India, Feb. 14 -- As artificial intelligence (AI) moves deeper into enterprise operations, the question is no longer whether AI can scale, but whether it can scale responsibly. Few industries expose this challenge as clearly as telecom, which has emerged as the backbone of the digital economy.

Telecom networks operate in real time, underpin critical services, and are subject to continuous regulatory oversight. Decisions made by AI systems-whether in network optimisation, fraud detection or customer engagement-can have immediate operational and societal consequences. This makes telecom a natural stress test environment for responsible AI.

The recently-released Tech Trends 2026 report by HCLSoftware positions telecom at a crucial juncture...