model Claude. The company is known for its use of "constitutional AI”—an approach that builds ethical guardrails into its AI systems. Listen now to hear:

• Why Anthropic's approach is centered on ethical AI behavior [04:04];
• The company’s work with SK Telecom to create an “AI-first” telco [09:45];
• The potential for AI to dramatically improve personalized marketing [12:03]; and
• Just how powerful AI models will become in the next few years [14:11].

Links and Resources

• Learn more about Anthropic and its use of constitutional AI.
• Read more about the company’s $100 million deal with SK Telecom.
• Watch how SK Telecom plans to become an “AI-first telco”.
• Check out the GSMA’s Responsible AI Maturity Roadmap, which is designed to help operators evaluate and enhance their AI practices. 
• Learn more about Amazon Bedrock. 
• Find out how Totogi’s BSS Magic and PlanAI can help you turbocharge personalized marketing.
• I write a lot about AI and telco. Check out these blogs to help you put AI to use in your org:
  • Getting AI right is hard 🚀
  • If you focus on business value, AI pays for itself
  • 10 examples of how telcos are using AI (BESIDES customer support!)
• Watch this episode on our YouTube channel.
• You can find the episode transcript here.

Wanna talk AI and public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring. 

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This week’s guest

Neerav Kingsland is the head of business development at Anthropic. Prior to Anthropic, he was an executive coach to founders working on AI safety. Before working in AI, Neerav was the Managing Partner of City Fund, a national philanthropic organization backed by Reed Hasting, Steve Ballmer, and John Arnold. City Fund was created to scale the strategies that helped transform New Orleans public schools after Hurricane Katrina, where Neerav was a key leader. He is a graduate of Tulane University and Yale Law School.

Podcast Credits

• Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios, TelcoDR
• Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
• Senior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing
• Audio Editor: Andrew Condell
• Supervising Producer: Amanda Avery
• Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio
• Music: Dyami Wilson