Inside Out: A TM Forum podcast

Howard Watson, who is retiring from his role as BT's Chief Security and Networks Officer, shares his perspective on today's telecoms industry gained from more than 40 years in the technology and telecoms space.   Guest speakers: Howard Watson, Chief Security & Networks Officer, BT   Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum Joanne Taaffe, Editor in Chief, TM Forum

Axiata Group is one of the most innovative operator groups in Asia. Its Ideamart API monetization platform is the most successful of its type in the global CSP community. In this podcast we talk with Axiata Group CIO Anthony Rodrigo and TM Forum Executive Vice President Willie Stegmann about the external and internal forces that are forcing CIOs to "reinvent" the IT function in the AI era. We also hear from Anthony about the emergence of Axiata Digital Labs as the software engineering function that is transforming IT operations across Axiata opcos. Discussion points What are the most important business drivers for the "reinvention" of the IT function? What are the key dimensions of your transformation journey? How do ensure successful achievement of benefits/ outcomes? As Co-Chair of the CIT&E Mission, is ODA still relevant? What must change ? Why do you think Axiata is so much more advanced in its thinking - and its implementation of modern, open, cloud-based approaches to enterprise architectures? Have you been able to measure / track the benefits of an open digital architecture? Tell us about Axiata Digital Labs and its relationship / synergies with the group IT organization and opco IT functions. How does the "group" IT function work with the opcos across the Axiata group. Platform / API monetization. Where we are at and where we are going. Where are you in terms of leveraging AI within the IT organization? Guest Speakers: Anthony Rodrigo, Group CIO, Axiata Willie Stegmann, EVP, Composable IT & Ecosystems, TM Forum Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum

Indonesia's IOH is seeking to change how it serves customers and runs its business by becoming an AI-native techco. This entails building sovereign AI solutions for enterprises; supporting the country's efforts to democratize the use of AI tools by Indonesians for Indonesians; and using AI to enhance its network and business operations.   A central concern for IOH and other telcos is trust, particularly in complex, multi‑agent AI environments where autonomous agents can generate code, create other agents, and change behavior in real time. Both speakers stressed that traditional governance, security, and monitoring models are no longer sufficient for these dynamic systems. Linked to trust is data sovereignty and security. Cheung emphasized the importance of keeping sensitive data and AI models within national borders, noting that enterprise and government customers require strong assurances that data remains under local jurisdiction. Ensuring sovereignty across increasingly global and software‑driven AI supply chains adds further complexity.   They also discussed how audits and procurement reviews are too slow and costly for an AI ecosystem that may involve thousands of agents and suppliers. Instead, they argued for platform‑based governance, continuous monitoring, and industry‑wide trust frameworks that treat trust as an ongoing business capability rather than a one‑off compliance exercise.   Finally, both acknowledged the difficulty of demonstrating near‑term value from AI investments while simultaneously building long‑term foundations, highlighting the need for shared case studies and reusable platforms to balance cost, risk, and innovation.   Guest speakers: Desmond Cheung, CTO, IOH Guy Lupo, EVP - AI and Data Innovation, TM Forum   Host: Joanne Taaffe, Editor in Chief, TM Forum

Orange Group CIO Koen Vermeulen is in no doubt about the impact of AI on the telecoms sector, Rather than viewing it merely as a tool to accelerate transformation, Vermeulen reckons that AI represents a transformative force that is changing how industries are operating. In this podcast we explore how and where AI is already being adopted within Orange's IT organization. The use of AI to drive greater speed in the IT organization is a theme comes up regularly in our discussion and Koen speaks with huge enthusiasm about using the power of AI to fundamentally transform the Software Development Lifecyle. Guest Speakers: Koen Vermeulen, Global CIO, Orange Willie Stegmann, EVP, Composable IT & Ecosystems, TM Forum Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum  

Rene Felber is Chair of the TM Forum TPAC (TechCo, People and Culture) Collaboration Project, and he is joined by Ishari Siriwardane, General Manager for Transformation at SLT and key member of the group. In this podcast they speak to TM Forum's Principal Analyst Dean Ramsay about group's aims and progress.  The conversation focuses on the impact AI is having on telecoms people and culture and what strategies the group are seeing from a leadership perspective. Are telco leaders making the right decisions on reskilling? 

Saad Syed, CEO of Chenosis — MTN's API monetization venture — reveals how the company is shaping the future of Africa's digital economy. From a bold start-up culture to focused vertical strategies and early market wins, discover how Chenosis is unlocking new opportunities and driving innovation across the continent. Guest Speakers: Saad Syed, CEO, Chenosis Host: Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum

Veteran analyst Stéphane Téral, Founder & Chief Analyst at Téral Research, joins TM Forum Senior Analyst Richard Webb to discuss the 5G landscape, drawing on historic CSP investment cycles, the role of AI and automation in RAN, and what the future may hold with 6G.

In this episode, we explore how AI is reshaping telco-to-telco services and transforming the way operators collaborate. Tom Loozen, Managing Partner at Telco+, NCS, and Mark Newman, Chief Analyst at TM Forum, share their insights on the opportunities, challenges, and future of AI in the telecoms space.

This year's judges of TM Forum's Excellence Awards give a behind the scenes glimpse into how they choose the winners and why.

During more than 20 years as CTO of Telus Ibrahim Gedeon played a large role in shaping change in both the company where he worked and the industry. Now, as CTO Emeritus of Telus he shares a frank assessment of the telecoms landscape in a discussion with Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum.

Keri Gilder, CEO, Colt Technologies, explains why diversity, equity and inclusion programs are an important part of the company's strategy to achieve growth and remain competitive. 

Kim Kyllesbech Larsen, Industry Analyst, TechNEconomY, and former CTO of T-Mobile in the Netherlands, discusses how telcos' capex and opex trends are evolving with Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum.

In this podcast we explore the history of Open APIs and how they have led to the development of TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and the opening of TM Forum's Innovation Hub, as well as changes in how TM Forum members are collaborating. 

Marc Einstein, Research Director, Counterpoint Research, discusses how Japanese telecom operators have been diversifying their businesses in the face of a large drop in average revenue per user.

The telecoms industry is busy drawing up and implementing roadmaps for the next generation of operational support systems (OSS) that will support future intelligent network services. Dahyr Bergara, head of OSS at NTT Data, and Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum, discuss the challenges telcos face, as well as approaches to creating an OSS that delivers more operational autonomy and paves the way to intent-driven network services.

Nathan Bell, who led digital transformation projects at M1 Limited, Telstra, and Telkomtelstra (now known as Digiserve) before becoming a partner at Kearney discusses the challenges of digital transformation and the extent to which AI can help telcos evolve their businesses with discusses with Mark Newman, TM Forum's Chief Analyst.  

William Webb, Independent telecommunications consultant and author discusses the thesis of his new book 'The End of Telecoms History' with Mark Newman, Chief Analyst, TM Forum. Webb contends that the telecoms industry is at a turning point, with communications service providers in many parts of the world no longer required to build networks to catch up with consumer demand for services. But is he right? 

In June TM Forum and MEF a joint initiative to align API development and enable end-to-end automation for MEF network-as-a-service (NaaS) services. We caught up with Pascal Menezes, CTO, MEF, to discuss how he sees collaboration on standards helping the industry to automate the delivery of complex multi-provider network services.  

TM Forum's analysts discuss some of the trends and highlights from DTW24-Ignite, including what the show had to say about the telecommunications industry's adoption of AI, autonomous networks and open digital architecture.

Lead judges for this year's TM Forum Excellence Awards, Camille Mendler, Chief Analyst, Omdia, and Joann O'Brien, Vice President, Digital Ecosystems, TM Forum, discuss the key industry trends revealed by this year's entries, including in the important new categories of AI and network monetization, as well as what makes the winners stand out. Listen to the podcast to find out more.