Ian Jeffs, UK&I Country General Manager, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) says telecom operators across Europe are shifting from questioning AI’s impact to scaling it safely, responsibly and profitably.
At MWC 2026, one theme is clear: telecom operators across Europe are no longer asking whether AI will transform networks – they are asking how to scale it safely, responsibly and profitably.
According to Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2026 for Europe and the Middle East, 97% of telcos expect a positive ROI from AI, generating an average of US$3.32 for every US$1 invested.
Investment is accelerating. Expectations are rising. But scaling AI in Europe requires more than ambition, it requires trusted, enterprise-ready foundations.
Here are five practical steps telcos in EMEA can take now to move toward autonomous operations.
1. Start with trusted, AI-ready platforms
Autonomy does not begin with algorithms. It begins with infrastructure that is secure, scalable and manageable across distributed environments.
European operators run critical national infrastructure. Networks must meet high standards for resilience, data protection and regulatory compliance. AI systems must be built on platforms that are repairable, lifecycle-managed and protected from device to edge to core.
Enterprise-grade security, unified management and sustainable device lifecycles are not secondary concerns, they are prerequisites for scaling AI with confidence. The autonomous telco starts with trusted platforms designed for long-term reliability.
2. Design hybrid AI by default
Public cloud alone will not power Europe’s next decade of telecom innovation.
Our research shows 69% of telecom organisations prefer hybrid AI deployment models, balancing on-premises, edge and cloud environments. Across EMEA more broadly, 82% of organisations leverage on-premises or edge AI alongside cloud.
For telcos, intelligent workload placement is critical. Latency-sensitive use cases such as RAN optimisation, fraud detection and traffic management demand edge inference. Sensitive subscriber data may need to remain on-premises. Large-scale training may benefit from cloud elasticity.
Hybrid AI is not a compromise. It is the architecture of control and control is essential in Europe’s regulatory environment.
3. Move from automation to agentic operations, responsibly
Interest in agentic AI is accelerating rapidly in telecom, with a 98% increase in focus year on year.
Agentic systems can manage incident resolution, optimise traffic flows, coordinate field operations and enhance customer service, with minimal manual intervention.
But autonomy without governance creates risk.
Clear operational boundaries for AI agents, strong identity controls, orchestration layers to avoid duplication and human oversight for critical decisions are essential. Governance maturity remains uneven across industries and European telcos cannot afford gaps.
The question is not whether networks will become agentic. It is whether operators have the governance, security architecture and lifecycle controls required to scale agentic systems safely.
4. Turn the network edge into an AI platform
Europe’s industrial landscape is highly distributed – spanning manufacturing, energy, transport, utilities and retail. Telcos sit at the centre of this ecosystem.
By 2027, IDC predicts that 80% of enterprises will deploy distributed edge infrastructure to improve AI responsiveness. For operators, this is more than an efficiency play. It is a revenue opportunity.
With 5G and future 6G architectures generating vast volumes of data at the edge, telcos are uniquely positioned to deliver low-latency AI services, support sovereign enterprise use cases and enable new AI-powered business models.
The network edge is becoming one of Europe’s largest AI platforms. Operators who treat it as such – integrating AI-ready devices, secure edge infrastructure and centralised management – will lead the market.
5. Embed trust, sustainability and sovereignty from day one
Across EMEA, trust remains central to AI adoption. Even as 93% of organisations increase AI investment, concerns around security, transparency and responsible use remain high.
For telecom providers operating critical national infrastructure, sovereignty, resilience and energy efficiency are non-negotiable.
Autonomous operations must be built on secure supply chains, continuous monitoring, clear audit trails and sustainable infrastructure designed for long-term deployment. AI cannot scale if trust does not scale with it.
Europe’s AI opportunity
The autonomous telco will not emerge from isolated pilots. It will be built on trusted platforms, hybrid architectures, governed agentic systems, intelligent edge deployment and embedded trust.
Europe is not just adopting AI; it is shaping how AI is deployed responsibly at scale.
Operators who act now – building secure, scalable foundations – will define the next era of telecom innovation across EMEA.
