The CEO of the Orange Group noted in her MWC 2026 keynote that telecom operators must act as the ‘active shield of the digital world’
In sum – what to know:
Telcos must become trust architects – Heydemann said AI is becoming the “operating layer” of society, requiring operators to evolve from connectivity providers to builders of a trusted digital environment.
Trust is now a performance driver – As AI-generated content surges and risks multiply, she argued that “trust is a hard performance driver” and “the operating system of progress.”
Resilience and protection are strategic missions – Telecom operators must act as the “active shield of the digital world,” ensuring cybersecurity, privacy and predictable connectivity.
At MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Orange CEO Christel Heydemann delivered a clear message: In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), telecom operators must move beyond connectivity and become architects of trust.
“We are definitely at the dawn of a new era. An era where artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool but becomes the engine of our economies, our societies, and soon, our very lives,” the Orange executive said. While highlighting the rise of “agentic AI capable of autonomous action,” Heydemann described it as “a vertiginous prospect full of amazing promises, but also unknown threats.”
She framed the debate around trust. “Technology is absolutely accelerating. But trust is not.” As AI-generated content surpasses human-generated content and deepfakes and data breaches become commonplace, she asked: “Do we really want to create a digital world ruled by chaos and threat?”
Heydemann argued that telecom operators are uniquely positioned to respond. “As an industry, we run the backbone of the digital economy. We connect most of the world’s population and carry the vast majority of data traffic.” She noted that in 2025 the industry “reached a world record transmitting one petabyte in less than a second on one fiber. This is the equivalent of the entire Netflix traffic in Europe in one second.”
Despite this scale, she acknowledged that telcos capture limited value. In a TMT sector worth over $30 trillion, European telcos account for less than 10% and growth remains below 3%. “We power the system, but we barely shape its value. And this imbalance is no longer just a financial problem. In the age of AI, it’s a strategy problem.”
According to the Orange CEO, AI is becoming “the operating layer of our economies and societies.” It lowers barriers to innovation and accelerates competition, while demanding massive computing power, energy and capital. Against that backdrop, she outlined a shift in mission: “In the age of AI, our role must evolve from connectivity providers to architects of a trusted environment.”
She structured that role around three pillars. “First, we provide protection. Telecom operators are the active shield of the digital world.” Privacy, cybersecurity and data protection, she said, are “the quiet infrastructure of trust,” essential for individuals, businesses and nations.
“Second, we ensure resilience and service continuity. In an unpredictable world, connectivity must remain predictable.” That means “designing for failure, recovering fast, and guaranteeing continuity even when everything else is under stress.”
“Third, we turn trust into a competitive edge.” In her words, “Today, trust is a hard performance driver. It is the operating system of progress.”
The CEO of the Orange Group also stressed Europe’s position, noting that the continent “is today one of the most fiber-connected continents in the world.” However, she called for a regulatory and investment environment aligned with AI ambitions.”
“At Orange, we believe telecom operators have a historic opportunity and a responsibility, not just to be technology leaders, but to be leaders in trusted technology,” she concluded. “The real question is how will we, together, shape this change to create a world we want to belong to.”
