Ep 117 - Vodafone's new rules with open APIs, cloud-native, and AI (Lester Thomas)

Telco in 20

• 25 min

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The telecommunications industry has reached a critical inflection point where legacy IT systems can no longer support the demands of an AI-first world. Traditional telco technology approaches are too complex, slow, and fundamentally incompatible with the speed and agility required for modern digital services. Today I'm speaking with Dr. Lester Thomas, head of new technologies and innovation at Vodafone Digital and IT, and a TM Forum Distinguished Fellow. Lester has driven some of the most ambitious cloud transformation projects in telecom, including Vodafone's groundbreaking data migration that consolidated servers across multiple countries into a unified cloud platform. We explore Vodafone's "Composable IT" vision and how the company is transforming its technology stack to be modular, open, and AI-ready. Listen now to hear: <ul> <li>Vodafone's data transformation that moved 17 petabytes from 600 Hadoop servers hosted in 11 countries into Google Cloud, creating the foundation for AI adoption [04:20]</li> <li>The company's strict "cloud native" definition requiring complete re-engineering rather than lift-and-shift, with 80-90% of digital workloads now truly cloud native [09:37]</li> <li>Three principles driving Vodafone's Open Digital Architecture: machine-readable standards, open-source collaboration, and proof-of-concept testing over RFPs [14:18]</li> <li>How AI is forcing complete software redesign, with Vodafone's AI Booster democratizing AI access across all business functions while maintaining governance [17:51]</li> </ul> Links and Resources: <ul> <li>Watch Vodafone’s announcement at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAitKERcDPU" rel="nofollow">Google Cloud Next 2019</a> to rebuild their Data Ocean on Google Cloud to eliminate 600+ on-prem Hadoop servers across 11 countries.</li> <li>Check out my blogs, <a href="https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-clinic-blog/" rel="nofollow">Vodafone is putting on a public cloud clinic</a> and <a href="https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-move-analytics-to-public-cloud-blog/" rel="nofollow">Be like Vodafone and move your analytics to the public cloud</a>.</li> <li>Take a look at this TelcoDR Vodafone Case Study, <a href="https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/TelcoDR-Vodafone-CaseStudy-2023.pdf" rel="nofollow">How Vodafone Saved Nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud</a>.</li> <li>Read about Vodafone’s partnership with <a href="https://www.vodafone.com/news/services/vodafone-google-cloud-industry-first-global-data-platform" rel="nofollow">Google Cloud</a> to process massive data volumes, enhance digital services, and drive innovation across Vodafone’s global operations.</li> <li>Check out this Google Cloud blog on how<a href="https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/vodafones-ml-platform-built-on-vertex-ai" rel="nofollow"> Vodafone's AI Booster project</a> is supercharging AI & ML at scale.</li> <li>Listen to this episode of the TM Forum Inside Out podcast to learn <a href="https://tmfpodcasts.libsyn.com/inside-out-how-open-apis-spurred-innovation" rel="nofollow">how Open APIs spurn innovation</a>.</li> <li>Take a look at this article from TM Forum, <a href="https://inform.tmforum.org/features-and-opinion/oda-explained-tools-for-implementation-and-deployment" rel="nofollow">ODA explained: Tools for implementation and deployment</a>.</li> <li>Watch my Gen AI Summit talk at MWC25 on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lDpzaJjIx4" rel="nofollow">Building an AI-first Telco</a>.</li> <li>Learn more about how <a href="https://totogi.com/" rel="nofollow">Totogi’s BSS Magic</a>, powered by AI and the public cloud, enables seamless interoperability, drives innovation, and unlocks new growth.</li> <li>Lester Thomas has taken up wing foiling, an adventure sport combining sailing and flying.  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGUXVZ50aM8" rel="nofollow">Here’s what it looks like</a> if you are inspired and want to give it a try.</li> <li>Check out a video version of this episode on our <a href="https://youtu.be/KfRHQUnh8OY" rel="nofollow">YouTube channel</a>.</li> <li>You can find the episode transcript <a href="https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ep-117-Lester-Thomas-Transcript.pdf" rel="nofollow">here</a>.</li> </ul> Wanna talk AI and public cloud? Telco execs, <a href="https://telcodr.com/contact/" rel="nofollow">set up a meeting</a> with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.  Follow DR <ul> <li>Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? <a href="https://telcodr.com/contact/" rel="nofollow">Send it in!</a></li> <li>Want to sponsor a podcast?<a href="https://www.telcodr.com/contact" rel="nofollow"> Let us know</a></li> <li>Follow Telco in 20 on X <a href="https://twitter.com/TelcoIn20" rel="nofollow">@TelcoIn20</a></li> <li>Follow DR on X <a href="https://twitter.com/TelcoDR" rel="nofollow">@TelcoDR</a></li> </ul> The Telco in 20 podcast is ranked in the <a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/telco-in-20-danielle-royston-telcodr-aFxtKYINuM-/" rel="nofollow">top 5% of all podcasts globally</a> by Listen Notes! 🎉 We've also won a 2024 MarComm Award, a 2024 and 2025 Hermes Award, and are recognized as a <a href="https://go.forrester.com/blogs/the-100-best-channel-podcasts-of-2021/" rel="nofollow">TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast</a>, Forrester <a href="https://go.forrester.com/blogs/the-100-best-channel-podcasts-of-2021/" rel="nofollow">Top 100 Channel Podcast</a> and Feedspot <a href="https://blog.feedspot.com/telecom_podcasts/" rel="nofollow">Top 10 Telecom Podcast</a>. If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews! This week’s guest Dr. Lester Thomas is Head of New Technologies and Innovation and a Distinguished Engineer at Vodafone Digital. A 20-year Vodafone veteran, he leads Vodafone’s Open Digital Architecture strategy, driving innovation in Generative AI and cloud-native technologies. Lester is passionate about telecoms’ role in society and is a strong advocate for open standards and open-source. He has been recognized as a TM Forum Distinguished Fellow for his contribution to the Open Digital Architecture and Open-API initiatives. When not shaping telecom’s future, he enjoys adventurous sports, has a private pilot’s license and also enjoys sailing and other watersports. Podcast Credits <ul> <li>Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios, TelcoDR</li> <li>Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media</li> <li>Senior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing</li> <li>Audio Editor: Andrew Condell</li> <li>Supervising Producer: Amanda Avery</li> <li>Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio</li> <li>Music: Dyami Wilson</li> </ul> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com" rel="nofollow">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.