Delhi: Matthew Oommen, Group CEO, Jio Platforms Limited, emphasized that the global technology landscape is undergoing a fundamental reset as Artificial Intelligence reshapes economies, industries and digital infrastructure. “The AI era is not an upgrade. It’s a reset,” Oomen said, calling the shift a generational transformation rather than a routine technology cycle. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Oomen emphasized the shift from basic connectivity to intelligence-driven networks, and the importance of innovation, collaboration and strong digital infrastructure in creating the next phase of global growth. Vision of Intelligence Grid
Oommen spoke about Jio’s vision of building an “intelligence grid,” calling it more than just a connectivity pipeline. He said the company aims to become one of the first scalable token service providers as telecom economics evolve. Referring to global investment in Artificial Intelligence, Oomen said that more than USD 3 trillion is expected to be invested in AI this year alone, of which around USD 810 billion is from a few hyperscalers. He described it as a structural change like going from the industrial age to the Internet age. According to him, AI is set to redefine business models and create trillions of dollars of new economic value. “This is completely resetting the economic and business equation,” he said.
Redefining infrastructure and workforce
Oomen emphasized that the Intelligence Economy will see major changes in both AI and telecom infrastructure. He said intelligent endpoints will become a core pillar of future networks, while AI will become integrated into essential economic and national systems. He pointed to massive disruption in traditional business models and workforce structures as AI becomes integrated into sectors such as energy, transportation, finance, defense and national security. “This is not about gradual re-skilling. This is about a complete reset and taking advantage of the full potential of the intelligence opportunity,” he said.
Technology as economic leadership
Oman said technology leadership now informs economic leadership, which in turn strengthens national leadership. He said that it will be important for countries trying to maintain global competitiveness to include intelligence in all important sectors. “For all these vibrant economic sectors, the basic layer will be telecom. When you build infrastructure at scale, you also build intelligence at scale,” he said. He also emphasized that if AI is used responsibly and in coordination with necessary resources, it can become humanity’s most effective tool to strike a balance between growth and sustainability.
shift from minutes to tokens
Oman predicted rapid changes in telecom economics, and said the “currency” of the industry would shift from minutes to bytes and eventually tokens. He said Jio intends to be at the forefront of this change by offering scalable token-based services at the lowest cost per token. Explaining Jio’s previous disruption in India’s telecom market, he said the company had made voice calls free and offered mobile data at very cheap rates, starting as low as nine cents per GB. Meanwhile, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the India Pavilion at the Mobile World Congress 2026, one of the world’s leading platforms for technology and telecommunication. Scindia said as the world debates the future of connectivity in the “IQ Era”, India stands at the intersection of intelligence and infrastructure, where connectivity meets capability and innovation meets inclusion.
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