All In Episode 2: Turning AI into Business Value through Global IoT Connectivity
In our second edition of All In: Stories of Impact, our CEO Boon Chee caught up with Benjamin Bastians, Chief Commercial Officer of Deutsche Telekom IoT at the recent MWC Shanghai 2026. They discussed how enterprises can move AI from hype to measurable business value through IoT.
Watch Episode 2: Turning AI into Business Value through Global IoT Connectivity.
Boon Chee: Hello everyone, and welcome back to All In – Stories of Impact. This series seeks to share stories, insights, and perspectives from our Bridge Member Operators and partners who are making a real difference in the customer experience and our wider ecosystem. Today, I’m very proud to be here in conversation with Benjamin Bastians, Chief Commercial Officer at Deutsche Telekom IoT. Benny, welcome.
Benny: Thank you Boon Chee for having me.
Boon Chee: So, Benny, let’s jump straight into talking about boardroom priorities. There is incredible hype around AI in telecom, but let’s talk about execution. Now from your perspective, how is Deutsche Telekom IoT helping enterprises move AI from hype into measurable business value?
Benny: Thank you, Boon Chee. I think that’s exactly the right question. And the way we do it is physical AI cannot exist without IoT, and I’ll tell you why. Physical AI needs real world data. And real world data needs connectivity on a global scale. Otherwise, our enterprises will not be connected to the machines, to their devices, to the actual data. So that’s basically what we’re doing for our customers.
And that’s very tangible. And we can deliver that today at a global scale together with also the Bridge Alliance partners.
Boon Chee: Right. So it really comes down to operational resilience. Now being here at MWC Shanghai, we are surrounded by the region’s largest tech and telco players. That connection between AI and the physical world is especially relevant here in Asia, where so many connected products, devices and machines are designed and manufactured. Now, from your vantage point as CCO, how critical is the Asian market to Deutsche Telekom’s cross-border growth and what dominant regional trends are you seeing?
Benny: So the Asian market plays a very crucial role for us in Deutsche Telekom IoT, because it is a powerhouse of producing and deploying connected devices around the world. So clearly, we need to be close to our customers here, and we need to connect them to our networks across the Western world. That’s our mission. Now, if I look at the trends and what basically we’re seeing right now across Asia is, of course, a huge demand around EV connectivity, electric vehicles that are being produced primarily now with new players out of China, but of course also other regions across Asia Pacific.
Now we have solutions to connect those EVs to our network. But also there are new trends coming up, like robots, like drones. And they will also come at very high requirements when it comes to connecting them globally at a consistent quality. And that’s again, exactly what we are addressing here in the Asian market. And it’s a very important aspect of our growth.
Boon Chee: So that that cross-border requirement is really exactly why our partnership matters. So when Deutsche Telekom renewed its membership with Bridge Alliance, our shared goal was clear. We want to remove the friction of global deployment. Now for enterprises managing the complex international footprints. How does our alliance networks help reduce this friction for global IoT deployments?
Benny: In a very simple way. When MNOs come together and co-solution for an enterprise’s request, the best things come together. You basically end up having one contract, one platform, one consistent service level agreement, one customer experience and that across multiple countries with the best possible quality. And that’s exactly what we’re delivering ever since we joined the Bridge Alliance two years ago.
And we’re glad to continue that journey together with you and our alliance members.
Boon Chee: And we’re very glad to have Deutsche Telekom with us as well. Now, looking ahead, say in the next 24 months, where do you see the most significant untapped opportunity for Deutsche Telekom-Bridge Alliance to co-innovate and perhaps deepen its impact as well?
Benny: I look at it from two perspectives. One perspective is, as each MNO continues to drive innovation, we must find a way to also harmonise that in front of our customers so that when they buy a service from one MNO in a certain region, and we promise a global deployment of that, we must find a way to harmonise it across MNOs so that we can deliver on our promise, which is that consistent customer experience across the board.
That’s one aspect. And the other aspect as well is I think the market will continue to push for EV connectivity, but there will be a lot more use cases coming up. And as those new use cases are coming up, we’re going to learn what they require. And that’s exactly what we have to address as an MNO community together.
Boon Chee: Right. So it really sounds like global connectivity is not just a technical checkbox. It’s really a core strategy and core business behind it. So Benny, thank you so much for your insights today. We really learned a lot from your conversation and to the viewers, thank you for being with us. Thank you for tuning in to All In and we’ll see you the next time.
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