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. 

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• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
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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 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. 

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• 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

A few weeks ago I gave my FIFTH Mobile World Congress talk at the GSMA’s Gen AI Summit. More than 2,000 people RSVP’d for the event, and the room was packed with telco industry leaders eager to learn more about building an AI-first telco. 

But the big problem they have to overcome is their mountain of tech debt from their legacy BSS systems. In my talk, I explained how AI can help operators leverage their existing BSS estate and use it to drive toward an AI-first future. I’ve turned my talk into this podcast. Listen now to learn:

• The transformation that happens when intelligence moves above all your systems [04:19];
• How BSS Magic launches new products and offerings in minutes instead of months [04.55];
• Why having enterprise-wide intelligence, purpose-built for telecom, accelerates transformation [07:34]; and
• How AI can breathe new life into legacy systems and turn technical debt into a strategic advantage [08:33].

Links and Resources

• If you missed my live talk, check out the video version on our YouTube channel.
• Learn more about BSS Magic and book a demo! 
• Read GenAI for BSS systems: Telcos on the cusp of a new era, a free-to-download white paper from Appledore Research, sponsored by Totogi. 
• Check out Totogi’s announcement about how we’re ending the era of billion-dollar BSS failures.
• Watch all my MWC talks! Start with the talk that began it all, my 2021 MWC keynote, The Paradox of the Public Cloud, and then check out my: 
  • 2024 MWC MVNO Summit talk, Unveiling the AI-First Future of BSS
  • 2023 MWC talk, SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization
  • 2022 MWC talk, The Public Cloud is NOW!
• Watch my interview with Ray Le Maistre from TelecomTV about all the things Totogi did at MWC25.
• The great thing about BSS Magic is you don’t have to swap off your current BSS systems to use it—it adds an AI layer above all of your existing systems to make them more powerful. It reminds me of this scene in “The Jerk” where Steve Martin doesn’t need anything… except this.
• 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!

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 Big Three hyperscalers each hit an all-time high in CapEx spending in 2024, collectively investing almost $200 billion. For this episode, I speak with Charles Fitzgerald, managing director at Platformonomics, whose annual "Follow the CAPEX" report tracks the cloud providers’ spending. He pulls back the curtain on what’s driving investments, how AI and nuclear power are coming into play, and whether telcos have what it takes to sell AI workload capacity at the edge. Listen now to hear:

• What happened with hyperscaler CapEx spending in 2024 [02:49];
• Insights into the Stargate project, which aims to boost AI infrastructure and know-how in the United States [7:17];
• How the cloud providers are addressing AI’s energy needs, and the role nuclear power is poised to play [11:06]; and
• Why telcos may want to think twice before betting on selling AI workload capacity at the edge [14:25].

Links and Resources

• Read Charles Fitzgerald's 2024 retrospective on public cloud CAPEX spending and check out his Cloud Reactor Tracker.
• Take a look at Charles' 2022 paper calling on big tech companies to champion nuclear energy.
• Learn more about the hyperscalers’ nuclear energy plans.
• REad about telcos’ aspirations to make money by selling AI infrastructure at the edge:
  • Verizon execs hint at making money from AI infrastructure
  • AT&T and Verizon are pivoting into the landlord biz for AI
• This is Charles’ third time as a guest on Telco in 20. He’s working his way to our 5-Timers Club! Check out the first Saturday Night Live 5-Timers club inductee, Tom Hanks, who was ushered in by Paul Simon, Steve Martin, and other special guests.
• 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.

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

Charles Fitzgerald is a Seattle-based angel investor, with a focus on developer platforms and infrastructure. Previously, he spent 20+ years working on platform businesses at Microsoft and VMware. He can see the cloud from his house.

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 telco industry is in the midst of a GenAI revolution, with vendors and operators racing to integrate this technology into their products and services. But with all the buzz around AI capabilities, how can telcos tell which solutions can deliver real business value, and which are just marketing hype?

For this episode, I sit down with John Abraham, principal analyst and leader of the digital enablement practice at Appledore Research. We dive into how operators can identify true AI innovation, trends in BSS, and how telcos can start to address vendor interoperability challenges. Listen now to hear:

• The definition of agentic AI [04:50];
• Questions to ask to determine which vendors have great AI product visions [07:52];
• The huge problem vendor interoperability presents to telcos [11:06]; and
• How Totogi solves the interoperability problem—and DR shares Totogi's AI vision for BSS [13:52].

Links and Resources

• Read more about BSS Magic and set up a time to meet with Team Totogi at MWC25 to see it in action. 
• While you’re in Barcelona, be sure to catch my epic talk, “Building an AI-first telco,” at the Gen AI Summit in Hall 6 on Monday, March 3 … and don’t miss Totogi’s exclusive VIP party on March 5. DM me on LinkedIn or X @TelcoDR for an invite.
• Learn more about the North American operator that switched billing systems and saved big bucks with Totogi. 
• I’ve written a couple of awesome blogs that explain the massive problem around vendor interoperability and how AI is poised to help telcos break free. Check them out!:
  • Amdocs is ruining your business to keep their empire. AI to the rescue!
  • The AI-first telco won’t wait 5 years for Amdocs
• Read the article from Sequoia Capital about the shift from Software-as-a-Service to Service-as-a-Software, which incorporates outcome-based pricing and marks an evolution in how software companies monetize their products. 
• Headed to Barcelona for MWC25? Be sure to reserve a table at John’s and my favorite restaurants, Michelin-starred Disfrutar and Atempo. 
• 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. 

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 over 16 years’ experience in the telecom industry, John Abraham is a principal analyst at Appledore Research and leads the digital enablement practice. Previously, he was at Analysys Mason for 11 years, where he led the Digital Experience research segment as Principal Analyst. He has experience working with a varied client base on topics including digitization benchmarking and procurement for CSPs; strategy and go-to market for vendors; and commercial and technical due diligence for financial institutions. Earlier, as a consultant at a BSS vendor, he led requirements gathering, solution definition, and implementation at multiple tier-1 telcos in Asia and Europe. John holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Anna University (India) and an MBA from Bradford University School of Management (UK).

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

TelecomTV’s DSP Leaders Council is a hand-picked group of ~100 industry experts (including moi) that weighs in regularly on the state of the telco industry. A recent survey of Council members on the topic of Digital Support Systems (DSS) revealed that operators are grappling with mixed feelings about AI, with some dragging their feet on AI adoption, and others racing toward an AI-driven future. Today, I’m talking about the survey findings with TelecomTV Editorial Director Ray LeMaitre. We dig into where telcos are making progress, what’s holding them back, and what needs to happen to spark industry-wide AI transformation. And you know with Ray—it’s not a conversation unless we talk about COFFEE! Listen now to hear:

• The good news about operators and startup BSS solutions [4:40];
• Why the habit of waiting to be "ready" for change might leave slow-moving telcos on the sidelines [8:20];
• The shocking percentage of telcos that don’t see AI as essential to their future [10:24]; and
• Plans for the DSP Leaders Council and survey topics going forward [13:49].

Links and Resources

• Learn more about TelecomTV’s DSP Leaders Council and its DSP Leaders Reports.
• Read my blog about the DSS report findings, 3 key takeaways from TelecomTV’s DSS report—one will surprise you.
• When Ray and I first met, I compared myself to Daenerys Targaryen from the blockbuster TV series Game of Thrones, because let’s face it, sometimes you need to walk through fire to get stuff done in telco. Check out this scene when Daenerys becomes the mother of dragons (warning: explicit scenes, but it’s epic so I’m putting in the show notes anyway!).
• If you’re like Ray and love dark-roasted, Latin American coffee, check out this video about the best way to brew it.
• 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. 

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

Ray Le Maistre was appointed Editorial Director at TelecomTV in April 2020. He has been an editor and journalist covering the telecoms sector for 29 years, previously as Editor-in-Chief at Light Reading, where he worked for 18 years. He is based in the UK, owns too many flowery shirts, and will bore you to tears on the topics of films, football, and coffee if you give him half a chance.

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

As artificial intelligence (AI) adoption accelerates across the telco industry, operators are grappling with a big challenge: how to empower employees with transformative AI tools while ensuring responsible use. For this episode, I’m talking with McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink who leads the global consulting firm’s Center for Advanced Connectivity within the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice. As one of the authors of a recent report, Responsible AI: A Business Imperative for Telcos, he has ideas on how telcos can find the right balance between innovation and managing risk. Listen now to hear:

• The definition of Responsible AI and how it comes into play for telcos [02:27];
• How to balance responsible behavior with innovation [04:28];
• Guidance on guardrails and policies that can encourage responsible use across your teams [08:58]; and
• How organizations can track AI usage and cost [12:56].

Links and Resources

• Read McKinsey & Company’s recent report, Responsible AI: A Business Imperative for Telcos
• Find out more about McKinsey’s Center for Advanced Connectivity
• Ferry has been a guest on Telco in 20 two other times. Check out these great episodes for more of his valuable insights:
  • Episode 83: Monetizing Network APIs
  • Episode 45: Drumming up ways to increase ARPU with McKinsey
• Ferry is famous for his scarves, but they can be hard to style. Check out this video on all the ways to tie a scarf. 
• My trademark: my Golden Goose sneakers! Don’t judge me on the cost; I save money by not buying heels! 👠 I’m partial to the Mid-Star; with their wingtip styling in the front, they qualify as business wear. Check them outI
• 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. 

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

Ferry Grijpink leads the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity within McKinsey & Company’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice, and advises telecommunications companies on strategy, marketing, and operations, including mobile operators that are launching adjacent businesses in areas such as mobile health and money services. He also co-leads McKinsey’s research on deploying and commercializing next-generation infrastructures, such as fiber, mobile broadband, and 5G networks.

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 got a jolt of excitement in December 2024 when Alianza, a nimble cloud communications company, swooped in to buy Metaswitch from Microsoft. The deal promises to breathe new life into Metaswitch's legacy soft-switch technology while giving telcos a clear path to cloud modernization. For this episode, I’m talking with Brian Beutler, founder and CEO of Alianza, about why Alianza made this bold move and what’s next for Metaswitch customers. Listen now to hear:

• Three reasons why Alianza pursued the MetaSwitch acquisition [03:00];
• How it plans to create stability for customers and let them define their own cloud journey [05:13];
• How the company plans to manage 5x growth [09:05]; and
• The role AI will play in Alianza’s expanding portfolio [12:24].

Links and Resources

• Check out Alianza’s announcement about its deal to buy Metaswitch from Microsoft.
• Read more about the acquisition:
  • Fierce Network Exclusive: Alianza buys Metaswitch from Microsoft in deal years in the making
  • Fierce Network Op-Ed: Alianza resurrects Metaswitch from Microsoft grave
  • Telecoms.com: Microsoft sells Metaswitch to Alianza
  • Light Reading: Alianza buys Metaswitch from Microsoft
  • UC Today: Telco 4.0 – Alianza’s Ambitious Deal Could Reshape the Market
• Visit the Alianza website to learn more about the company.
• Listen to my Telco in 20 conversation with Brian from March 2024, Ep 87 - scaling telcos’ cloud mountain with Alianza.
• As with any acquisition being merged into a startup, there are going to be a lot of decisions Brian will have to make with the newly acquired company. A handy (and classic!) book I’d recommend reading is The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen. Brian will have a large Metaswitch customer base to support that’s still on legacy, old-school tech while he’s simultaneously investing in new tech with the Alianza product. It won’t be easy!
• Ready to see how AI and the public cloud can transform your telco? Give Totogi a call!
• 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. 

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

Brian Beutler is the founder and CEO of Alianza, the leading cloud communications platform for telco service providers. He is passionate about transforming the telecommunications industry by empowering service providers to deliver modernized, cloud-native core communications solutions to supercharge growth, simplify operations and reduce costs. Under Beutler’s leadership, Utah-based Alianza has forged a strategic collaboration agreement with AWS and counts Lumen Technologies, Brightspeed, Viasat and Xplore among its tier-one and nationwide 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

Most telcos use only a small portion of their available network capacity on an average day, but what if telcos could turn this underutilized asset into a new revenue stream? For this episode, I talk with Chris Penrose, NVIDIA’s global vice president of business development for telco, about how the company’s AI-RAN concept is poised to help telcos build efficiency and boost the bottom line. Listen now to hear:

• The goals of NVIDIA’s collaboration on the AI-RAN Alliance [04:25];
• The astonishing results of a NVIDIA-SoftBank AI-RAN field trial—including estimated profit margins of 220% for every AI-RAN server added [06:26];
• The company’s efforts to build a sovereign, foundational LLM for Indonesia [12:12]; and
• How other telcos can start to cash in on their unused network capacity and AI’s potential [14:42].

Links and Resources

• Read about how NVIDIA and SoftBank designed the world's first combined AI and 5G network that runs telecom and AI workloads simultaneously.
• NVIDIA also launched a major initiative in Indonesia to develop sovereign AI capabilities tailored for the nation’s 277 million Indonesian speakers.
• Learn more about the AI-RAN Alliance, a collaboration by NVIDIA and other tech, industry, and academic institutions that aims to use AI to advance RAN technology and mobile networks.
• Ready to see how AI and the public cloud can transform your telco? Give Totogi a call!
• Chris and I both love the Texas food scene, so we were thrilled when the MICHELIN Guide started ranking restaurants in our home state recently. But right out of the gate, it made a HUGE miss by leaving Uchi in Austin off the list. No other place comes close! Chris also has two top dining picks in Dallas: Town Hearth and Gemma, which was a MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand pick for 2024.
• 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. 

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

Chris Penrose works across the telco ecosystem to drive the growth of NVIDIA’s hardware and software solutions around the world. He helps to create telco-specific offerings that leverage AI/ML, Gen AI, 5G/6G, edge/cloud computing, and advanced networking. He also works with telcos to create sovereign GenAI factories for their nations. Prior to joining NVIDIA, as the COO of FogHorn, Chris led the go-to-market efforts across business development, technical sales, strategic partnerships, third-party distribution, marketing, advertising and public relations globally. 

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

I recently sat down with Jillian Forde on “The Official AWS Podcast”  to talk about how Totogi’s AWS-first charging-as-a-service solution helped restore mobile connectivity to 23 million subscribers in Sudan during a crisis. For this episode, I’m bringing a condensed version of our conversation to listeners to spread the word on how having a cloud-native solution can mean the difference between complete service disruption and business continuity. Listen now to hear:

• How Totogi's AWS-first architecture helped us restore mobile connectivity in 18 days [03:32];
• Why choosing AWS services like DynamoDB and Lambda over cloud-agnostic solutions was crucial for our success [07:56];
• How the public cloud transforms disaster recovery from an expensive, rarely-tested backup into an efficient, cost-effective solution [13:39]; and
• Why regulated industries need to embrace public cloud now to take advantage of generative AI and stay competitive [16:19].

Links and Resources

• Check out the original, uncut version of my conversation with Jillian Forde on The Official AWS Podcast.
• Learn more about how Totogi Charging-as-a-Service can help you to eliminate your charger’s unused disaster recovery set up to quickly failover when you need it, only paying for what you use.
• Check out our case study on our work with Zain Sudan.
• I also talked about our remarkable work in Sudan with Ali Hussein Kassim, host of Ali Talks Tech in episode 95. Give it a listen!
• Buy Totogi’s Charging-as-a-Service on the AWS Marketplace. Start at $0.01 per month!
• One of my favorite movies about attending a business conference is “Cedar Rapids,” about naive insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) who has never stayed in a hotel, never flown in a plane, and has never left his tiny Wisconsin hometown. Tim meets three veteran attendees (John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr.), who coerce him into a life-altering weekend of wild times and sweet temptation. It’s hilariously awesome!
• Check out this episode on our YouTube channel.
• You can find the transcript for the episode here.

Wanna talk 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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Podcast Credits

• Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios Royston, 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