HTEC has published a report on AI adoption in the telecommunications sector, finding that only 24.8% of telecom executives believe their organisations can scale AI rapidly.

Based on a survey of 255 C-suite telecom leaders in the US, UK, Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the study identifies skills shortages, fragmented deployments and weak executive alignment as the main barriers to wider adoption.

More than half of operators surveyed, 53%, said they still rely on isolated deployments, pilots or limited use cases. By contrast, 47% said AI is fully embedded across multiple functions.

The findings suggest many operators have embraced AI in principle without building the structures needed to roll it out across networks, IT systems and commercial teams. Almost half of respondents, 47.5%, identified lack of executive alignment as the biggest obstacle to scaling AI.

Technical capability is another pressure point. Almost all respondents, 99%, reported critical skills shortages, with the most acute gaps in cybersecurity and data privacy, AI and machine learning, and data engineering.

According to the survey, those shortages are already affecting performance. Some 46% of leaders said the gaps are driving higher costs, 42% reported margin pressure and 41% said they are reducing innovation.

Timing pressure

The research also points to a narrow window for operators trying to keep pace with the market. Executives said it would take an average of 1.95 years to rebuild competitiveness if they failed to act on AI opportunities, while major AI-related initiatives were estimated to take between 1.6 and 1.8 years.

That overlap suggests little room for delay as operators work through digital transformation plans, edge strategies, workforce changes and new service models. The report argues that the time needed to recover from inaction is roughly the same as the time available to deliver core programmes.

Understanding of AI strategy remains uneven at senior level. HTEC found that 57.7% of telecom leaders fall into moderate, low or very low AI literacy categories, raising questions about whether management teams are equipped to oversee deployment at scale.

Integration is another challenge. Some 45.1% of respondents said they struggle to embed AI into legacy OSS and BSS environments and distributed infrastructure, underlining how older telecom systems continue to complicate technology change.

Edge focus

One area where operators expressed greater confidence was edge AI. The survey found that 93% of telecom leaders are familiar with the concept and 96% said they can deploy it, reflecting the sector’s experience in running distributed infrastructure.

Respondents expect edge AI to improve network reliability, strengthen data privacy and deliver commercial benefits through lower latency and lower costs. Many said they are pursuing hybrid build-and-partner approaches to bring those projects into service.

When asked where AI is most likely to produce measurable returns, executives most often pointed to 5G and 6G network optimisation and dynamic bandwidth allocation, cited by 49.4%. Connectivity and network performance at scale followed at 45.9%, while 42.4% pointed to operational cost reduction through automation.

New revenue models beyond core connectivity were selected by 42% of respondents, while 38.4% identified AI-driven customer experience personalisation as a likely source of returns.

The study forms part of a broader cross-sector research project commissioned by HTEC and conducted by Censuswide. The wider programme gathered responses from 1,529 C-suite leaders across several industries, with the telecom findings published as a sector-specific subset.

Philip Otley, Global Managing Partner, Telecommunications, HTEC, said: “Telcos are slow muscle that think in multi-year investment cycles. The GenAI ecosystem is fast muscle moving at an unprecedented pace. Right now, a race is underway between telcos reaching customers with AI services and companies like OpenAI and Anthropic capturing that same consumer attention. Telcos have the advantage of established customer relationships, trusted identity management, and the ability to deploy AI at the edge. But advantages only count if execution keeps pace. This will be the biggest change most people live through in their lives, with hundreds of trillions of dollars in value at stake. Telcos have a real chance to be part of that. The window to gain or lose plays out in the coming few years.”

Tim Sears, Chief AI Officer, HTEC, added: “The sector is strategically aligned but operationally fragmented. Leaders agree AI matters, but far fewer understand how to scale it. Our data shows the penalty for falling behind and the time needed to catch up are almost identical windows. That leaves operators with no margin for delay.”

JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Christopher Sullivan of Aldi has been named Microlise Driver of the Year 2026 after also winning the long-distance category.

The overall award was presented at a ceremony in Manchester recognising HGV drivers and transport operators from across the UK. Sullivan was selected from a field of more than 200,000 drivers whose anonymised data was assessed through Microlise’s in-vehicle systems.

The awards were split into two broad groups. One focused on driving data across short, medium and long-distance work, along with compliance and operator awards. The other recognised drivers nominated by colleagues and employers for mentoring, improvement and going beyond their day-to-day role.

Sullivan’s win put Aldi at the top of the headline category, while other large retailers and logistics groups also featured strongly among the winners and runners-up. Tesco Distribution, Sainsbury’s GXO, Gist, Maritime, Hovis, Warburtons and Schenk Tank Transport were all represented in the final results.

Data awards

In the data-based categories, Andrew Phillips of Tesco Distribution won the short-distance award, while David Hallam of Gist took the medium-distance title. Declan McAdams of Hovis was named compliant driver of the year.

Schenk Tank Transport won Outstanding Operator of the Year, with Sainsbury’s and Tesco Distribution named runners-up.

Sullivan was also a runner-up in the compliance award, underlining his standing across more than one measured category. In the long-distance class, he finished ahead of Paul Dowdalls of Co-op and Timothy Stocks of Sainsbury’s GXO.

Peer nominations

The nomination-based awards reflected performance recognised by others in the industry rather than by driving data alone. Dale Cox of CCF won the Extra Mile award, while Fletcher Peart of Brian Yeardley Continental took the Rookie Driver title.

Mareks Kvetins of Sainsbury’s GXO won Commitment to Improve. Connor Brennan, also of Sainsbury’s GXO, was named Driver Hero, and Gavin Jones of Warburtons won Outstanding Driver Mentor.

The Lifetime Achievement award went to Graham Whitby of Matthew Clark, recognising long service in road haulage and a sustained record behind the wheel.

The range of companies represented among the winners highlights the breadth of employers competing for recognition, from supermarket fleets to specialist haulage businesses. Those attending included supermarket groups such as Tesco, Waitrose, Co-op and Sainsbury’s, alongside transport operators including GXO, Gist and Maritime.

The awards come as the road haulage sector continues to focus on recruitment and retention. Concerns over driver supply remain a recurring issue for operators managing delivery networks, compliance demands and the need to attract new entrants.

Microlise, a provider of fleet management and transport technology, said the data awards were judged using anonymised information gathered from drivers using its systems. This meant the headline categories were based on recorded driving performance rather than panel assessment alone.

Nadeem Raza, chief executive of Microlise, said: “The Driver of the Year awards is our annual celebration of all that is good in the road haulage industry, and we are delighted for Christopher and his thoroughly well-deserved success.

“Research from the Road Haulage Association has estimated that more than 200,000 new drivers will be needed over the next five years. It is therefore our privilege to highlight what a dynamic sector road transport logistics is and to promote the importance of bringing new drivers into the industry.

“It is vital that we recognise the extremely talented individuals working as drivers who deserve the plaudits for the great work they are doing so early in their careers.”

Major grocery and distribution groups featured repeatedly across the categories, reflecting the scale of their transport operations and the visibility of driver performance within those fleets. Sullivan’s double win for Aldi was the clearest individual result of the night, with the long-distance title leading to the overall Driver of the Year award.

Coinbase, Fabric Ventures, Animoca Brands and Founders Factory have completed the first cohort of their UK Web3 and AI accelerator, R[3]sidency. The programme selected eight startups from more than 800 applications.

Each project received USD $300,000 in cash, along with mentoring and workshops led by entrepreneurs and industry specialists. The cohort was also presented to more than 40 early-stage investors at a London demo day.

Launched earlier this year, R[3]sidency aims to strengthen the UK’s position in Web3 innovation. The initiative is focused on financial technology, digital assets and the use of artificial intelligence in new online services.

The eight selected companies span several areas of fintech and software. They include Auto, which is developing an AI-based wallet for on-chain execution, and Kash, a prediction market protocol designed to sit within social media feeds.

Also in the cohort are Lexifina, which focuses on workflow automation for small and medium-sized law firms, and Poll, which is building a betting layer for group chats. Robin Markets is developing banking services for prediction markets, while Rosetta is targeting exchanges, fintech groups and on-chain allocators with software for deploying capital into yield strategies.

WEB is building tools for founders and communities to create and fund projects, while Unified is developing infrastructure intended to let asset managers use crypto assets as collateral to access traditional financial markets.

The programme brings together a crypto exchange, an early-stage technology investor, a digital assets investor and a startup builder. According to the organisers, mentors included representatives from the Ethereum Foundation, Betfair, Sky Mavis and Wintermute.

Competition for places was intense, with just eight teams admitted from more than 800 applications. The selective intake suggests the backers are prioritising depth over scale at a time when investors are closely watching how AI and blockchain may intersect in financial services and software infrastructure.

Keith Grose, chief executive officer of Coinbase UK, linked the programme to the country’s broader technology and financial strengths.

“The UK has an incredible density of entrepreneurial and technical talent. With leading global universities like Cambridge and Oxford, and being home to one of the world’s leading financial centres in London, we are optimistic that UK startups will find success building the future of finance. More broadly, we believe the UK can be a true global hub for crypto innovation. Collaborating with leading firms in support of UK startups and entrepreneurs is part of how we are supporting the UK to realise this potential,” said Keith Grose, chief executive officer of Coinbase UK.

UK focus

The launch comes as the UK competes for fintech and digital asset investment with markets including the US, Singapore and parts of the European Union. London remains a major financial centre, while Britain’s startup ecosystem has produced companies in payments, digital banking and financial software.

At the same time, crypto businesses and blockchain startups face a more demanding funding environment than they did during the market’s boom years. That has pushed many founders towards narrower business models, clearer revenue plans and products that appeal to both crypto-native users and mainstream financial institutions.

The inclusion of projects in legal software, prediction markets, collateral management and treasury-style tools reflects that shift. Several of the selected startups appear to be focused on infrastructure and workflow challenges rather than consumer speculation alone.

Fabric Ventures co-founder and managing partner Richard Muirhead said the small intake was deliberate.

“R[3]sidency is small by design. Eight teams from over 800 applications, because these founders building the machine economy need deep attention in their first months. This cohort of pathologically focused builders is shipping the financial, legal and coordination rails that autonomous agents need to operate. From programmable stablecoins for AI to legal infrastructure for software that signs contracts. The UK has a once-in-a-generation chance to build these tracks for our AI future. R[3]sidency exists to find the founders already living in that future,” said Richard Muirhead, co-founder and managing partner at Fabric Ventures.

Founders Factory has built and funded more than 450 technology companies since 2015, while Animoca Brands has invested in more than 600 companies and digital assets. Coinbase, which is listed on Nasdaq, has also sought to expand its role in startup support alongside its core crypto trading and infrastructure businesses.

The accelerator’s first cohort highlights where some investors believe new UK startups may find openings: in software that connects artificial intelligence, digital assets and financial systems, and in tools built for a market moving beyond pure crypto trading.