Contributors AcknowledgementsWorld Economic Forum Maria Basso Head, AI Applications and Impact, Centre for AI Excellence Jill Hoang Initiatives Lead, Applied AI, Centre for AI Excellence Bart Valkhof Head, Communications and Technology Industry Accenture Davide Bellini Data & AI Global Industry Lead, Communications, Media & Technology Industry Astha Bhardwaj APAC Strategy Lead, Communications, Media & Technology Industry Mark Entwistle Strategy Manager, Communications, Media & Technology IndustryMichael Heffez Strategy Manager, Communications, Media & Technology Industry Samyukta Mallapragada Research Manager, Communications & Media Industry Boris Maurer Senior Managing Director; Communications and Media Industry Global Lead Tejas Rao Global Networks Lead, Communications Industry Benedetto Secco Global B2B Enterprise Lead, Communications Industry Chris Stegmaier Enterprise Data & AI Strategist Swati Vyas Global Research Lead, Communications & Media Industry The World Economic Forum thanks the technology companies Telefónica, Telenor, e&, Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson for sharing their use cases that have been included in this paper and the following individuals for their contributions with insights and participation in working groups, interviews and community discussions: Jose Antonio Aranda Director Global de Relaciones Institucionales, Cellnex Jitin Bhandari Vice-President; Chief Technology Officer, Cloud & Network Services, Nokia Elena Fersman Vice-President; Head, Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Incubation, Ericsson Vishal Gupta Chief TechCo Officer, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison Julie Isdahl Senior Vice-President; Head, Technology Transformation, TelenorAlix Jagueneau Head, External Affairs, GSMA Terje Jensen Senior Vice-President, Global Business Security Officer, Telenor Magdalena Jonczak Senior Vice-President, Global Head of AI & Data, T-Systems Vinod Joseph Vice-President, AI, Data, Cloud & Enterprise Architecture, Singtel Estefanía Jover Mugueta Senior Manager, Corporate Strategy, Telefónica Christine Knackfuss Chief Sovereign Officer, T-Systems Magnus Leonhardt Head, Strategy & Innovation, Telia Teodoro López Palacios Global Head, Telecom & Media, NTT Data The Strategic Role of Telecom Providers across the AI Value Chain 27

The Strategic Role of Telecom Providers Across the AI Value Chain 2026