Login to access
Want to subscribe?
This article is part of: Executive Briefing Service
To find out more about how to join or access this report please contact us
Insights from our Future skills tracker tool show that telcos remain behind technology companies (techcos) in the penetration of the key role types that would enable them to compete and add value like technology companies. The tracker provides direction on where telcos should learn from techcos and build capabilities to increase operational efficiency and enable new revenue streams going forward.
Building internal capabilities
As in previous years, our third edition of the Future skills tracker compares the workforce structures of a sample of telcos and technology companies as of March 2026 to determine the penetration of roles with key ‘future skill’ expertise.
Many telcos have ambitions to be more like technology companies (techcos): customer-centric, innovative, efficient and agile. Techcos leverage skills like artificial intelligence, data, automation and cloud to this end.
This telco aspiration requires not only new technology/tools – but also new expertise and roles. STL Partners has identified nine key skills (‘future skills’) for a successful telco-to-techco transition:
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML)
- Automation
- Cloud
- Cybersecurity
- Data analytics
- Innovation
- Network
- Software
- User experience (UX)
The sample for comparison in our tool – and this report – includes 20 telcos and 9 techcos.
Telcos: AT&T, Bell Canada, BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, e&, Elisa, KPN, Orange, Singtel, Spark NZ, STC, Swisscom, Telefónica, Telstra, Telenor Group, Telus, T-Mobile US, Turkcell, Verizon, Vodafone
Techcos: Apple, AWS, Google, IBM, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Rakuten.
If you are not a subscriber, enter your details below to download an extract of the report
Scope and limitations
All graphs in the report are based on data from our Future skills tracker which relies on LinkedIn profiles. We do not account for workers that are not on the platform and assume that skill categories are equally affected. The data in our tracker may skew towards LinkedIn profiles in English.
Table of contents
- Recommendations for telcos
- Executive summary
- Future skills trends
- Skill-specific insights
- Top telcos’ recent focus on skills
Related research
- Future skills tracker report 2025
- Employer brand: How to win strategic telecoms talent
- Trial our Future Skills Tracker
