HCL Technologies Limited, in partnership with Mobile World Live, released findings from its Telecom Pulse Survey Report on August 17, 2026, highlighting a critical disconnect between artificial intelligence ambitions and operational readiness in the telecom sector. The survey, which gathered insights from nearly 200 senior executives across network operators, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), communication service providers (CSPs), and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), indicates that while industry leaders recognize AI's potential, structural barriers are preventing widespread adoption.

The AI Execution Gap

The data reveals that 60% of telecom leaders view AI as a key driver of future revenue. However, only 25% believe their organizations are ready to operationalize AI at scale. This disparity underscores the difficulty in transitioning from traditional telecommunications models to AI-native TechCo structures. Persistent challenges, including legacy infrastructure, the need for cloud-native modernization, and skills shortages, continue to slow industry progress toward an AI-driven future.

Pressure on Traditional Business Models

Traditional telecom business models face mounting pressure, with nearly 70% of respondents agreeing that connectivity services are increasingly commoditized. This trend reinforces the necessity for differentiated digital services and platform-led growth strategies. Despite this recognition, innovation velocity remains constrained. Nearly 80% of respondents reported launching fewer than five new digital products or services in the past year, pointing to ongoing challenges in product engineering and time-to-market acceleration.

Ecosystem Collaboration and Metrics

Ecosystem collaboration emerged as a critical enabler for growth, with nearly half of telecom leaders citing partnerships with hyperscalers, AI platform providers, and software vendors as essential to accelerating innovation and monetization. However, success metrics remain heavily skewed toward cost optimization. Operational efficiency continues to dominate how AI and digital transformation outcomes are measured, rather than revenue generation or customer experience improvements.

Anil Ganjoo, Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Telecom, Media and Technology at HCLTech, stated that the industry is at a defining moment as AI transforms networks into intelligent, platform-driven ecosystems. He noted that connectivity alone is no longer sufficient to sustain growth, emphasizing HCLTech’s AI-intrinsic approach to help telcos accelerate their shift to become TechCos and embrace autonomous operations.

What the Numbers Show

A significant divergence exists between strategic intent and operational capability within the telecom sector. While 60% of leaders identify AI as a primary revenue driver, only 25% are ready to scale it, suggesting that nearly two-thirds of executives recognize the opportunity but lack the immediate infrastructure or talent to capture it. Furthermore, the fact that 80% of companies launched fewer than five new digital products in the past year, despite 70% acknowledging the commoditization of connectivity, indicates that the industry’s innovation pipeline is not keeping pace with the urgency of market disruption.

HCL Technologies and NetApp have expanded their collaboration to deliver hybrid cloud storage services, specifically launching a storage-as-a-service (STaaS) model to accelerate AI adoption across enterprises. The partnership brings together HCL Technologies' IT services capabilities and NetApp's storage infrastructure expertise to address growing enterprise demand for AI-ready hybrid cloud environments.

Expanded partnership focus

The collaboration between HCL Technologies and NetApp targets enterprises seeking to integrate AI workloads with hybrid cloud storage infrastructure. By combining their respective strengths, the two companies aim to provide organisations with storage solutions that support the scale and performance requirements of modern AI deployments.

The new STaaS offering integrates HCL Technologies’ Utility for Everything (U4X) digital infrastructure framework with NetApp Keystone, a pay-as-you-go storage service. This integration enables organizations to align infrastructure with evolving workload requirements, scaling storage, performance, and data services on demand. The solution supports AI development, deployment, and operations via HCL Technologies’ AI Factory suite.

Strategic direction

The expanded tie-up reflects the increasing importance of storage infrastructure in enabling enterprise AI initiatives. Hybrid cloud environments, which combine on-premises and cloud-based resources, are increasingly being adopted by organisations looking to manage AI workloads efficiently while maintaining data control and flexibility.

By combining HCL Technologies’ consumption-led operating model with NetApp’s data management capabilities, the offering helps accelerate the transition from AI pilots to enterprise-scale adoption. It strengthens data readiness and governance while enabling organizations to run workloads closer to where data resides, improving efficiency and time-to-value.

This offering builds on proven deployments across industries. For example, a global food and beverage company enhanced operational flexibility and reduced upfront investments by adopting a consumption-based model, while a European telecommunications provider improved scalability and resilience across distributed environments while meeting stringent regulatory requirements.

"We believe strong partnerships are built by co-creating technology offerings, business models, solutions and services that deliver meaningful customer value. This collaboration gives customers access to NetApp’s intelligent data infrastructure through a flexible, accessible business model, backed by HCL Technologies’ hands-on expertise," said Alvaro Celis, Chief Partner and Ecosystem Officer at NetApp.

"Our collaboration with NetApp reflects our focus on helping enterprises scale AI in a pragmatic and efficient way," said Rampal Singh, Senior Vice President, Hybrid Cloud Business Unit at HCL Technologies. "By combining flexible infrastructure models with strong data management capabilities, we are enabling clients to unlock the value of their data and accelerate their AI journeys."