The company Sky is going through a process of internal transformation that will affect hundreds of employees in its Technology Group. According to Sky, these changes could mean that up to 500 employees would lose their job in the United Kingdom and adjustments in other areas. Is artificial intelligence behind this situation? Let’s find out.
A digital transformation
In a message sent to the staff, Aarne Aho, Chief Technology Officer of Sky, explained that in the last three years the company has invested great resources in platforms, products and services, leveraging Comcast’s global scale to transform the business. Among these changes already implemented we can find:
- The transition from satellite to IP with the launch of Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air in 2025.
- Expansion of broadband capacity through the partnership with CityFibre.
- Updates to the mobile platform and customer management systems.
These products and services, used by millions of British people, are part of the strategy that now aims to build stronger digital-first customer service.
Less new platforms, more customer experience
Aho made clear that Sky’s aim now is not about creating new platforms from scratch, but improving customer experience with current products. That’s why the company proposes structural changes that will affect about 900 people, and 600 of them could leave the company if the measures are confirmed.
In this context, part of the strategy involves transferring more work to global outsourcing partners, enabling Sky to operate with greater flexibility and speed.
Engineering centers and role transfers
Currently, Sky operates 3 main engineering centers: Milan, London and Chennai (India). The proposition aims to balance the tasks between headquarters to make the most of time zones, broaden the talent pool, and strengthen ties with outsourcing partners.
What’s more, in the case of India, it is taken into account lower labor costs. According to internal communication, this restructuring could mean the exit of 500 UK-based technology employees with another 100 cuts in consumer and operations areas.
The role of AI
Another key part of the plan is consolidating the development of core network management tools into a single team. The goal is to make processes simpler, maximize efficiency, make the most of productivity tools, and create a unified channel that includes artificial intelligence capacities led by Rachel Eccleston since 2021.
Some AI testing has been done in critical network services, which generates certain concerns among part of the technical staff.
Concerns inside the company
Some workers in the technology sector of Sky expressed their fear about the possibility of the quality of the service being reduced with these changes, mostly due to the higher number of staff hired in India.
They also pointed out that the organization in the UK has experienced a hiring freeze for at least 2 years, preventing replacement of roles vacated by departing colleagues.
Not only that, they also felt frustrated about what they describe as below market-rate pay and the absence of union representation.
DevOps and service desk changes
In the DevOps sector, Sky proposes to relocate the service desk under a Mobile and Broadband “guild.” Why? Because the company wants to ensure end-to-end continuity, from design and testing to implementation, monitoring, and issue resolution.
This restructuring also aims to streamline service delivery and the introduction of new technologies, using a standardized delivery framework.
Implementation and next steps
Sky estimates that these changes are implemented before December 2025, which will affect several offices in the UK–including Brick Lane, Brentwood, Osterley, and Leeds.
A Sky spokesperson highlighted that in the last couple of years the company launched very successful products like Sky Glass, Sky Stream, and the full fibre broadband service. Now, the approach is to bring customers the next generation of experience by investing in digital-first service, unbeatable content, and even better performance from its products, powered by the best of global innovation.
So, we’ll see in the following months how these proposals work, but what we know for sure is that Sky wants to strengthen its leadership in technology and customer experience.