Research by the Google Cloud has tracked a maturation of generative AI in the telecommunications industry during the past year. The research concludes that “gen AI” has found use cases in customer experience, productivity, and security, and that it is moving into the front lines.

A blog post from Google Cloud summarizes “The ROI of Gen AI in Telecommunications”:

• Almost seven in ten — 68% — of telecommunications companies have already moved gen AI into production. The percentage of those that have done so is greater than the 62% global average for all organizations. Attractive targets for companies who have not yet done so are improving customer experience, strengthening field and network operations, and optimizing productivity.
• Almost three quarters — 74% — of companies with gen AI in production are seeing ROI from at least one use case. Areas in which ROI is being realized include network optimization, predictive maintenance, and virtual call center agents. The agents both improve customer service and deliver clear and measurable KPIs.
• Almost half — 48% — telecommunications companies report productivity improvements that suggest employee productivity at least doubled. The core reason is that gen AI is managing routine tasks while employees focus on more strategic functions. Examples include creation of network agents that help field techs handle issues and sorting, summarizing, and responding to emails.
• Operational efficiency and customer experience are top priorities. The study found that 46% of respondents favor improved operations and 45% are interested in a better customer experience. The study found that gen AI can be mutually supportive of both goals. For instance, gen AI agents can understand customers better and use that knowledge to resolve inquiries more efficiently.

The report concludes that gen AI is a powerful and important tool: “Building gen AI agents to improve the customer experience, strengthen field operations, evolve autonomous network operations, and optimize IT transformation will be paramount.”