Industry Spotlight – Accenture’s Dan Rice Dishes on AI and Other Trends

The communications and media space has been quite a dynamic environment over the past few years as companies balance both internal and external transformations.  But the arrival of AI is just accelerating everything.  Professional services companies, like Accenture, are right in the middle of all of it with both a ringside seat and a hand in the changes themselves.  With us today to talk about the state of the sector and look at where things tend to be going is Dan Rice, Accenture’s Communications and Media Lead for the USA.

TR: What is your background, and how did you arrive at your new position as Communications and Media Industry Lead, USA?

DR: I started my career at Accenture in 1991 as a COBOL programmer for Bell Atlantic. Over the last thirty plus years, I’ve seen the industry transform, from the rise of the internet to major acquisitions and downturns. My early years focused on programming and account management in the US. Then I spent four years in Latin America deploying 3G and standardizing systems, followed by three to four years in Canada working on mobile and cable offerings. I also then spent time in Europe, where I led Wi-Fi rollouts and back-office transformations for major clients.  

Last year I became the Communications and Media Industry Lead for the United States, where my focus is on helping our clients tackle complex transformation programs and embrace new and emerging technologies to drive growth in their businesses.

TR: What trends are you seeing right now in this space?  Where is the action right now from the integrator’s perspective?

DR: There are a few trends that we’re seeing. One is the continued evolution of the media industry and the importance of streaming growth. Content (and scale) are still king. The next is the way in which communications companies are changing their operating models. When the industry carries high debt and large OPEX, everyone is finding more efficient ways of operating. And third is a heightened focus on the customer experience, which is essential in our saturated market. We have 350M people in the country and 400M mobile devices… and when Net Adds are critical to enterprise value, you have to hold churn down.

TR: In what ways do you see media evolving?

DR: Media is moving from linear to streaming, driven by the rise of digital natives – those who have only ever known a world of full connectivity. Platform diversification, streaming content, user-driven content, mobile-first — all of these things are transforming the industry. Since 2015, cable TV subscriptions have plummeted from 100 million households to roughly 62 million in 2023, while global streaming subscriptions have surged to 1.7 billion.

Central to this transformation are digital natives and the digital-first mindset. At Accenture, we’re deeply involved in building out streaming platforms for our media clients, helping them navigate digital advertising, content creation, and the evolution of social media. Our recent campaign, Change Reimagined—which aired during the NFL postseason—highlighted how we helped NBCUniversal develop and scale Peacock, their streaming platform.

And with the potential of automating 40% of content production with AI, orthodoxies change into what is the new “art of the possible”.

TR: What kind of projects does that translate into?

DR: Take new product features for their streaming platform, for example. When we build out these streaming platforms, we focus heavily on architectural resilience, scalability and usability and do a lot of testing. In one case, the landing page initially featured news content by default. However, our usability testing revealed that users preferred a visually engaging – yet static – landing page.

What we realized was that for many, streaming is an escape from reality, not an entry point to the news. If they wanted news, they’d turn to linear TV. Personally, I found this insight surprising at first—but in hindsight, it makes perfect sense.

Then there is a more obvious example with AI.   We can now source and recommend and endless amount of content to the viewer.  Same with AVOD (Advertising Video On Demand) streaming…the better your know your customer (and relevant content) the better the experience for them, and the more ad revenue you can support. 

TR: You also mentioned how communications and media companies are shifting their operating models.  What are they moving toward?

DR: Communications and Media companies are reorganizing themselves. Many are divesting their linear networks, while looking for synergies between their businesses.  It all comes down to cost. While the platforms may differ fundamentally at the technical level, they share many aspects, such as content and advertising functions. It doesn’t matter where the content originates; the advertising processes remain the same across both linear and digital platforms. By consolidating efforts and selling across platforms, companies can achieve huge savings. There’s no need to build entirely new organizations for each technology—synergy reduces both costs and complexity.   We see costs reductions in the classic Service Delivery Life Cycle and Agile development decline by as much as 30% with these organization changes and the support of AI.

TR: Are they succeeding as they make this shift?  What pitfalls commonly arise?  Is the desired destination still evolving?

DR: I believe they’re largely succeeding, but it’s a challenging process. Reorganizing large media companies is tough, and balancing the reduction of legacy media costs with the profitability of streaming platforms will be an ongoing journey. They have pressure from both directions, but, soon, they’ll need to demonstrate success on both fronts.

TR: The other trend you mentioned was Engaging Experiences.  What do you mean by that?

DR: AI and gen AI are driving a major transformation across both the Comms and media industries, with a strong focus on personalization and hyper-targeted marketing. “Net Adds” (Net additions in terms of new customers) are everything, and acquisition and churn management are more critical than ever. Accenture’s Song practice specializes in customer-centric strategies, helping brands create engaging experiences by identifying trends and marketing to individuals effectively. By using personalized marketing campaigns, we’ve seen average order values increase by 20-40% and conversion rates improve by 30-35%. So, we’re seeing some real success in that area.

TR: Where is AI actually implemented as part of such an approach?  What role does it play in the process?

DR: Chatbots have been used since around 2007, but the technology has advanced so much that it’s now quite difficult to distinguish a chatbot from a person. This advancement is freeing up the humans to handle more complex tasks. With automated customer support, we can analyze interactions, predict needs, and route calls with hyper-specific precision.

What’s interesting is that while the older generation prefers to talk to a person, the generation of digital natives often prefer interacting with chatbots. They want to be in control.  So, it’s crucial to offer both communication channels. Even when customers prefer bots, there are still many challenges that require human intervention.

TR: Now that we have these large language model AIs, how quick do you think the evolution will be?

DR: We’re poised to make rapid, dramatic improvements before hitting the law of diminishing returns. In back-office functions like finance and accounting, automation and AI are reducing costs by around 30-50%. On the front end, we’re cutting call volumes by 50% over five years, so we’re delivering significant savings. We’re also driving major efficiencies for telco clients using GenWizard, a tool we’ve developed to enhance developer productivity. So far, we’ve seen 50% gains in both code development and testing. AI is transforming software development and beyond, and over the next four to five years, we expect massive change—until we eventually hit the long tail.

TR: What trends are you seeing in the enterprise networking space?

DR: Enterprise is a top priority right now because of its strong margins. While growth was explosive four or five years ago, it has since slowed. Today, enterprises need secure, fast, and flexible networks – fundamentals that remain critical. Technologies like 5G, AI, and cloud computing are giving control back to customers, making them the key focus in the enterprise space.

Another major trend is the rise of private wireless networks, especially in industries of distributed workforces like energy, resources, and mining. We’re also seeing an increase in acquisitions and partnerships, as carriers target specific verticals to navigate industry complexities and accelerate market entry – far more than we saw just a few years ago.

Despite recent challenges, I’m more optimistic than I’ve been in years. The industry has faced tough times, but we’re turning a corner. While things may never fully return to pre-COVID ‘normal’, they are undoubtedly improving.

TR: Beyond just the pandemic, what do you think kept the damper on things over the last few years?

DR: COVID accelerated a lot of spending. We saw a massive surge of programs in 2020 and 2021, coupled with government spending. There was a rapid build-out of network infrastructure to make sure everyone could shelter in place, attend school remotely, and handle other essential tasks. It was a frenetic period.

Then, as the situation improved, people started distributing again.  Everyone began returning to work and the ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) ended. The whole industry slowed, and it felt like we all lost some rhythm.  But now, I feel we are getting our rhythm back.

TR: What challenges lie ahead for the sector?

DR: The biggest challenge I see is competition and pricing pressure. Many communications providers are shifting toward ICT (Information and Communication Technology) offerings, but that market is already saturated right now, putting pressure on margins. As more providers become resellers for large areas of their offerings, they need to find new areas of growth to offset declining ICT profits. While slow growth in saturated markets could be a challenge, there are opportunities. By leveraging generative AI, automation and other advanced technologies, we can achieve what we call a ‘compressed transformation’—a holistic approach where all parts of a company work together to accelerate change, reduce costs, and unlock new efficiencies.”

TR: What do you expect will be the main conversations at MWC Barcelona this week?

DR: For the first time in years, we can expect a real sense of optimism in the industry. The focus for the industry leaders attending will be on AI, sovereign AI strategies, network transformation and crucially, how to improve customer experiences. With CAPEX peaking and AI reducing tech debt, telcos are well-positioned for change—and, importantly, a return to profitable growth.

TR: Thank you for talking with Telecom Ramblings!

If you haven't already, please take our Reader Survey! Just 3 questions to help us better understand who is reading Telecom Ramblings so we can serve you better!

Categories: Artificial Intelligence · Industry Spotlight