Google Cloud runs the largest private network on the planet, managing billions of users with a fraction of the staff that regional telcos need. Now it’s opening up its playbook to share this AI-driven approach with telecommunications operators.

In this episode, I'm talking with Angelo Libertucci, global head of industry for telecom at Google Cloud, about its partnership with Ericsson to build a cloud-native, 5G core and autonomous operations framework entirely on Google Cloud that can self-heal and self-optimize without human intervention.

Listen now to hear:

• How Google's partnership with Ericsson delivers instant service deployment for 5G networks [03:40]
• Why the timing is finally right for telcos to move core network functions to the public cloud [04:56]
• The math behind network utilization that makes public cloud for network workloads financially compelling [09:12]
• How Bell Canada transformed its network performance using autonomous operations without moving workloads to cloud [13:55]

Links and Resources:

• Read about Google Cloud and Ericsson's carrier-grade 5G Core-as-a-Service platform.
• Learn about Google Cloud's Autonomous Network Operations framework.
• Check out O2 Telefónica Germany and Google Cloud’s partnership to move 5G functions to the cloud with Nokia.
• Watch my 2018 Interview with Google Cloud about Spanner (yes, I’ve been talking about telco and the public cloud for FOREVER)!
• Angelo was a professional hockey player.  Check out his jersey when he played with the Canadian All Stars.
• I’m not a hockey player, but I do play tennis.  Check out this sport that combines both, ice tennis — watch out for those slapstick backhands!
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
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The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, 2024 and 2025 Hermes Awards, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Angelo Libertucci heads the telecom industry for Google Cloud globally. He is responsible for business development and strategy, partnerships, and field enablement that will drive CSP service differentiation and value, leveraging Google Cloud's technology and platform. He also identifies and capitalizes on new opportunities across Google’s ecosystem.

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

Network APIs are the telecom industry's next big bet for unlocking new revenue, with McKinsey & Company projecting they could generate up to $300 billion in connectivity and edge computing revenue over the next four to six years. But the real challenge isn't technical—it's convincing millions of developers to adopt telco’s network APIs instead of sticking with what they already use.

In this episode, I sit down with Shkumbin Hamiti, Nokia's vice president of network monetization, who leads the Network as Code platform that has grown to over 50 partners since launch. We explore why winning over developers is the holy grail for network API success.

Listen now to hear:

• How Nokia's strategy differs from Ericsson's Aduna approach [04:56]
• Examples of commercial deployments that have moved beyond proof of concept [07:05]
• Why telcos need to meet developers where they are [10:46]

Links and Resources:

• Check out McKinsey’s report predicting network API’s $300 billion dollar revenue potential and its follow up piece, The future of telcos: Mapping the routes to renewed success.
• Learn about Nokia's Network as Code platform and its Acquisition of Rapid.
• Read about Nokia’s partnership with Deutsche Telekom for fraud prevention APIs.
• Learn about Globe Telecom’s partnership with Nokia for enhanced banking security.
• Check out Nokia’s partnership with robotaxi service Elmo, whose vehicles combine AI, sensors and Nokia’s network APIs to operate safely in busy urban environments.
• Watch a demo of Elmo’s remote teledriving system at MWC25 in Barcelona, where you could control a real car that was over 2,000 miles away from Nokia’s booth.
• Read about Nokia's partnership with Google Cloud marketplace for API distribution.
• Shkumbin quoted my mentor, strategic HR veteran Jim Abolt, in this interview. Check out Telco in 20 episode 103 to hear more of Jim’s perspective on change management.
• Shkumbin and I both love tennis.  Did you catch the 2025 French Open men's final between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner? Their grueling match is considered one of the top 5 all time best matches. Watch highlights here.
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, 2024 and 2025 Hermes Awards, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Shkumbin Hamiti is vice-president and head of Nokia's network monetization platform business unit. He is an accomplished technology executive with 28+ years of experience spearheading transformative initiatives within the mobile and cloud industries at Nokia. He is based at Nokia’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland.

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

The telecommunications industry is at a crossroads, with strategic opportunities ready to reshape how operators generate revenue and compete. From network APIs, to GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS), to moving networks to the public cloud, telcos are weighing big bets that require capital and focus. The real challenge isn't identifying opportunities—it's knowing which ones to pursue and which to walk away from.

In this episode, I’m talking with Harrison Lung, group chief strategy officer at e& (formerly Etisalat). We're going to dive into e&'s four strategic pillars, Harrison's take on the big strategy ideas in our industry, and how the operator is applying AI behind the scenes.

Listen now to hear:

• e&’s plans for the next five years, including its 4D strategic framework [04:15];
• Harrison's take on network APIs, GPUaaS, and cloud-native networks [08:37];
• Keys to driving strategic success [11:25]; and
• The exciting new AI use cases e& is putting to the test [13:44].

Links and Resources:

• Read more about Etisalat’s rebranding to e&.
• Check out Harrison’s 2024 year-end wrap up of e&’s transformative progress.
• Read Aduna’s announcement about e& becoming an equity partner in its global network API venture.
• Learn about how e& is using AI in the Careem Super App to ensure quicker food delivery times.
• Is your telco ready to drive strategic success? Check out my blogs for tips: So, you want to be a tech-co? and Telco’s shift to the public cloud gets real.
• If you've ever visited the UAE, you can't have missed the iconic twinkling golf balls above the e& buildings—those magical spheres that shimmer like stars against the night sky, each one housing 940 tiny lenses and optical fibers that create their mesmerizing starry effect. I forgot to ask Harrison if e& will keep these beloved tributes to Etisilat!
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, 2024 and 2025 Hermes Awards, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Harrison Lung is the group chief strategy officer at e&. He was appointed in May 2023 and oversees corporate strategy and planning, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), venture capital, Group transformation, ESG and sustainability. With over two decades of experience in the telecom and technology sectors, Harrison is directly collaborating with e&'s management team and board of directors to develop the overall business strategy, set the direction of the Group and develop plans to achieve e&'s business objectives. 

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

Telecom operators worldwide need to modernize their infrastructure and reduce costs. While many have been hesitant to move critical network functions to the public cloud, a growing number of visionary operators are proving that cloud-native networks aren't just possible—they're the future.

Today, I'm speaking with Mallik Rao, chief technology and enterprise business officer at Telefónica Germany, who is leading the world's first brownfield migration of a 5G core network to AWS. We dive into the technical challenges his team faced, the organizational transformation required, and why combining cloud-native architecture with Open RAN is poised to revolutionize how telcos operate.

Listen now to hear:

• Why Mallik Rao killed his first cloud migration project after 18 months; [05:08]
• How AWS redesigned its hardware infrastructure for telco workloads, creating Outpost 2.0; [06:36]
• The strategy behind disaggregating hardware and software lifecycles in RAN for maximum flexibility; and [11:19]
• Why time-to-market improvements matter more than cost savings [13:37].

Links and Resources:

• Read Telefónica Germany’s project announcement, 5G Cloud Core milestone with over one million users on the O2 Telefónica network.
• Take a look at this article on how the operator shifted customers from an Ericsson 5G cloud core to one provided by AWS and Nokia.
• Learn more about AWS’s second-generation Outposts racks.
• Check out Telefónica Germany’s Open RAN strategy and collaboration with Samsung to modernize RAN.
• Learn more about Totogi’s Charging-as-a-Service, a multi-tenant SaaS solution that delivers automatic scaling, usage-based pricing, CI/CD-driven upgrades, open APIs, and real-time event-based charging on the public cloud.
• Can your charger scale to the equivalent of 1 billion subscribers? Totogi’s Charging-as-a-Service can, and we’ve got the proof. Check out this performance benchmark whitepaper.
• Relocating for a new job can be hard! In the 1988 comedy Moving, Richard Pryor plays Arlo Pear, a man uprooting his life and family for his dream job. But when they reach their new home, they find the previous owners weren’t joking about ‘taking everything.’ 
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, a 2024 and 2025 Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Mallik Rao has been a member of the Management Board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG since the end of October 2019. He was initially responsible for the mobile and fixed network as well as the IT of Telefónica Deutschland in his role as chief technology & information officer. Mallik Rao has also been assigned responsibility for the business customer division and the company’s data platforms and artificial intelligence activities in his role as chief technology & enterprise officer. Mallik has more than 25 years of experience in the international telecommunications industry. He lived and worked in seven countries, bringing experience from technology providers like Ericsson and Nortel, and service providers like Vodafone and Aircel. He is passionate about working with various cultures and building technology solutions for customers. 

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

The telecommunications industry has reached a critical inflection point where legacy IT systems can no longer support the demands of an AI-first world. Traditional telco technology approaches are too complex, slow, and fundamentally incompatible with the speed and agility required for modern digital services.

Today I'm speaking with Dr. Lester Thomas, head of new technologies and innovation at Vodafone Digital and IT, and a TM Forum Distinguished Fellow. Lester has driven some of the most ambitious cloud transformation projects in telecom, including Vodafone's groundbreaking data migration that consolidated servers across multiple countries into a unified cloud platform. We explore Vodafone's "Composable IT" vision and how the company is transforming its technology stack to be modular, open, and AI-ready.

Listen now to hear:

• Vodafone's data transformation that moved 17 petabytes from 600 Hadoop servers hosted in 11 countries into Google Cloud, creating the foundation for AI adoption [04:20]
• The company's strict "cloud native" definition requiring complete re-engineering rather than lift-and-shift, with 80-90% of digital workloads now truly cloud native [09:37]
• Three principles driving Vodafone's Open Digital Architecture: machine-readable standards, open-source collaboration, and proof-of-concept testing over RFPs [14:18]
• How AI is forcing complete software redesign, with Vodafone's AI Booster democratizing AI access across all business functions while maintaining governance [17:51]

Links and Resources:

• Watch Vodafone’s announcement at Google Cloud Next 2019 to rebuild their Data Ocean on Google Cloud to eliminate 600+ on-prem Hadoop servers across 11 countries.
• Check out my blogs, Vodafone is putting on a public cloud clinic and Be like Vodafone and move your analytics to the public cloud.
• Take a look at this TelcoDR Vodafone Case Study, How Vodafone Saved Nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.
• Read about Vodafone’s partnership with Google Cloud to process massive data volumes, enhance digital services, and drive innovation across Vodafone’s global operations.
• Check out this Google Cloud blog on how Vodafone's AI Booster project is supercharging AI & ML at scale.
• Listen to this episode of the TM Forum Inside Out podcast to learn how Open APIs spurn innovation.
• Take a look at this article from TM Forum, ODA explained: Tools for implementation and deployment.
• Watch my Gen AI Summit talk at MWC25 on Building an AI-first Telco.
• Learn more about how Totogi’s BSS Magic, powered by AI and the public cloud, enables seamless interoperability, drives innovation, and unlocks new growth.
• Lester Thomas has taken up wing foiling, an adventure sport combining sailing and flying.  Here’s what it looks like if you are inspired and want to give it a try.
• Check out a video version of 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, a 2024 and 2025 Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Dr. Lester Thomas is Head of New Technologies and Innovation and a Distinguished Engineer at Vodafone Digital. A 20-year Vodafone veteran, he leads Vodafone’s Open Digital Architecture strategy, driving innovation in Generative AI and cloud-native technologies. Lester is passionate about telecoms’ role in society and is a strong advocate for open standards and open-source. He has been recognized as a TM Forum Distinguished Fellow for his contribution to the Open Digital Architecture and Open-API initiatives. When not shaping telecom’s future, he enjoys adventurous sports, has a private pilot’s license and also enjoys sailing and other watersports.

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

The debate over whether telco network workloads can run on the public cloud has raged for years. While greenfield operators like DISH Wireless have demonstrated that a cloud-native 5G network is possible, critics dismiss these examples as outliers that don’t apply to established networks. But recent developments with brownfield operators and new infrastructure options are changing the conversation about what's possible.

In this episode, I'm talking with Dr. Ishwar Parulkar, Chief Technologist for Telecom at AWS. With extensive experience creating cloud solutions for telecom networks, Ishwar is at the forefront of helping operators transition their networks to cloud infrastructure.

Listen now to hear:

• How AWS has created an "edge continuum" of infrastructure options to support network workloads [05:25];
• What AWS learned from working with Telefónica Germany to run network workloads in a brownfield environment [07:31];
• How telcos are leveraging generative AI to transform customer experience, reduce operational costs, and create new revenue streams [11:41];
• Whether AI RAN workloads will be a new revenue source [15:03].

Links and Resources:

• Take a look at how Telefónica Germany successfully completed a trial to load 1 million subscribers into the public cloud. 
• Read the AWS announcement on the New AWS Outposts Rack and Server Offerings for Telcos.
• Watch my interview with Chris Penrose at NVIDIA about AI-RAN and using the extra capacity in the RAN to run AI workloads at the edge.
• Take a look at how SK Telecom built a specialized telco AI model trained with Anthropic's Claude on AWS.
• Learn more about how British Telecom is using Amazon Q to enhance developer productivity.
• Come see me June 3-4 in Windsor, England at Telecom TV's DSP Leaders World Forum. I'll be on Tuesday's panel, Leveraging AI throughout the network, and hosting a garden party that night!
• Ready for a movie night? Try this homemade popcorn recipe. 
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, a 2024 and 2025 Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest
Dr. Ishwar Parulkar is the Chief Technologist for Telecom and Edge Cloud at Amazon Web Services. In this role he is responsible for setting AWS technology strategy, defining new cloud services and leading initiatives to enable AWS’ edge cloud offerings and next generation telecom networks and services. Prior to AWS, Dr. Parulkar was a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco and Chief Architect for business units responsible for telecom routing, mobile packet core, small cell and network orchestration products. He was a founding member of industry-wide initiatives around mobile edge computing and 5G and the conviction that cloud technology can transform the telecom field brought him to AWS in 2016. Before Cisco, Dr. Parulkar was a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems where he led the design data center computing infrastructure, including the first multi-core processor systems and first compute virtualization platforms in the industry. He started his career at Apple, where he worked on the Mac desktop/laptop product lines and on the Newton PDA technology, which had the seeds of the iPhone revolution.

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

In today's rapidly evolving tech landscape, operators struggle with change because they are held back by their legacy systems and rigid processes. Bold transformation isn't just about upgrading networks or cutting costs—it requires fundamentally redesigning how the entire organization works. The future belongs to those with the courage to drive radical change — which is absolutely necessary in the age of AI and cloud.

For this episode, I'm talking with Mark Sanders, Chief Architect and Head of Autonomous Networks and AI Enablement at Telstra, about their composable architecture. Telstra is building on TM Forum's ODA to create a revolutionary framework that arranges telco knowledge into an ontology. We dive into how Telstra is leveraging a composable architecture to build an autonomous network, and using  AI to create a future-ready organization. 

Listen now to hear:

• How Telstra's "Lego block" approach to technology architecture accelerates innovation [07:11];
• The critical shift from automated processes to truly autonomous, outcome-driven systems [08:46];
• Why developing a telco knowledge ontology is fundamental for effective AI reasoning [10:12];
• The importance of bold leadership in driving transformative organizational change [14:39].

Links and Resources:

• Read this interview with Mark Sanders on how Telstra is using composable network, cloud, IT, and data building blocks to underpin innovation and growth.
• Check out this case study about Telstra's Reference Architecture powered by TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA)
• Watch my talk, Avoid vendor lock-in with TM Forum Open APIs, that the telco industry dinosaurs demanded to be pulled down from TM Forum DTWS event in 2021.  I guess Amdocs didn’t like being called out for not really supporting the Open APIs? Whatever I said worked: they’ve gone from 1 API supported to 35! Told you it wasn’t a technical reason they didn’t do it…
• Learn more about Totogi’s BSS Magic and use our ontology to create your digital twin. Start modeling your processes and apply AI to reduce cost, reduce friction, and increase revenue. Tier 1 telcos are already trying it out.
• Meet with Totogi at TM Forums DTW Ignite, June 17-19, in Copenhagen. Stop by our Catalyst project (C25.0.836) in the Autonomous Networks Innovation Zone, Kiosk #14, and see how we’re working with Infosys and CloudBlue. The Catalyst demonstrates AI-led simplification of telco service ordering using CAMARA, TMF, and MEF APIs.
• Mark is headed to Antarctica, a place most people will never go! Take a look at some of the amazing sites he might see.
• Mark compares his composable architecture to Lego bricks. Check out this ASMR Lego stop motion cooking video that’s insanely satisfying to watch. If only BSS was this easy! Sound on for maximum enjoyment.
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, a 2024 and 2025 Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest
Mark is a transformational leader working in the intersection IT, Networks, Data and AI in telecommunications. Mark stands at the forefront of emerging technology for Telcos: Decoupled and composable architectures, Orchestration, APIs, AI, and Autonomous network services. Leading the innovation that will transform how Telco builds, activates, and lifecycle Services. As the Chief Architect, Mark assumes responsibility for developing comprehensive architecture strategies, and technology patterns across the enterprise and cross-domains at Telstra. In collaboration with Telco and Standards Development Organizations, he plays a pivotal role in shaping the industry and influencing Telco Architecture. Mark leads a team dedicated to providing enterprise-wide technology leadership. Their primary objectives include ensuring compliance with the Telstra Reference Architecture Model, minimizing technical debt, facilitating cross-domain decision-making, and contributing to optimal technology choices.

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

In today's telco landscape, operators are struggling with legacy BSS systems that are highly customized, expensive, and impossible to change. Rather than continuing the traditional approach of swapping out systems (ouch) or simply adding AI to siloed applications, a more revolutionary solution is emerging—one that creates a digital twin of your entire telco business and applies AI across all systems simultaneously.

For this episode, I talk with Marc Breslow, Field CTO at Totogi. We're exploring how Totogi’s BSS Magic is helping telcos leverage AI without replacing their existing systems while delivering dramatic results in weeks, instead of months. Listen now to hear:

• How BSS Magic functions as a telco-specific ontological layer, not a replacement BSS system [04:12];
• Why siloed AI approaches fail when trying to solve problems that span multiple systems [05:00];
• How an Asian telco dramatically reduced their enterprise sales process time with BSS Magic [09:07];
• How the BSS Magic transforms notoriously difficult BSS migrations from a multi-year project to just a few months [12:40].

Links and Resources:

• Watch my Gen AI Summit talk at MWC25 on Building an AI-first Telco
• Read my blogs, The AI-first telco won't wait 5 years for Amdocs and How to suss out the fake agents at MWC25
• Learn more about BSS Magic on the Totogi website to say goodbye to rigid, vendor-locked BSS applications
• Check out these BSS Magic Demos on Totogi’s YouTube channel:
  • Inventory AI Agent
  • Enterprise Sales Agent Flow
  • Competitive Product Design
  • … and many more! Find more on the BSS Magic Demos playlist 
• Build your first AI Agent for free! Kick-start your transformation by working with our Forward Deployed Engineering team to customize AI agent, at no upfront cost
• If BSS Magic is breaking down the boundaries between systems, imagine what’s happening with the boundaries between functional organizations. This article talks about how companies (and the humans in them) will change in the age of agentic AI.
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award and Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Marc Breslow is Field CTO of Totogi, where he is leveraging AI to revolutionize the telecommunications industry. A veteran of Accenture, Lehman Brothers, and Citibank, Marc has a proven track record of building scalable, high-performance systems. At Totogi, he leads the development of AI-powered solutions that drive tangible results for telcos: reducing churn, increasing ARPU, and streamlining business processes. Marc is responsible for customer proof points demonstrating these capabilities. When not engaging with customers, Marc leads teams building Totogi’s BSS Magic technology, generating applications and improving efficiency using AI agents and workflows.

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

The energy demands of artificial intelligence are skyrocketing. AI workloads are doubling every few months, pushing data centers' energy consumption beyond the capabilities of our aging grid infrastructure. As these facilities approach gigawatt-level power needs—equivalent to powering entire cities—the energy question has become the critical bottleneck for AI's future growth.

In this episode, I'm talking with Roy Illsley, Chief Analyst at Omdia who specializes in cloud and data center technologies. We explore how the world’s biggest data center owners—Amazon, Google, and Microsoft—are responding to these challenges, from renewable energy investments to nuclear power, and what it means for the industry. Listen now to hear:

• Why hyperscalers are looking to nuclear energy solutions to meet their massive power requirements [03:23];
• How Europe's data sovereignty requirements are complicating AI development in power-constrained countries [05:40];
• What opportunity telcos have with AI inferencing at the edge, and why they risk repeating past mistakes [09:20];
• The crucial software capability gap that could determine who wins in the edge AI market [12:14].

Links and Resources:

• Read Omdia’s latest reports on cloud and data centers technologies.
• Watch NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote at GTC on their future rack power requirements.
• Check out this press release on Oracle’s $5 billion UK investment in cloud infrastructure.
• Learn more about Verizon’s AI edge computing initiatives. 
• Read about Microsoft's exploration of nuclear energy options, including the re-opening of Three Mile Island.
• Take a look at Google and Amazon’s investment in small nuclear reactors. 
• Listen to the previous episodes I mentioned in my Takeaway:
  • Ep 1 (Jim Abolt) It starts with…transformational leadership
  • Ep 110 (Charles Fitzgerald) Hyperscaler CapEx is going nuclear
• Homer Simpson's nuclear career takes an unexpected turn in "C.E.D'oh" when he accidentally becomes Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's CEO after impressing Mr. Burns with business jargon. His executive dreams melt down faster than uranium-235 when he discovers the job requires making tough decisions, sacrificing family time, and actually understanding nuclear physics. Guess the CEO job isn't for everyone!
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award and Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

Roy Illsley has over thirty-eight years of IT experience, working for a variety of consultancy and end-user companies with experience in the defence, utilities, automotive, retail, and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries. He works in the Cloud and Data Centre practice and is recognized as Omdia’s expert on Cloud, Virtualisation, and Management. He also has experience of Data Centre technologies, Quantum Computing, IT Service Management, and covers IT Strategy and Policy. His most recent reports include a series of five on the topic of edge computing, and two on the topic of sovereign cloud. In addition to the reports, he has produced white papers and carried out primary research for leading global organizations. He has delivered keynotes speeches and webinars. He has also presented at external trade events all over the world on a wide range of topics. 

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

The telecom industry is adopting AI at break speed. Unlike past innovations that demanded risky network transformations and long timelines, AI-based innovation is accelerating experimentation without disrupting core networks. 

For this episode, I sat down with Kevin Shatzkamer, corporate vice president of customer experience strategy and operations at Microsoft, to explore the power of agentic AI and why it represents such a transformative opportunity for telcos. Listen now to hear:

• Why AI could be the fastest technology adoption in telecom history [03:37];
• How AI agents reimagine processes instead of retrofitting existing workflows [08:16];
• Ways Microsoft's telecom customers are putting agentic AI to work in their business [12:00]; and
• How telcos are unifying their data for deeper insights [13:17].

Links and Resources

• Take a look at Kevin’s LinkedIn post about how AI has the potential to be the fastest adopted technology in telecom history.
• Read Anthropic’s guide on building effective agents.
• Watch my talk from MWC25 on how to build an AI-first telco, and how operators need to tackle the legacy tech debt in their BSS estate to do it.
• Check out my conversations with TelecomTV and Mobile World Live about how Totogi’s AI-first solutions are delivering real revenue growth to telcos TODAY.
• Learn more about the North American operator that switched billing systems and saved big bucks with Totogi.
• Read more about Microsoft’s tools for telcos:
  • AutoGen
  • Semantic Kernel
  • Copilot Studio
  • Fabric
  • Azure AI Foundry
• How to write a book with AI tweet thread
• Check out 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. 

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award and Hermes Award, and are recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest
With more than two decades of software and operational experience, Kevin Shatzkamer has a record of driving transformation and innovation at scale to improve customer experiences. In his role as CVP of Customer Experience Strategy and Operations, he holds operational, technical, and customer responsibilities. His portfolio of work includes strategy and planning, market insights, business performance, learning and development technical enablement, compliance, and AI adoption within Customer Experience. He serves as an executive sponsor for new Azure commitments and other mission-critical engagements, as well as oversees onboarding and AI innovation across key customers.

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