The Pivot Series

So, What Exactly Are Catalyst and Moonshot Projects?

If you’ve never heard of them before, don’t worry I hadn’t either until I got involved in Telin’s DTW Ignite journey.

 are collaborative tech experiments run under TM Forum, the global alliance of telecom and tech companies. They bring together communication service providers (CSPs), software vendors, hyperscalers, startups, and even researchers or universities to work on solving real-world problems in telecom and digital infrastructure. These aren’t multi-year R&D efforts; they're focused and meant to prove something concrete in a short amount of time. Usually, it all culminates in a live demo at events like 

, where the team gets to show what they’ve built in front of a global audience.

Now, on to Moonshot Catalysts and this is where it gets even more exciting.

Each year, TM Forum scans through the dozens (sometimes hundreds) of active Catalyst Projects and selects a few that stand out as truly visionary. These are the ones they see as having the potential to move the needle to break out of “business as usual” and push into new territory. Getting a Moonshot badge means your project is not only technically ambitious, but it’s aligned with the kind of transformation the telecom world 

Catalysts are where the industry builds together.

Moonshots take things a step further, aiming for bigger impact.

So when two of the projects Telin joined were selected as Moonshots, it meant a lot. It showed that the work we’re doing the ideas, the teamwork is being noticed and gaining recognition from a global community.

Oh, and fun fact: one of those Moonshot projects is being 

. Yep, we’re not just participants, we’re shaping it.

Our Four Catalyst Projects – With Two Moonshot Honors

This year, Telin is proud to participate in 

 — a recognition given to the most visionary and disruptive projects presented at DTW Ignite.

Catalyst Projects are not solo showcases. They’re 

 that bring together telcos, technology vendors, hyperscalers, and academic institutions to solve critical industry challenges through short-cycle, proof-of-concept implementations. These aren’t ideas in a deck — they are working demos built in cross-company teams, presented live to global decision-makers

1. AI-Driven Network Automation for Traffic & Service Resilience – Phase II

Moonshot Catalyst | URN: M25.0.821 | Project Lead: Telin

Telin proudly leads this Moonshot project, which explores 

AI-driven approaches to autonomous service resilience

. The project aims to achieve AN Level 4/5 capabilities — enabling proactive fault detection, intelligent rerouting, and intent-based automation via CaaS (Connectivity-as-a-Service). Our focus is to enhance network operations in real-time, leveraging predictive telemetry and orchestration frameworks.

This initiative is a collaboration with some of the world’s top operators: 

Verizon, Orange, Chunghwa Telecom, MTN, TIM, SEACOM

. Supporting technology partners include 

This project tackles the transition from human-led to system-led operations by demonstrating a 

. It focuses on reducing operational complexity, expanding business monetization opportunities through open networks, and delivering superior customer experiences through agile and intelligent automation.

 as project champions, while global tech partners such as 

 provide technical depth and infrastructure support.

3. Accelerating Dynamic Network Marketplaces

Open Innovation Catalyst | URN: C25.0.836

In this project, Telin collaborates to develop a 

programmable site-to-cloud VPN service marketplace

 using TMF, CAMARA, and MEF APIs. The solution allows businesses to dynamically request and manage multi-cloud VPNs in a seamless, cross-operator environment — a leap forward in enabling agile and API-driven service delivery.

This marketplace model is expected to benefit industries such as finance, healthcare, education, and IoT.

4. Broadband as a Service – The Future of Wholesale Broadband Ordering (Phase II)

Open Innovation Catalyst | URN: C24.0.619

This initiative focuses on improving wholesale broadband provisioning by introducing 

. The goal is to make broadband ordering more scalable, interoperable, and cost-efficient across multiple CSPs — reducing barriers for market entry and accelerating time to deployment.

Telin contributes to this project alongside leading global operators, driving better integration across the broadband supply chain.

All Eyes on Demo Day... We’re Almost There

DTW Ignite is just around the corner, June 17 to 19 in Copenhagen and it’s safe to say: we’re feeling the pressure, the excitement, and everything in between.

This time last year, Telin was just attending. Now? We’re stepping into the Catalyst Zone with not one, but two Moonshot projects that we’ve been building with global partners. And in one of them, we’re leading the charge.

 — where the goal is to reroute traffic before it causes service issues. Think predictive resilience, not just reactive monitoring. We’ve been working to make the demo as clear and real as possible: simple UI, live simulation, and (hopefully) zero glitches on the floor.

. We’re trying to show what it could look like if a network runs itself, safely, smartly, and with minimal human intervention. It's ambitious, and there’s a lot of deep thinking baked into the backend logic.

We know the Catalyst Zone is intense. People from Vodafone, Meta, AWS, and others will stop by. Some will be curious. Some will ask hard questions. That’s what makes it fun.

We’re not going to overpromise. We just want to represent our team, our region, and our ideas as honestly and clearly as we can.

And maybe… just maybe.. we’ll spark some new collaborations while we’re at it.

A First for Telin, A First for Us Collaborating on the Global Community

One of the most exciting parts of this entire journey has been the collaboration.

This is Telin’s first time participating in TM Forum’s Catalyst program and for all of us on the team, it’s our first time working this closely with a global consortium. Across time zones, tools, and backgrounds, we came together to build something that (hopefully) matters.

Each project brought its own set of challenges, discussions, and yes, a few intense debates. From syncing with TM Forum committee members, aligning use cases with industry standards, to figuring out the best way to demonstrate complex ideas in just a few minutes, it’s been a masterclass in collaborative problem solving.

Internally, it’s been just as powerful. This Catalyst journey has 

brought together a cross-functional team from Telin

led by Delfi and Hafiz also the main members Rya, Fajar, Ofi, Hakim, Arif, Dicky, Ogip, Hegar, Rexosa

 each contributing from their own angle. Some of us focused on technical, others on marketing and event promotion. Everyone showed up. Everyone delivered. Not to mention the 

relentless support from our senior leaders

Pak Wendhy as well as Pak Bentarto, Pak Yanto, Mas Deniar and Mas Ardian

There were heated moments too. But that’s how real collaboration looks and through it all, we were united by something bigger: the chance to not just “join” a global conversation, but to help shape it.

This is what our CEO meant when he said Telin should be recognized not just as a participant, but as a contributor on the global stage. It’s not about logos or booths. It’s about the people behind the projects and product minds who make it real.

And for us, this experience has been nothing short of transformative.

Not just for the showcase we’ll deliver next week, but for the long-term impact it will bring to how we build, how we lead, and how we collaborate both within Telin and with the world.

This journey wasn’t just about building a demo deck or diagrams, infographic, marketing material but it was about showing up and learning together. For many of us, it was our first time collaborating in a global forum like this, and we’re grateful for the opportunity. From late-night calls across time zones to technical discussion with partners we had just met weeks before, we learned how to create, adapt, and contribute as one team.

It started with a vision from our CEO, but it grew into something bigger: a shared experience that gave us confidence to lead, and perspective on what it means to be part of something global.

And if this is just the beginning… we’re excited for what’s next.

From CEO’s Vision to Moonshot Leadership: Telin’s Journey to TM Forum DTW Ignite 2025

When the email came in “Congratulations! Your idea passed the Shark Tank stage and next will be the Hackathon stage…”my first reaction wasn’t to celebrate. It was to start thinking about “logistics”.

Well, it was about what we should bring. Is it Laptops, mockups, power strips? Nope, the real essentials turned out to be: one Nintendo Switch (obviously) 😀 a shared vision, and a team crazy enough to pull it off but the most important thing is to have fun.

That team was us, VOCTA. Yep, this is our team’s name which is actually Voice Call Portable.

We knew the mission: 24 hours of pure hustle—brainstorming, building, pivoting, and pitching. What we didn’t fully expect was how much of it would feel like a crash course in leadership, pressure management, and working together when your energy runs low and the clock runs fast.

Let me introduce the squad behind the purple widget.

 – CCO. Cool, composed, and always able to turn the most complex value prop into a smooth, convincing story. Salesman energy, but make it strategic.

 – CFO. The one who said, “Wait, let’s count the cost model again,” at 2AM. Spreadsheet sensei. Viability police.


Pixel perfectionist. The guy who made sure our widget looked clean, clear, and clickable while we kept breaking things in dev mode. Also the only one who consistently reminded us that “spacing matters.”

 – CEO, Tech Lead, and resident code whisperer. Always saying, “10 more minutes,” while pushing commits and tweaking stylesheets.

And yes because we believe in balance (why so serious :D) we brought a Nintendo Switch and played FIFA between builds.

Rain, Checkpoints, and Late-Night Checkpoints

The venue was Richie Garden, Bogor. It looked like a peaceful villa, until the rain started... and never stopped.

It rained almost all night. But the show went on. Inside the cottage and shared spaces, everyone was coding, mocking up, or nervously practicing their pitch.

We raced between checkpoints, hoping our WebRTC logic wouldn’t crash right when a mentor asked about market validation. Somewhere between debugging a rogue TypeScript error and trying to align buttons in Tailwind, we also made a sprint through the rain to grab Soto Betawi for dinner. Cold toes, warm broth. Perfect combo.

But this wasn’t just about building a product, it was about learning to lead. As CEO, I had to make constant judgment calls: do we fix that UI bug or focus on the pitch deck? Should we rehearse or code? Not to mention the challenging checkpoint at 12AM and 3AM. Sleep wasn’t on the schedule. Neither was comfortable, but we kept on delivering.

I wasn’t the only one switching roles. We all did. That’s what made Team VOCTA special. Alwin pitched with clarity and calm even under pressure. Hamdy kept our numbers sharp and our business model grounded. We jumped between designer, debugger, and storyteller. It wasn’t about being a solo hero, it was about making space for everyone to shine. Because great leadership isn’t about doing it all, it’s about helping your team rise with you. There were pitch practice rounds at midnight.

But that’s where the growth happened, somewhere in that mix of adrenaline, rainwater, and last-minute decisions.

VOCTA was our idea of a real-time voice call widget that lets customers talk directly to a brand, right from a browser. No app installs. No switching to WhatsApp. Just click, connect, and talk.

Imagine a customer visiting a product page or CRM interface. With VOCTA, they can start a voice conversation with a brand agent instantly, right on the spot. That’s the experience we set out to build.

We started from scratch and sprinted for 24 hours to build:

, styled with Tailwind, that sits neatly on any website or CRM page.

, showing agent status (Available, Busy, Offline), call timer, and full WebRTC controls.

, handling offer/answer, ICE candidates, and clean media stream teardown.

, keeping both ends in sync from offer to hang-up.

, using a clone of Buttonscarves.com to showcase VOCTA in a real scenario.

We focused not just on features, but on flow how it feels to click that button, how fast the call connects, and how smooth the experience is from both customer and agent sides.

And of course, we polished the visual details. From avatar priority loading to click feedback, everything was tuned to feel production-ready. Because in a product like this, trust is built in milliseconds.

The result? A working prototype that we could proudly show in a live pitch. Real voice. Real UI. Real potential.

Dinner was Soto Betawi, and I’m convinced it healed our souls. Forget energy drinks—nothing fuels a night of debugging and pitch deck redesign like warm broth and a generous helping of rice. There was an actual buffet. Unlimited coffee. Snacks that mysteriously kept refilling. And yes, they even gave us sleeping tents. Not that we used them, of course we were too busy making our widget work.

And when the brain fog hit hard? We did what any responsible tech team would do: fired up the Nintendo Switch and played FIFA. Just one match, we said. Just one goal, we said. Suddenly it was 2AM and we were yelling “offside!” in the middle of a villa.

Still, somehow, the rhythm returned. Food → FIFA → Flow → Figma. That was the cycle.

It wasn’t just hacking. It was a 24-hour startup simulation with a side of FIFA and laughter echoing through the rain. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

By the end of it all, we stood in front of the judges, sleep-deprived, slightly jittery from too much kopi, but ready. We had working code, a live demo, a solid pitch deck, and a story worth telling.

We talked about the problem: how hard it still is to talk to a brand.

 customer-obsessed businesses across Southeast Asia.

 VOCTA, a simple voice widget that brings real-time conversations back into digital platforms.

 faster resolutions, better customer experience, and more meaningful brand-customer interaction.

Each of us had a role, and each of us delivered.Alwin opened strong, cool and composed, setting the stage like a true CCO—clarity, calm, conviction.

Hamdy followed with the business model breakdown—clean slides, tight numbers, and just enough storytelling to make a spreadsheet sound inspiring.

I wrapped it up with the demo and product walkthrough, balancing between explaining the tech and not breaking it live on screen.

Was it perfect? Not at all. Was it real? 100%.

We didn’t just talk about our idea, we lived it for 24 hours straight. And in that moment, VOCTA felt less like a prototype and more like the start of something bigger.

 wasn’t just a competition. It was a full-blown simulation of real-world innovation, complete with pressure, pivots, checkpoints, and yes… nonstop rain. But beyond the code and mockups, it was a 

. As the acting CEO of Team VOCTA, I had to 

strategize on the fly, delegate under pressure

 even when the clock said 2AM and the checkpoint was in 15 minutes.

, not just a builder. When to push. When to step back. When to say, “Let’s take five and play FIFA.” (Yes, we brought a Nintendo Switch. Best. Decision. Ever.)

Between coding sprints, food trays, soggy shoes, and late-night laughter, we walked away with something bigger than a prototype, 

the experience of leading a team, building under pressure, and having fun while doing it

And honestly? I’d do it all over again.

Posts in The Pivot Series

From CEO’s Vision to Moonshot Leadership: Telin’s Journey to TM Forum DTW Ignite 2025

Pitch Deck, Code, and Checkpoints: The VOCTA Telintrapreneur Hackathon Saga