The discussion with Muti Wali from TELUS highlights the significant barriers to AI adoption in the telecom industry, primarily focusing on data privacy and the need for digitization. Telecom companies handle vast amounts of customer data, necessitating robust privacy measures to prevent exposure to the internet and potential security breaches. Muti emphasizes the importance of digitizing data to make it accessible for AI applications, which involves consolidating data from various fragmented systems into a unified format. This process enables AI to generate insights and make informed decisions. The conversation also covers the need for cross-departmental collaboration to address data privacy challenges. Business owners, who create and use data, must be involved alongside IT and security teams to ensure data is appropriately managed and utilized. Muti discusses the concept of training AI externally and then integrating it internally to maintain data privacy. He also stresses the importance of democratizing AI access within organizations while maintaining security, allowing experimentation and innovation. The podcast concludes with insights on regulatory collaboration, particularly in light of the EU AI Act, and how telecom's maturity in data management positions it well for AI integration.