Generative AI: navigating tech developments, operator adoption and consumer expectations

For much of 2025 and early 2026, the development of sovereign AI and sovereign digital service strategies – including the role telecoms could play in supporting them – was regularly in the news. For operators, the strategies represent an opportunity to support national agendas, reassert their relevance in the digital economy and drive new revenues based on their position as highly regulated and trusted service providers. This analysis looks at the sovereign messaging conveyed in sessions at MWC from operators, vendors, regulators and cloud providers.

On-device AI is the next frontier for AI deployments in consumer and enterprise segments. Use cases include AI-based search and personal assistants, image analytics on a smartphone, AI-assisted driving and navigation in cars, industrial applications such as automated guided vehicles, and improved IoT analytics. This has implications for the device world and major tech companies whose business models depend on consumer time on the internet and digital platforms. It also matters for operators, given the ripple effect of AI-driven data traffic on mobile and fibre networks, and the direct revenue opportunity.

Building on previous reports on the evolution of core networks in the 5G-Advanced and AI eras, this report explores what agentic AI means for the mobile core. For the mobile core, most key objectives are unchanged: building future-proof networks that can support a growing and diverse range of endpoints (users, devices and applications) while efficiently delivering intelligent services at scale – all underpinned by a monetisation imperative. But new dynamics have entered the space, from the rise of agentic AI to the sharp focus on sovereignty and mission-critical connectivity. As such, a fresh review of the evolution of mobile core networks is needed.