Chief executives from Jio and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) agreed generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) will be a key technology for service providers to tap into for growth ambitions, betting it will not be another technology false dawn, and operators that do not back it will be left behind.
Speaking at TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World in Copenhagen in a panel, IOH chief executive Vikram Sinha admitted he saw gen AI as “another metaverse” with too many questions to be answered to make it a tangible asset. But in the past six months, IOH has seen its ability to have a “positive impact on revenue growth and correcting cost structure”, important upgrades, particularly in a low ARPU market such as Indonesia, he noted.
Sinha warned gen AI can only be a successful tool if it's implemented into every aspect of this business, stating that it is not just the job of chief information or technology officers to push it.
Jio CEO Kiran Thomas compared gen AI’s immediate viability to when the internet and multi-touch smartphones were first introduced.
“There's a danger that we may just go deep into the hype of the technology,” warned Thomas.
“Fundamentally anything that is intelligent work, from creative on the marketing side to customer service and even coding. Anything which has a human intelligence element to it, we believe that there's a potential to avoid rework, avoid bad work, and promote good work.
“I think there is certainly the whole co-pilot theme here. For us to then take that theme and see whether we can reimagine every process with a human judgement intelligence element to it. That's the journey we are on. But if you're not participating and leaning forward into it, I think there'll be others who will use that to disrupt,” warned Thomas.
Colt Technology Services CEO Keri Glider claimed the company saw its sales pipeline increase 400% and increased net promoter score by 10 points, since Colt developed a gen AI programme for its marketing and analytics arms.