Summary Bullets:
• A key benefit of the Telefónica Tech generative AI (GenAI) platform is that it provides access to and evaluates large language models (LLMs) from multiple sources, including hyperscale cloud providers and open source models.
• Telefónica’s advantage comes from its existing customer relationships and its ability to promote a vendor-agnostic environment.
On January 28, 2025, Telefónica Tech announced its GenAI platform to help enterprise customers create virtual assistants. The platform is designed to be easy to use while at the same time allowing access to multiple LLMs. It provides tools for evaluating models based on cost, performance, and latency. Use cases include virtual assistants for customer services, enhanced data analysis, and improved efficiency in departments such as human resources and finance.
One of the key benefits of the platform is that it provides access to LLMs from multiple sources. Enterprises can tap into models provided by hyperscale cloud providers, allowing them to work in their preferred environment as well as access to open-source models. Although many organizations started their GenAI journey with ChatGPT, a large number are now exploring the plethora of models in the market today, including experimenting with small language models and task-specific models. Furthermore, several providers make specific models available via open source (for example, open source is a key component of IBM’s go-to-market strategy). Some organizations prefer to work with open source models, noting that they are easier to customize and more cost effective. However, others express security concerns and will only consider open source models for workloads that don’t utilize highly sensitive data. The recent buzz around DeepSeek has heightened awareness of model options and driven home the point that the future will be based on multi-model environments.
The platform is also designed to adhere to the European Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AIR/RIA) and to adhere to national or regional regulatory requirements. Concerns regarding regulatory compliance are top of mind among enterprises, especially those that need to manage the complexity of working across multiple geographies. Organizations are putting in place processes to implement responsible AI, including establishing centers of excellence that track AI workloads and usage across departments.
The new GenAI platform fits neatly into Telefónica Tech’s long-standing analytics portfolio. It has been working with third parties for years to bring AI-driven solutions to its customers. In 2024 it launched Shark.X, a platform for data management, analytics, and AI that it developed in partnership with IBM to help businesses in Spain adopt AI (read more at Generative AI Watch: Telefonica Tech Collaborates with IBM to Help Customers Navigate GenAI, June 28, 2024). It also offers solutions to address customer pain points around data management (a foundational element for scaling AI), and in mid-February 2025, it partnered with Collibra to provide support to Spanish entities struggling with data governance. The company boasts a team of over 400 supporting its AI and analytics initiatives
Telefónica’s new platform will face its share of challenges. Numerous vendors offer platforms for deploying GenAI in the enterprise, including large hyperscale cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) as well as AI-specific platform vendors, such as DataRobot and Dataiku. Additionally, IT services providers offer numerous solutions to support GenAI deployments. Telefónica’s advantage comes from its existing customer relationships and its ability to promote a vendor-agnostic environment. Enterprises express a willingness to work with their telecom services provider for GenAI support, noting long-standing relationships, cost, support, and low employee churn.