Partner content: The shift from telco to techco is often seen as being about technology, but people, new skills, managing change and reimagined operations are the keys to success
As the telecom industry evolves with 5G, AI, network APIs, and cloud-native architecture, the shift from Telco to TechCo is often seen as a purely technological transition. But the real challenge lies in equipping people with the right skills to navigate this change. Success depends not only on deploying new tools, but also on reimagining how telecom organizations operate, learn, and innovate which requires alasting investment in talent, mindset, and culture.
TechCo Transformation Success Relies on People
According to the EY 2024 Telco of Tomorrow Survey, nearly 73% of senior telecom executives rate talent attraction and retention as the most important element of their people strategy for the next 3 years. Meanwhile, reskilling and internal collaboration were cited as top priorities by over 40% of leaders surveyed.
Yet the same survey reveals a troubling contradiction. When asked to name the biggest inhibitors to transformation, lack of collaboration and missing skills ranked second and third — just behind budget constraints.
In other words, leaders know what needs to change, but don’t yet have the people or internal dynamics to make it happen.
That’s reinforced by EY’s Work Reimagined Survey, which found that 85% of telco employees believe HR will need to undergo significant transformation in the next five years to meet evolving strategic needs. The message is clear: telcos can’t lead in a software-defined, cloud-native world using outdated workforce models.
Traditional Training Isn’t Enough
In the TechCo journey, the network itself doesn’t change so much, but its architecture and the technologies it relies on, have a strong organizational impact. Tech teams can’t be siloed experts anymore, and each individual has to develop multiple skills across different technologies.
A big part of the problem is how telcos train their teams. Too often, it’s still based on slide presentations, video modules, or rigid certification programs. These passive learning methods don’t match the complexity or pace of transformation happening in real networks.
Research shows instructor-led lectures have a retention rate as low as 5%, while immersive, hands-on training can boost that to 75%. While these numbers come from an older model by the National Training Laboratories, the broader takeaway remains relevant: people learn better by doing.
In addition, technology is evolving at such a pace that skills can degrade within months if they aren’t continuously refreshed and applied.
The continuous learning culture is no longer an optional HR initiative; it’s a core business capability. And crucially, it must move beyond the classroom. Engineers, developers, and operations teams need opportunities to apply their skills in environments that reflect the complexity and pace of the real network.
McKinsey reports telco operators that invest in hands-on, digital-ready training see impactful results: up to 10 times faster deployments, and up to 50% cost drop.
Opportunities exist, but require Tech and HR teams to work closely to complement or even reshape their enablement ecosystem.
Rethinking What Learning Looks Like
The future of telecom is not being built in a classroom. It’s being built in test labs, terminals, code repositories, and collaborative platforms. The transformation lives in the details of how teams work every day.
To embrace this future, telcos need to rethink enablement. It’s no longer about one-off certifications or passive content. It’s about continuous, hands-on learning based on telco specific use cases or even mirroring production environments, and about fostering experimentation.
This means including things like:
- Live network simulations that allow teams to deploy and troubleshoot virtualized network functions without risking live service.
- Cloud lab environments where engineers can experiment with Kubernetes deployments, API integrations, and automation workflows.
- Cross-functional “sprint” projects where staff from network operations, product, and customer experience collaborate to solve actual business challenges.
This shift takes time. It takes leadership commitment and cultural openness. But the rewards are significant: faster deployments, better collaboration, improved resilience, and teams that are ready to shape the future of networks.
Successful TechCo Journey will be Built on a Shared Culture of Transformation
The current wave of transformation is reshaping people, processes, and tools — and no organization can change everything at once. Technologies, markets, and opportunities are emerging so quickly and unexpectedly that companies must set a clear strategic direction, while allowing departments and teams to chart their own paths toward it.
Expertise is essential, but unlocking its value requires the right organizational framework. Managers and business teams — not just engineers — need the tools to steer change, adjust workflows, redefine priorities, and maintain clear communication.
That’s why enablement can’t stop at the tech department. To drive transformation and capture new business opportunities, programs must also reach commercial, operational, and customer-facing teams. Increasingly, this will take the form of cross-functional enablement initiatives that build a shared culture around key strategic shifts.
That shared culture is both the cement that binds capabilities together and the catalyst that accelerates execution — turning strategy into measurable outcomes.
Final thought
In a hypercompetitive, cloud-driven landscape, the telcos that win will be those who transform faster, operate leaner, and innovate from the edge. That’s not just a function of infrastructure, it’s a function of people.
If Telco to TechCo is the next frontier, then skills are the vehicle and hands-on learning is the fuel. Without a new model for learning, the transformation will stall, no matter how advanced the tech stack becomes.
But for this transformation to succeed, the entire organization must be aligned. Experts need to be onboarded early to help define the scope, processes, and technical priorities. Managers, in turn, must be supported with tools and frameworks to guide their teams progressively through change.
It’s not just about technology adoption. It’s about organizational coordination and a shared effort across every layer of the business.
Open question: if hands-on learning is essential, shouldn’t more teams be learning together — across silos — just like they work in production?
About the author
Samir Tahraoui is Founder & CEO at LabLabee. He is a telecom expert with experience at leading operators and vendors, specialized in network cloudification, automation, and technologies like IMS, 5G, and SDN.
