Telstra joint venture to axe more than 200 jobs amid AI rollout | Telstra

More than 200 Telstra jobs are expected to be cut as the telco rolls out AI capabilities and sends some jobs to India.

Telstra and technology consultancy Accenture have announced a $700 million joint venture (JV) in 2025 to improve efficiency, modernization and productivity.

A Joint Venture spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that the team had been briefed “on proposed changes to the workforce, including reducing roles where work is no longer required and moving some work to the Joint Venture team in India.”

If the changes go ahead, affected team members will be helped to find new jobs at Telstra or Accenture, or “will have access to our leading career transition program and redundancy benefits,” the spokesperson said.

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“These changes will enable the joint venture to leverage Accenture’s global capabilities, advanced AI expertise and expert center in India to deliver Telstra’s data and AI roadmap faster.

“Over time, we anticipate this will lead to increased cost efficiencies and deliver an enhanced experience to Telstra customers.”

It appears that 209 jobs are facing the axe.

Telstra announced it will cut 2,800 jobs from its enterprise business, which serves businesses and government agencies, in 2024. The outages will not affect retail customers, he said.

In May 2025, Telstra said “AI efficiency” would enable it to reduce its workforce by 2030.

Vicki Brady, Telstra’s chief executive, said artificial intelligence “will open a significant door to enabling our workforce”.

Agentic AI, which can operate autonomously, will work alongside Telstra staff, he said.

Optus has previously said that AI will play a big role in telecommunications, but humans will remain at the centre.

Announcing the joint venture, Telstra said it would increase productivity and growth by “building on Telstra’s work to build a world-class data and AI ecosystem, modernize its data and AI platforms, and embed responsible AI into design.”

“We are entering a new era of AI-driven discovery,” Accenture president and chief executive Julie Sweet said at the time.