APAC Telcos Want AI. Data Debt Is In The Way.
Accenture's new findings paint a clear picture: Communication Service Providers (CSPs) across Asia Pacific are held back by data debt-data that's scattered, inconsistent, and hard to trust. That debt slows decisions and blocks AI from delivering real value.
The gap shows up in outcomes. Another Accenture report notes only 21% of APAC telcos see tangible returns from AI investments. The rest are still stuck in cleanup mode.
The numbers that matter
- 71% of executives lack comprehensive visibility across networks and portfolios, slowing decisions.
- 66% of employees spend more time cleaning data than analyzing it.
- Only 2% of operators have an integrated data strategy with smooth cross-functional sharing.
What's driving the data debt
- OSS/BSS sprawl and siloed network inventory across regions and lines of business.
- Inconsistent identifiers, weak metadata, duplicated models, and thin lineage.
- Fragmented cloud and analytics stacks stitched together by point solutions.
- Fuzzy ownership-nobody accountable for quality end to end.
What leaders are doing differently
"AI growth and increasing need for cloud-based solutions provide great opportunities for operators to take advantage of customer network strength and trust," said Tore Berg, Managing Director and Lead, Communications, Media and Technology Industry, Accenture in APAC.
- Modernizing core infrastructure: consolidating network inventory, standardizing APIs, and improving observability.
- Building AI-ready data foundations: common models, master data, governed data products, and quality SLAs.
- Investing in people: long-term upskilling in data engineering, MLOps, and analytics-not just tool adoption.
- Rationalizing the portfolio: fewer sources of truth, fewer handoffs, more automation.
"A small part of the leaders have moved further by making deep and consistent investments to make their business inventory, opening up new opportunities that support future business expansion," Berg added.
A pragmatic 9-month plan for CSP executives
- 0-90 days: See the whole picture.
- Baseline your data debt: map critical datasets, systems, owners, and flows across network, customer, and product domains.
- Freeze new silos: mandate shared IDs for customers, services, and assets; standardize metadata templates.
- Pick three "data products" that matter (e.g., unified network inventory, customer 360, product catalog) and assign accountable owners.
- 90-180 days: Fix the foundations.
- Stand up a common data model and contracts for prioritized domains.
- Implement quality gates (completeness, timeliness, accuracy) with automated monitoring and alerts.
- Establish a data product operating model: backlog, SLAs, change control, and a shared catalog.
- 180-270 days: Scale and monetize.
- Retire redundant sources and pipelines; reduce duplicative spend.
- Automate lineage and access governance to cut audit and integration effort.
- Ship AI use cases tied to cash flow: network fault prediction, churn propensity with save offers, next-best-action in care.
Metrics to steer by
- Time-to-decision for priority use cases (target: down 50-70%).
- Percent of critical data covered by quality SLAs and passing thresholds.
- Reduction in duplicate records and conflicting sources of truth.
- Share of analyst/engineer time spent analyzing vs. cleaning (flip the 66% reality).
- Cycle time from AI idea to production; AI contribution to churn reduction, NPS, and opex savings.
Talent and capability
The tech will not fix itself. Budget for skills in data modeling, feature stores, MLOps, and AI product management. Move key people into enduring teams that own data products aligned to P&L outcomes.
If you're planning structured upskilling for data, engineering, and product teams, explore focused paths here: AI courses by job role.
Further reading
- Accenture insights on AI at scale: AI research and guidance.
The takeaway
AI isn't the problem. Data debt is. Get the inventory right, make data products accountable, and tie AI to measurable cash outcomes. Do that, and the 21% won't be a ceiling-it'll be your floor.
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