The 2024/2025 Eraneos study on Generative AI (GenAI) in the European telecommunications (telco) industry evaluates the current landscape, strategic importance and future potential of GenAI. This study is based on structured interviews with C-Level and SVP-Level executives from eight leading European telco companies. These structured interviews were both quantitative and qualitative and were evaluated using exploratory content analysis. The report reveals widespread recognition of GenAI’s strategic significance, along with significant disparities in implementation and scaling across the industry. However, the interviews also showed that many companies entered the GenAI space with overly euphoric expectations, which have led to uncoordinated efforts and inconsistent results.
One key finding is the critical importance of having a robust data infrastructure as a foundation before implementing AI solutions. Companies often face significant challenges due to an unclear system architecture and disconnected systems, such as multiple ticketing systems.
Additionally, there is significant variation in the strategic approach among companies in the telco industry. Larger companies are making substantial investments to build strong partnerships and/or develop their own solutions, while smaller companies tend to adopt a more opportunistic approach by integrating existing GenAI solutions from suppliers into their systems. Despite these efforts, an industrywide reality check has started to take place in 2024 as it becomes clearer that even the most well-prepared companies face substantial challenges in moving from PoCs to full-scale implementations.
The strategic importance of GenAI
Participants consistently see a high level of importance in GenAI aspects – Top management, willingness to invest and infrastructure central Importance of individual GenAI aspects in the company
