Telecom software company Mavenir is rapidly expanding its focus on India while shifting its strategy toward AI-driven telecom solutions. With a large workforce and innovation hub in India, the company sees the country as a major testing ground for AI-powered telecom applications.
In the wake of last year’s financial restructuring, the US-based telecom software giant Mavenir is intensifying its focus on India as a major growth market and its largest global innovation engine, all the while sharpening its shift toward AI-led telecom software.
Mavenir Expands Focus on India After Financial Restructuring
🇮🇳 Mavenir’s India Expansion Strategy
- Workforce in India: 3,000 employees
- Global Share: 70–80% of company workforce
- Key Focus: AI-driven telecom software development
- Major Partners: Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea
- Role of India: Largest innovation and product development hub
- Hiring Strategy: Continuous hiring with AI skill development
Mavenir CEO Pardeep Kohli stated, “We are investing a lot in India,” during a conversation at the Mobile World Congress. India employs between 70 and 80 percent of our workers. We have about 3,000 workers there, and we keep hiring fresh people and improving the AI skills of our current teams.
India is essential to the company’s strategy for product creation and execution, not merely a back office. Mavenir recently announced new software solutions with Bharti Airtel and collaborates with Vodafone Idea on packet core and IMS installations.
India as a High-Volume Telecom Innovation Hub
According to Kohli, India presents a special opportunity due to its size, linguistic variety, and cost dynamics. “India becomes a very appealing market if you can operate at high volumes and deliver at the correct pricing. It is a perfect testbed for AI-led telecom apps because of the variety of languages and use cases, he added.
AI at the center of the approach
Mavenir’s priorities have evolved from hardware-led Open RAN goals to software, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) following its $1.3 billion debt recapitalization and $300 million in new funding last year. Hardware has always served as a tool. The apps that run on top are what really add value, according to Kohli.
🤖 AI Strategy in Telecom Networks
- AI Integration: Across voice, messaging, and telecom networks
- Global Users: 500+ million people using services
- Key Innovation: Intent orchestrator for multilingual commands
- Goal: Reduce telecom costs through automation
- New Revenue: AI-powered telecom services beyond connectivity
- Focus Years: 2026–2027 expected strong growth
The business is integrating AI throughout its network stack, especially in voice and messaging, where it currently provides services to more than 500 million people worldwide.
Multilingual AI Capabilities in Telecom
According to Kohli, the main goal of AI in telecom is to make human interaction easier. He cited India’s 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects as an illustration of the complexity AI must manage, saying, “If you can grasp intent across languages and execute it effectively, it is powerful.”
Mavenir is creating what it refers to as a “intent orchestrator” that can comprehend user commands in a variety of industries and languages. The goal is to assist telecom companies in providing AI-driven services that lower costs and provide new revenue streams, going beyond simple connectivity.
Telecom Industry Value Shift and AI Opportunities
A large portion of the value shifted to application suppliers in earlier technological cycles. Now, the question is whether telecom companies can use AI to recover some of that value, according to Kohli.
Kohli admitted that the worldwide momentum on Open RAN has been slower than expected. By uniting several participants, the plan was to lessen dependency on one or two proprietary providers. However, the intricacy of integration raised expenses, he claimed.
Challenges and Future of Open RAN
He continued by saying that Open RAN adoption might have happened more quickly if AI-enabled automation had developed sooner since integration issues might have been lessened. Even if it takes a few more years, he thinks the transition to open architectures is unavoidable.
Kohli struck a practical note in light of growing geopolitical tensions and calls for more technological independence in Europe. Nobody is able to construct everything on their own. Global supply chains include semiconductors, memory, and AI silicon, he stated. “Technology ecosystems continue to be interdependent.”
Mavenir’s Global Telecom Network Reach
Currently, Mavenir supports networks that cover over 3.5 billion people and collaborates with more than 300 telecom carriers worldwide.
Its goals for this year are very clear: increase the integration of AI throughout telecom networks, assist operators in lowering operating expenses through automation, and open up new revenue streams outside of connectivity.
Future Outlook for India’s Telecom Sector
Kohli believes that 2026 and 2027 could be better years for India in particular as operators concentrate more on AI-driven services like automation, upgraded core capabilities, and spam management.
He declared, “We are among the most inventive players in the core software market.” “Going forward, we definitely hope to see additional opportunities.”
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. The information reflects company statements and industry insights and should not be considered financial or investment advice.
