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In 2023, Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, directed his business units to exchange their best ideas for AI-driven operational improvements, demonstrating the company’s digital-first mindset and its commitment to weaving AI into the core of its operations. Deutsche Telekom integrates AI extensively across its operations. AI enhances network management, including fiber-optic expansion and predictive maintenance, and supports customer service through chatbots for efficient communication. Internally, AI optimizes business areas such as finance, cybersecurity, and HR.

Deutsche Telekom is committed to ethical AI usage, having published nine AI principles in 2018 addressing responsibility, transparency, and security. To operationalize these principles, the company integrates digital ethics assessments in product development, ensuring privacy and security are evaluated before launches. Recognizing the workforce’s role in ethical AI deployment, Deutsche Telekom prioritizes employee education, launching an international AI knowledge roadshow covering technology fundamentals, applications, and ethics. Additionally, an internal platform facilitates AI knowledge exchange, demonstrating the company’s commitment to fostering an AI-proficient workforce.

2024 AI-related highlights

• Unveils an AI-only smartphone concept at MWC 2024, predicting app-free devices within ten years, relying entirely on AI for tasks. (Feb 2024)
• Offers Business GPT as an enterprise license to business customers (April 2024)
• Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel, SoftBank, and SK Telecom launched the Global Telco AI Alliance to develop multilingual AI models for telecommunications. (Jun 2024)
• Deutsche Telekom and BT announce plans to leverage GenAI and LLMs to enhance customer experience and refactor legacy code into microservices. (Jun 2024)
• Partners with Perplexity to enhance the My Magenta app with expanded AI support features. (Sept 2024)
• Plans a €2bn buyback and increased AI deployment to boost efficiency and shareholder returns by 2025. (Oct 2024) – Launches Project Xcalibur, investing in data centers to capitalize on AI demand and support B2B growth. (Oct 2024)