Telecommunications companies have been the unlikely, and unsung, backbone of the fight against the economic paralysis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the demand for voice and data communications has risen to unprecedented levels, telcos have responded with urgency, technological savvy, and purpose, providing a dependable lifeline for communications—particularly wireless and internet connectivity. Telecom operators have supported governments and health care systems by providing high-speed connectivity, devices, and data-based insights on people’s movements to tackle the spread of the disease. They have extended network capacity rapidly to support remote work by businesses and enable academics to teach in virtual classrooms. And they have connected people to offices, information, entertainment, and, above all, other people.

But the unrelenting pressure on telcos since the beginning of the year is likely to take a toll on their performance. Many telecom providers have realized that the pandemic has accelerated several trends that were gaining ground even before the current crisis began. Business will need to be more virtual in the future, companies will increasingly be able to engage with customers only through online channels, and larger numbers of employees will prefer to work remotely. Companies will need to be increasingly digital and data driven and foster more flexible and agile ways of working in order to cope with a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. Little wonder, then, that many telcos are treating the COVID-19 crisis as a forcing function to accelerate their digital transformations so that they can survive, nay thrive, in the new reality.

Artificial intelligence (AI), our studies suggest, should be central to the telcos’ transformation because it will help deliver superior performance in the short and long term. Telecom companies will be better able to cope with fluctuating demand levels, adjust to supply chain disruptions, and adapt to sharp shifts in consumer confidence and priorities. To be sure, telcos will have to obtain the support of employees—whose anxiety is mounting about the combined impact of the pandemic, economic slowdown, and technological change on their careers and lives—as the companies deploy AI. When operators elicit buy-in, we find, employees come to accept AI as a productivity tool rather than worry about losing their jobs. Many telcos have started using AI technologies, but only those that harness the full potential of these tools will thrive tomorrow.