With summer behind us and the pace of the year picking back up, I kicked off September at TM Forum’s Innovate Americas event in Dallas. The night before the event, Nokia hosted a private customer gathering at Rangers Stadium, where I joined a panel with the Texas Rangers and TM Forum. The discussion focused on a challenge we all face in telecom and beyond: how to turn massive amounts of data into meaningful, real-time actions that drive real outcomes.

Lessons from the ballpark

What struck me most was how much stadium operations and telecom have in common. The Rangers are harnessing AI and analytics to enhance operations, improve customer experiences, and keep “the game” secure by safeguarding critical data and infrastructure.

In practice, that means transforming from reactive to predictive decision-making. Instead of simply responding to what’s happening in the moment, data allows the organization to anticipate needs, whether that’s ensuring smooth entry for fans, optimizing concessions, or predicting when equipment needs maintenance. It also means building a culture where every team and every system trusts and uses data consistently, enabling faster, more confident decisions across the board.

Seeing this play out in a stadium context gave me and the CSPs a fresh perspective. Everything the Rangers do screams connectivity, from fan experience to stadium operations to the team itself. And just like in telecom, the better control operators can provide, the more value organizations like the Rangers can deliver to their customers.

Drawing parallels to telecom

The parallels between stadium operations and telecom are powerful. Both industries depend on real-time data, require secure and resilient infrastructure, and need to strike a balance between efficiency and customer experience.

Where the Rangers focus on enhancing the game-day experience, operators are focused on enabling seamless connectivity, resilient networks, and personalized services. The common thread is the shift from reactive to predictive operations, powered by AI and analytics.

This cross-industry perspective reminded me that innovation often comes from looking outside of our own environment. By learning from how others apply AI, we can gain new insights into how to improve our own operations and customer experiences.

TM Forum’s Innovate Americas: The bigger picture

These themes carried through to TM Forum’s Innovate Americas event, where autonomous networks were a central focus. The event gathered industry leaders, partners, and innovators to explore how telecom can accelerate transformation.

A few key takeaways resonated with me:

1. Security by design: Security cannot be treated as an afterthought or a byproduct of transformation. It must be embedded from the very beginning and woven into processes, architectures, and culture.
2. Data management: Clean, trusted data is the foundation of automation. To truly leverage AI, we need to rethink how we collect, organize, and govern data. Without this step, automation efforts will always fall short.
3. The journey to autonomy: While there’s excitement around Level 5 automation and agentic AI, operators are looking for a gradual path forward. They want guardrails, measurable confidence, and a clear understanding of progress along the way. There’s no miracle recipe, only structured, intentional progress.

Hearing these perspectives at the conference reinforced that telecom is on the right path, but also that execution is everything. Just like in stadium operations, success doesn’t come from big ideas alone. It comes from building trust in data, embedding security, and making transformation real through consistent action.

A call to action for operators

The lesson from both the Rangers and Innovate Americas events is clear: data and AI are powerful, but only if we act on them.

We can debate the perfect strategy endlessly, but waiting for perfection delays progress. 

My advice to operators is simple:

• Define your north star: Know where you want to go and what success looks like.
• Start small but tangible: Launch programs that deliver measurable value and build momentum.
• Measure as you go: Use data to track progress, refine, and scale what works.
• Train your teams: Transformation isn’t just about technology; it’s about new ways of working. Building skills and confidence in automation is key to long-term success.

Autonomous networks, like AI in stadium operations, are not just a vision for the future; they are a necessity for today. We have the opportunity to move from theory to practice, from reactive to predictive, and from potential to measurable impact.

Taking the first step is how the promise of AI and automation becomes real. What matters most is keeping the customer experience at the center of every decision.