As operators move from deploying a handful of agents to creating TM Forum Autonomous Networks Level 4 processes, they face significant headwinds. To overcome these, they require a solid long-term plan, a clear understanding of the risks they face, and a technical and strategic roadmap. Today, operators have live agents in production and a vision […]
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I have recently finished a competitive landscape document working with Caroline Chappell at Cambridge AIQ. We interviewed 13 large and small vendors providing network assurance to telcos; asking them questions about their product set around agentic systems and AI. We found: A cautious market: Service assurance is a good starting point for agentic AI, but […]
Read MoreAI is heading down the hype curve. Keep your nerve. Having owned a few dots on Gartner hype cycles over the years, I recognise this moment. Your “AI and agentic systems” dot has passed the peak, and the voices of doom are starting to drown out the tech-bro marketing frenzy. The temptation is to push […]
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This diagram was created using a “risk register” spreadsheet containing 400+ identified risks from developing an autonomy architecture. Each risk was scored: on the x-axis with a score for the importance of implementing a solution (1 = minor importance, 2 = of some importance 3 = very important, 4 = extremely important). A higher score […]
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The diagram below shows telcos’ position on an autonomy maturity model (see previous post for more details): Looking at the positioning of these verticals, the following was observed: New revenue opportunities were strong motivators The two leading verticals have distinct yet aligned reasons for moving forward. For science and research, the ability to run trials […]
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The diagram below outlines a technical maturity model for telcos looking to move towards autonomy. It provides a visual representation of the stages: the x-axis shows the name and number of the stage the y-axis gives a feel for the number of processes and sub-processes that require capabilities from this stage – as can be […]
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Assurance leads the way in the move from a scattering of ML deployments across the telco towards a future of more coordinated automations using agentic systems and multiple AI/ML tools to provide closed-loop, intent-based autonomy. This is driven by the need for more than simple, rules-based automations and the deployment of increasingly data-rich environments such […]
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Building a long-term plan to tackle the challenges of building an agentic architecture will require considerable effort. The diagram below highlights various categories of resolutions to these challenges (for example, “technical solutions for creating model accuracy” includes a wide range of AI techniques). The quadrant maps these resolutions by: the expected difficulty of implementing a […]
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To move from a few agentic pilots to larger deployments, telcos must focus on developing a range of new technologies, which can be visualised as situated within an “agentic architecture”. The architecture articulates the layers of technology and supporting processes required to build agentic systems: Human: the architecture places the needs of users at the […]
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The diagram below was constructed using a spreadsheet of 280 potential opportunities for telcos to provide data and A3 (AI, automation and analytics) products to their enterprise customers. The feasibility score assesses the likelihood of a telco successfully providing data and A3 products for the particular use cases in a vertical. 0% suggests no opportunity […]
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