“We’re part of the governance mechanism telcos need for AI to be safe, secure, and performant,” said Stephen Douglas, Head of Market Strategy at Spirent.

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, Publisher Doug Green interviews Stephen Douglas of Spirent, one of the world’s leading test, measurement, and assurance providers for the ICT sector. The conversation takes a deep dive into how telecom service providers are uniquely positioned to lead in the era of sovereign AI — and why rigorous testing and assurance will be critical to their success.

As AI moves from training clusters into live consumer and enterprise applications, the demands on network infrastructure are shifting dramatically. From unpredictable traffic bursts to strict data sovereignty regulations, Douglas explains how these changes represent both a threat and an opportunity for telcos.

Central to the discussion is the concept of Sovereign AI — the idea that governments and mission-critical industries will require localized, compliant, and secure AI infrastructures. Far from being a constraint, Douglas argues this trend offers telcos a new chance to move beyond the “fat dumb pipe” role and become national AI enablers.

By leveraging their deep, distributed infrastructure, trusted relationships, and regulatory experience, service providers can offer GPU-as-a-service, AI model orchestration, and privacy-compliant platforms. But as Douglas warns, with opportunity comes accountability. Telcos will need to validate AI model behavior, prevent hallucinations, ensure security doesn’t degrade performance, and continuously test compliance.

Spirent, Douglas notes, plays a crucial role in enabling this transformation: “From performance validation to continuous compliance audits, we’re helping service providers become the trusted AI platforms of the future.”

To learn more about Spirent: https://www.spirent.com