Telco in 20 Podcast Por Danielle Rios TelcoDR arte de portada

Telco in 20

Telco in 20

De: Danielle Rios TelcoDR
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Over the next 20 years, the telco industry will radically change as we move the entire IT estate to the public cloud to use AI. Are you ready? Telco in 20 helps telecom execs drive transformative change through the savvy use of public cloud and AI. Host Danielle Rios and high profile guests from across telecom share their vision for the industry’s future, the impact of artificial intelligence, and what telcos need to do to thrive.© 2020-2025 TelcoDR Economía Gestión Gestión y Liderazgo
Episodios
  • Ep 138 - From programmable networks to agentic AI (Chris Wade)

    Ep 138 - From programmable networks to agentic AI (Chris Wade)
    Apr 14 2026
    Telcos have spent years automating their networks, but most of that automation is rigid. It makes the same decision every time—whether the device is offline, whether it's a maintenance window, whether there's a weather event. Adding AI agents sounds like progress, but if those agents aren't built on a deterministic foundation, you're not removing risk, you're accelerating it. The real challenge isn't getting AI to answer questions about your network. It's getting it to act safely. For this episode, I'm joined by Chris Wade, Co-Founder and CTO of Itential, a network automation platform that's been making infrastructure programmable since 2014. We dig into how Itential is using agentic AI on live production networks, why it layers AI reasoning on top of deterministic guardrails, and how Lumen scaled from 16 to 350 automated workflows by putting field engineers in the driver's seat. Listen now to hear: Why deterministic guardrails are essential when AI agents touch live networks [04:14];The "secret sauce" for giving AI agents real business context [06:24];How Lumen grew from 16 to 350+ automated workflows [11:24]; andWhat telcos need to demand from vendors [13:05]. Links and Resources: Learn more about Itential and its agentic network automation platform, FlowAI.Check out Itential's MCP server, launched in May 2024—one of the earliest in the telco space.Watch Greg Freeman from Lumen present at AutoCon on how his team scaled from 16 to 350+ automated workflows on Itential's platform.Take a look at Aaron Levie's blog, Building for Trillions of Agents. The Box CEO argues that agents will become the primary users of all software, and if your systems can't be accessed through an open API or CLI, they're invisible to AI. It's the exact problem we unpack in this episode.Learn how the Totogi Ontology gives AI agents the business context they need to act on live systems and lets operators see exactly why every decision was made and make changes on the spot.Read my blog, The Promise of AI is No UI, written back in 2024. It predicted exactly where this conversation was headed: a world where AI agents are the primary users of software.Watch this scene from Silicon Valley—one of the best shows ever made about startups—where Dinesh interacts with an AI version of Gilfoyle. It aired back in 2019, before any of us knew this would be real. If you think agentic AI is a new idea, think again!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 they 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 knowFollow 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 2024 and 2025 MarCom Awards, 2024 and 2025 Hermes Creative Awards, 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 Wade co-founded Itential in 2014 to simplify and accelerate the adoption of network automation and to transform network operations practices. Using a model-based approach, Chris led the innovation and development of the company’s flagship portfolio of dynamic, multi-tiered network automation applications. Prior to establishing Itential, Chris gained a wealth of experience in the SDN, NFV and OSS/BSS markets having led initiatives in this space for global organizations including Alcatel-Lucent, ReachView Technologies and Micromuse. Podcast Credits: Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaSenior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingAudio Editor: Andrew CondellSupervising Producer: Amanda AveryAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    19 m
  • Ep 137 - Hyperscalers' $2T bet (Charles Fitzgerald)

    Ep 137 - Hyperscalers' $2T bet (Charles Fitzgerald)
    Mar 31 2026
    Hyperscaler CAPEX investments are staggering: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta spent more than $400 billion on infrastructure in 2025 and are expected to reach over $600 billion in 2026. They’re on pace to surpass $2 trillion in cumulative CAPEX spend before the year is over. Meanwhile, U.S. telco CAPEX sits at $50 billion for 2025—and it's shrinking. For this episode, Charles Fitzgerald, Managing Director at Platformonomics, returns for his fourth (!) appearance on Telco in 20 to break down his tenth annual Follow the CAPEX report. We dive into the hyperscaler spending surge, the two big telco AI plays coming out of MWC 2026—sovereign cloud and AI-RAN, and why the gap between infrastructure spenders and operators is impossible to close. Listen now to hear: How AI supercharged hyperscaler CAPEX—and changed the math for telcos [02:59];Why sovereign cloud may already belong to the hyperscalers [05:57];How AI-RAN looks more like an NVIDIA play than a telco strategy [09:54]; andWhy Oracle's catch-up bid is a cautionary tale [13:25]. Links and Resources: Read Charles Fitzgerald's annual 2025 Follow the CAPEX report.Check out Charles Fitzgerald’s 2024 retrospective on public cloud CAPEX spending and check out his Cloud Reactor Tracker.This was Charles's fourth appearance on our podcast. Check out his previous episodes: Ep 110 – Hyperscaler CAPEX is going nuclearEp 88 - Cloud CAPEX: Not for the faint of wallet Ep 63 – Ante up to be a public cloud contenderIs Oracle's CAPEX bet genius or madness? Fortune breaks down the numbers.Learn more about the Totogi Ontology and how it's helping Tier-1 operators turn AI into actual profit.Read the Appledore Research report on Totogi: Telecom-specific Ontology, the key to AI-native telco (paywalled).Charles has been on the podcast four times—one more and we may have to get him a Five-Timers Club jacket, SNL-style.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 they 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 knowFollow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20Follow 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 2024 and 2025 MarCom Awards, 2024 and 2025 Hermes Creative Awards, 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, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaSenior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingAudio Editor: Andrew CondellSupervising Producer: Amanda AveryAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    20 m
  • Ep 136 - MWC26 Wrap Up (Mobile World Live)

    Ep 136 - MWC26 Wrap Up (Mobile World Live)
    Mar 17 2026
    MWC 26 is a wrap, and one thing is clear: the telco industry has moved past asking whether AI will transform the business. The new question is who's moving fast enough to capture value, and who's still playing catch up. Before I left Barcelona, I stopped by the Mobile World Live Podcast to debrief with host Justin Springham, Managing News Editor Kavit Majithia, and analyst Carolina Milanesi from Creative Strategies. We broke down the real story behind the agentic AI buzz at MWC, what the direct-to-device satellite announcements mean for operators, and why the way teams work in 12 months will look nothing like it does today. Listen now to hear: The word of the week at MWC26—and why most of the industry is still missing it [04:43]The satellite land grab every telco exec should be paying attention to [10:10];How agentic AI is already changing the way people work and live [14:15]; andWhy the best engineers aren't writing code anymore—they're commanding fleets of agents [17:26] Links and Resources: Watch my MWC26 talk for the Agentic AI Summit, Show me the money.Check out Mobile World Live’s version of this episode!I also appeared in Mobile World Live’s MWC26 Preview episode last month. GIve it a listen to see if my predictions were right.The panel covered the biggest news coming out of MWC26. Read more about these stories: SpaceX announced the mid-2027 launch of Starlink Mobile, its direct-to-device satellite network.The founder of OpenClaw joined OpenAI so the project could continue as an open-source initiative under OpenAI's support.Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile announced a joint venture, later joined by Orange and Telefónica, to expand satellite-to-mobile connectivity.Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle warned of a "wild west in the skies" in her MWC26 keynote, and urged the industry to establish ground rules for satellites.Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon Wear Elite Platform, which aims to transform everyday wearables into personal AI devices.FCC Chair Brendan Carr was at MWC26—catch Kavit's interview with him on the Mobile World Live website.Learn more about the Totogi Ontology and how it's helping Tier-1 operators turn AI into actual profit.Read Appledore Research’s report on Totogi: Telecom-specific Ontology, the key to AI-native telco (paywalled).Did you miss my padel tournament that kicked off MWC26? Watch the highlights here—and mark your calendar for next year!I handed out Totogi scarves to the Mobile World Live team—arguably the best swag at MWC26. Check out this photo.Check out this episode on our YouTube channel.You can find the episode transcript here. Telco execs, wanna talk AI and public cloud? Set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value they 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 knowFollow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20Follow 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 2024 and 2025 MarCom Awards, 2024 and 2025 Hermes Creative Awards, 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 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: This episode is a special double-drop with the Mobile World Live podcast, featuring: Justin Springham, Publisher, Mobile World LiveKavit Majithia, Managing News Editor, Mobile World LiveCarolina Milanesi, President and Principal Analyst, Creative StrategiesAnd yours truly, Danielle Rios, Founder and CEO of TelcoDR and Totogi Podcast Credits: Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaSenior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingAudio Editor: Andrew CondellSupervising Producer: Amanda AveryAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    22 m
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