Network Transformation 2026

Innovation priorities in the telco AI era

In GSMA Intelligence’s seventh annual survey of network technology executives, one data point stands out: 85% of operators claim opex efficiencies as a priority business objective for deploying AI in their networks. This is almost three times the percentage looking to AI as a tool for delivering new services. 

Midway through the 5G era, this viewpoint is telling. Operators are continually challenged to leverage new network technologies to simultaneously improve their bottom line and grow their business. Against a backdrop of expertise gaps and technology immaturity, the growth agenda is often obscured. 

In the latest Network Transformation Survey, there is no shortage of familiar themes: the focus on efficiency versus business growth; the prioritisation of broad technologies such as AI, cloud and automation; and high hopes for 6G. The survey also reveals a refreshingly sober view of the progress being made with technology deployment and a realisation that business and ecosystem dynamics are holding back technology progress more than any shortcomings with technology itself. 

With 6G on the horizon and new business aspirations depending on network innovation, understanding how these dynamics play off one another is more important than ever.