Wired for Growth: Network Infrastructure as the Economy’s Nervous System

On a recent visit to the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, I stood before one of the most iconic drawings ever created—Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. This masterpiece, dating back to 1490, captures more than the proportions of the human body. It symbolizes the Renaissance ideal: the fusion of art and science, the harmony between the human and the mathematical.

Fast forward to today, and we find ourselves in the midst of another renaissance, this time driven by the rise of artificial intelligence—or, as I prefer to call it, augmenting intelligence. 

While much of the current debate around AI revolves around risks, ethics, and disruption, I believe the real promise lies in human–machine collaboration. In addition to focusing on AI downsides like autonomous agents that replace humans, we should also highlight the AI benefits in the form of personal agents designed to augment our human capabilities.

From Vitruvian Man to Technology Ecosystems

The Vitruvian Man made me reflect on another layer of the AI debate: how various technologies—compute, software, hardware, and connectivity—interact, much like the organs of the human body. None holds value in isolation. The brain needs the nervous system, which needs the skeleton. In the same way, data centers, software platforms, networks, and hardware must operate in symphony to bring the promise of AI and digital transformation to life.

This analogy could also apply to the telecoms world: true progress depends not on one technology outperforming another but on a fully integrated ecosystem where all players—from hyperscalers to app developers, from network providers to hardware vendors—work together toward a shared vision.

For telcos, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The sector has long been defined by a network infrastructure mindset. But doing more of the same won’t cut it in the decades ahead. The telco winners will be those who rethink their role within the broader tech ecosystem, shifting from standalone telco to agile, innovative partners in value creation.

Telcos Must Intensify Their Partner Ecosystem Collaboration

The message for telco leaders is clear: doing more of the same won’t cut it. Telcos must embrace collaboration across boundaries—technological, operational, and cultural. That means redesigning organizations to be more responsive, embedding agile ways of working, simplifying customer journeys, and co-creating solutions with a wider range of partners than ever before. Ecosystem initiatives like Open Gateway, CAMARA, Aduna, 5GAA, 5G-ACIA, and AI-RAN Alliance are the right steps in this direction.

In a forthcoming series of reports that will be published as part of the SITSI research program, I will explore the technical, operational, and cultural shifts needed to expand the ecosystem potential for telcos. From agile transformation and organizational redesign to customer journey mapping and service simplification, the goal is to help telcos collaborate in a broad range of ecosystems and industry initiatives.

• The Future Of Telecoms 2030
• Choose The Right Telco Business Model
• Growth Opportunities In The Telco Sector
• Network Infrastructure Evolution Opens New Value Propositions
• Embrace The Opportunities Of Network API Monetization
• Embrace AI In The Telco Context

Please contact me (d.bieler@pacanalyst.com) if you want to discuss any of these themes or contribute to the research.