Edge AI: how IoT hardware and connectivity companies can drive ecosystem adoption and scale

Digital transformation of vertical sectors is accelerating, with AI being a top area of investment. GSMA Intelligence surveyed nearly 4,200 enterprises across 21 countries and 10 vertical sectors to gain relevant insights into their digital transformation across a range of technologies. This report analyses the key findings and implications for AI.

AI has dominated industry discussion and developments over the past few years. This held true for CES 2025 but with a specific angle: AI delivered from the network edge. The implications of edge AI for operators span several areas - from new business opportunities to networks.

Growth in AI consumption is creating commercial opportunities across the AI value chain. Over the past year, investment in AI has increasingly extended towards revenue-generating services and enterprise propositions, with operators assuming a broader range of roles across the AI value chain. Telcos in Asia Pacific are particularly active across multiple layers of the AI value chain. They account for 43% of those participating in the infrastructure layer and 38% in the model layer. This position reflects the combination of large and linguistically diverse markets, government-backed national and sovereign AI agendas, expanding AI infrastructure investment, and the scale of leading regional operators and technology ecosystems.