Artificial intelligence drives autonomous networks, customer service gains

Research conducted by Nvidia indicates that artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the telecommunications sector, creating fresh revenue streams and business opportunities as adoption accelerates across the industry.

The company’s fourth annual State of AI in Telecommunications survey, carried out between September and November 2025, gathered insights from 1,038 participants. The respondent base consisted of roughly 60% senior leaders and executives and 40% technical professionals, including engineers, network specialists, architects, cloud operators and IT experts.

Participants represented a broad cross-section of the ecosystem, including internet service providers, software vendors, network equipment manufacturers, consultants, telecom operators and system integrators.

Findings show that AI is delivering measurable financial benefits. Nearly 90% of respondents reported that AI initiatives are contributing to higher revenues while simultaneously lowering operational costs.

Among telecom operators—who made up about one-quarter of respondents—90% confirmed positive effects on both revenue and expenses. Around 60% stated their organisations are either deploying or evaluating generative AI solutions, a notable increase from 49% in 2024. Additionally, 89% emphasized the strategic importance of open-source AI models and software.

Strong returns and revenue gains are prompting further investment. Close to 89% of respondents expect their AI budgets to rise over the next year, compared with 65% in the previous survey. Of those, 35% anticipate budget growth exceeding 10%.

When asked about use cases delivering the greatest ROI, half cited autonomous network operations, followed by customer service enhancements (41%) and internal process optimisation (33%).

According to Nvidia, the results reflect significant momentum toward autonomous networks—AI-powered systems capable of self-configuration, self-repair and self-optimisation with minimal human oversight. Based on the autonomy framework developed by TM Forum, 88% of organisations currently fall within levels 1 to 3. Adoption of generative and agentic AI is expected to accelerate progress toward fully autonomous level 5 networks.

Industry leaders echoed this outlook. Sebastian Barros, managing director of Circles, described AI as driving a major transformation in telecom. He noted that service providers are expanding their role beyond data transmission to delivering intelligence across regulated infrastructure. Autonomous systems are already producing fast returns by reducing manual, repetitive work, particularly in energy optimisation, fault detection, configuration management and capacity planning.

Similarly, Chetan Sharma, CEO of Chetan Sharma Consulting, highlighted that autonomous networks generate ROI more quickly than other AI applications because they directly cut outages, energy use and manual intervention. He added that agentic AI enhances this impact by enabling real-time coordination across networks, IT systems and customer interactions, converting insights into automated decisions.

The survey also identified growing investment in edge computing, which is transforming network design by positioning AI inferencing closer to end users through distributed infrastructure. Telecom companies are simultaneously increasing funding for AI-native radio access networks (RAN) and 6G research.

Many respondents view AI-native wireless architecture as a major industry shift ahead of the conventional 6G rollout. Approximately 77% expect deployment timelines for AI-native networks to move faster than traditional cycles. More than three-quarters anticipate AI-native networks launching even before full-scale 6G deployment.

Investment priorities include improving spectral efficiency, enhancing RAN performance for edge AI applications and accelerating 6G research and development.

Beyond network transformation, AI is also delivering widespread productivity improvements. Nearly all respondents reported enhanced employee efficiency, with 26% noting substantial gains in task completion speed and output quality. These improvements are driven by generative and agentic AI tools implemented across operations, from back-office functions to core network management.

Voice Of Osiz

At Osiz, we view the rise of AI-powered autonomous networks as a defining moment for the telecom industry. The shift toward self-optimising, self-healing systems reflects how intelligent automation is becoming central to operational excellence. Beyond network performance, AI is also transforming customer service through predictive insights and real-time responsiveness. This dual impact—efficiency in infrastructure and enhancement in user experience—demonstrates the tangible ROI AI can deliver. As an AI Development Company, Osiz recognizes that generative and agentic AI are not just incremental upgrades but strategic enablers of long-term growth. The acceleration toward autonomous frameworks signals a future where networks adapt dynamically with minimal human intervention. We believe organisations that invest in AI-driven innovation today will lead the next phase of digital transformation.

Source: ComputerWeekly.com