I have been thinking about this a lot while watching the telecom industry evolve over the last two decades.
Back in the early 2000s, GSM created an extraordinary wave of investment.
Networks had to be:
→ Installed → Commissioned → Integrated → Optimised
Operators were expanding rapidly. Margins were healthy. Voice was king.
And suddenly, people with these skills were in enormous demand.
Then came 3G.
Then LTE.
And the cycle continued.
But somewhere along the way, 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱.
Voice stopped being the differentiator.
Networks became more software-driven.
Cloud changed the infrastructure landscape.
Automation started replacing repetitive operational work.
And now AI is accelerating the transformation.
The uncomfortable part?
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝟭𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.
A site integrator who was once indispensable can increasingly find parts of the role automated.
But a telecom professional who understands AI, automation, cloud, data or software-defined networks?
That combination could be extremely valuable.
And this isn’t just a telecom story.
It is happening everywhere.
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 — 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
The answer isn’t to throw away 20 years of experience.
It is to 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁.
Don’t become an AI engineer despite being a telecom expert.
Become an AI-enabled telecom expert.
Don’t abandon your domain expertise.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁.
Because the market rarely tells you:
*”Your skills are now obsolete.”*
It simply starts rewarding different skills.
And by the time you notice, the gap can be enormous.
So here’s a question worth asking ourselves:
𝗜𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁?
If you’re not sure…
𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰.
𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.
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