Telenor hires Google Cloud executive as CTO to boost AI capabilities

Telenor has appointed Amol Phadke, a former Google Cloud executive, as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) activities, the Norwegian telecoms firm said on Tuesday.

Phadke, who led Google Cloud’s telecom business, will help Telenor use AI to make its operations more efficient, develop new products and increase energy efficiency, Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke told Reuters.

Telenor partnered with Google Cloud in 2021 to digitalise its global operations and explore ways to jointly offer services to customers, as part of its ongoing digital transformation plan.

Phadke said Telenor would not cut jobs as a result of implementing AI, but rather use it to augment and enhance human processes.

Telenor also announced that Petter-Boerre Furberg would take over as head of its key Asia unit, replacing Joergen C. Arentz Rostrup, who will become head of Telenor Nordics.

The company completed two major telco mergers in Southeast Asia last year and earlier this year, creating telecoms leaders in Malaysia and Thailand.