Inside TM Forum DTW24: Highlights from Readiness IT professionals

Readiness IT attended the DTW Ignite 2024 event in Copenhagen, organized by TM Forum. This event is where leading technology experts gather to debate industry trends. 3,895 delegates and technology experts tackled the industry’s most pressing challenges head-on, united by a common goal to drive growth and find a new purpose in the AI era.

This year, the Readiness IT team was represented by Mihajlo Prerad, Mladen Panic, Nuno Barroso, Axis Garcia, Filipe Florêncio, João Cerqueira, Nuno Silva, and António Ferreira. We had the pleasure of interviewing some of our colleagues who attended the event, so let’s see what they had to say about their experience.

Hello everyone! What were the main trends discussed at this year’s TM Forum DTW24 – Ignite conference?

Nuno Silva: This year’s theme was focused on AI or Generative AI. Every presentation we attended, at some point, touched on the AI topic. With LLMs or Microsoft CoPilot Ais, every telco presented its evolution into this area. Along with the AI, the ODA adoption and the benefits taken from there were also a high trend of the event. Ensuring standardization across systems to enhance service delivery and operational efficiency, the seamless integration for streamlined connectivity and management across diverse systems, the agility & flexibility for easy deployment and scaling of services, and risk reduction & cost-effectiveness, to lower operational costs.

João Cerqueira: This year’s conference theme was ‘Leading the way to an AI-Native Telco,’ and based on this, I observed that the primary focus was on data, its quality, and how it should be utilized. Many companies showcased their success stories, demonstrating how they achieved greater agility in decision-making and automated key processes in customer relationships. There were also presentations of TMForum community projects, which provided greater insight into what can be expected from the community in the future.

Filipe Florêncio: It has become a certainty and a strong commitment that technology will support the evolution of AI. In most cases, it is primarily used in customer care and is largely extended to time-to-market efforts. Some topics emerged concerning AI development support, such as Microsoft’s CoPilot for automatic code generation and tools for generating SQL queries through text-based problem descriptions.

What’s the overall impression of the conference?

Nuno Silva: It was a great experience, and I learned a lot from it. I had the chance to see what the next steps for the Telco industry are. The topics presented are very technical and it’s very important to attend and be closer to these events, get the knowledge, and see what others are doing. I enjoyed it a lot.

Filipe Florêncio: I was also a first-time participant in this initiative. It was very interesting for me and great to see all the vendors that showcased their AI solutions, and their use cases. All the major Telco players drove the conferences.

João Cerqueira: For me, it was the same. I enjoyed being at this event, there is a lot of interesting information to gather and absorb. Without a doubt, the most discussed topics at the conference were AI and data. Almost all company leaders emphasized data as their companies’ most valuable and important asset. They stressed that the way data architecture is modeled ultimately proves to be more crucial than the actual data training itself.

Were there any innovations that caught your attention?

Nuno Silva: There were so many good presentations, especially the ones where we could see how AI has been implemented successfully. Not just hypothetical use cases, but real and live applications. Mainly on customer care. Deutsche Telecom already has a GenAI in Austria replying to 95% of customer’s queries about billing invoices, Telkomsel Indonesia, has 2 AI assistants (Veronica B2C and Ted B2B). Veronica allows customers to top up, pay invoices, buy new data offers, schedule appointments with stores, or report complaints. Telus from Canada developed and presented a platform to fast deploy new AI’s (https://www.fuelix.ai/). They released the ability to any department to generate a new dedicated AI, just by dropping a business dedicated LLM into a chat, and then a new AI is generated with fast learning skills to support that business area.

João Cerqueira: Regarding new products, the ones that caught my attention the most were the new Intent Management systems. These systems bring intelligence to existing platforms, allowing for an almost immediate adaptation to end-customer needs.

Filipe Florêncio: Most of the cases presented referred to small steps within the telecommunications sector, meaning there were no major digital transformations, but rather an identification of areas where AI can support, assist, and deliver more value. Awareness and sensitization of the ODA model were emphasized. Several companies contributed with their experiences in implementing digital transformation with a focus on AI and GenAI. However, everyone noted that for this model, several prerequisites are necessary: obtaining data, analyzing the data, implementing, evaluating the impact of the implementation, making necessary adjustments, and starting the cycle again. An important note: implement and evaluate, collect data with continuous feedback.

Filipe Florêncio: It was impressive to see Kloudville’s commitment, prominently displayed with banners visible to all attendees at the DTW. In terms of major vendors, all had a strong presence. However, in terms of visual appeal, AMDOCS made a significant investment and presented a very attractive booth, which was evident not only from its appearance but also from the number of attendees it attracted. In the case of Google, it was interesting to see how creativity and various activities and events stimulated participation. Technically, it was interesting to observe the catalysts, featuring solutions that we, Readiness IT Telco, are familiar with and recognize from projects we have been involved in. It was particularly enlightening to see the decisions they made and the architectures they defined for implementation.

João Cerqueira: Yes, Kloudville, despite not having a booth, was highly visible with numerous banners, and their huge meeting room, standing out from other competitors. The stands for Catalyst projects were also exciting, showcasing developments between integrators and CSPs (Communications Service Providers).

Were there any speakers or panel discussions that stood out to you?

Filipe Florêncio: Those that drew my attention were projects like those I have been involved in, which could potentially benefit from our participation due to our prior experience with similar projects for other clients. One case was presented by Latheef Syed (Associate Vice President – Data & Analytics Engineering at Verizon), who demonstrated an implementation case where AI and the generated data are no longer merely for documentation purposes but are reintroduced into systems to obtain new insights and facilitate learning. It was very interesting. For an architect, the role has evolved from merely creating solutions to creating data collections, determining their use, and ensuring the acquisition of high-quality data.

Axis Garcia: I highlight the “Masterclass: Business Architecture: Accelerating and Derisking Telco Growth” with João Pombinho (Head of Enterprise Architecture, NOS) and Joann O’Brien (VP Digital Ecosystems TM Forum) regarding ODF & ODA. The recent launch of the TM Forum Capability Framework (TMF-CF) and the new Capability provide us with a tool and a business architecture vision to evaluate and define the evolution and development strategy of the business capabilities in a telco operator, from a high-level vision as well as for specific scenarios and use cases.

Nuno Barroso: As a Business Unit Director, I focused on sessions with topics in Culture transformation, Organizational transformation, API management / Open API /ODA, Data Analytics, etc. Some speakers come to my mind, like Vikram Sinha, President Director & CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, due to his mindset and the cultural impact that Indosat is having in their country. But Arjay Panganiban, who is the Head Solutions Architect for OSS Network Automation and Service Assurance at Globe Telecom, said a phrase that we all can’t forget – “before jumping into AI, solve your issues with DATA”. Adopting AI just because it’s AI, will not solve any issues. We must solve data issues first, and then identify in our organizations the use cases where there’s more value to bring with AI.

What networking opportunities did you find most beneficial?

Nuno Barroso: Events like this one are a great opportunity to meet partners, and customers and to evaluate competitors. We had high-quality meetings with potential customers, where we had the opportunity to demonstrate our deep knowledge of the industry and to listen to the customers what are their key challenges. I will be glad if, in the upcoming months, I can share with the team that a new business has been triggered from DTW.

Axis Garcia: We had the opportunity to accompany some CIOs to several sessions and meetings, suggesting and proposing technologies and solutions that would help facilitate and enhance their digital transformation program. It was very important for us and our relationship with the client. Also, we were able to demonstrate the solutions of Readiness IT’s main technological partners, including Convergent Billing (by ARIA), Marketplaces, and ecosystem partners for B2B2X (by Kloudville). These interactions position Readiness IT as a reference partner and advisor for the digital transformation of a CSP into a DSP, from Telco to Techco, allowing us to participate as design and digital architecture experts in transformation programs.

How did the event compare to previous years?

Axis Garcia: This year’s event has increased the number of participants, booths, and experience-sharing sessions. More demonstrations and practical activities have been conducted in the catalysts and masterclasses. And their idea is to make it even bigger next year, so we are excited to see what they will bring new to the table.

Nuno Barroso: I agree, compared with previous years it seems like the event continues to grow and diversify. Participants are pushing their booths to the next level to provide a more personalized experience. Organizers said that next year’s event would be even bigger and with more Telco industry brands.

Did you find the conference productive, and would you advise other Telco team members to attend next year?

Nuno Silva: It was very productive in my opinion, and I would advise people to go 100%. The main message I would like to highlight is that it’s no longer a question of whether AI will be adopted in telco, but how far the products can incorporate AI and have accurate responses and behaviors. AI is already among us, and we must embrace it and work along with it.

Filipe Florêncio: Yes, it was highly productive due to the themes, frameworks, and other aspects of the TM Forum that were reported with practical applicability. Additionally, it provided an understanding of the trends within the telecommunications industry. It is equally enriching to see the practical applications demonstrated and how they can be utilized in our telecom projects. We quickly identified similarities with projects we have been involved in and considered how we can approach them differently to achieve better goals. It was a fantastic and enriching experience that I recommend to our BU Telco team members.

João Cerqueira: The conference was highly productive, featuring demonstrations of real-world, functional cases that provided me with new ideas and knowledge about current market trends. Another important aspect was the introduction of new projects, frameworks, and updates to TMForum guides. These will certainly keep me more attentive to their developments and help me apply this knowledge to my current projects. It was indeed an incredible experience that I would undoubtedly repeat.

Nuno Barroso: This year and with Axis support, our Chief Architect, we prepared a personalized experience for each one of our team members with sessions from different tracks aligned with their backgrounds and motivations. This is an important event for our Telco community, and we want more people to have the opportunity to experience being at this event.

We’re already prepared for what’s to come next year!

Thank you all for taking the time to talk with me today. It’s been a pleasure hearing your insights and learning more about your experiences. I am looking forward to seeing the exciting developments and new initiatives planned for next year’s event.