How AI agents are reshaping the telecommunications industry

In 2024, telecommunications organizations didn’t just talk about generative AI — they embraced it, launching real-world applications with direct and tangible returns. Now, in 2025, hundreds of senior telco leaders agree: The imperative is building on these initial wins to generate even more value. Our second-annual ROI of AI in telecommunications report, commissioned by Google Cloud and conducted by National Research Group, confirms that gen AI initiatives continue to deliver, with 67% of organizations already seeing ROI on at least one use case. The survey also revealed a critical new differentiator helping telcos accelerate their AI journeys: AI agents — specialized large language models (LLMs) that can independently plan, reason, and perform tasks.

For all the findings, dive into the full report (and see how it stacks up against last year’s insights). Below, we’ve outlined the key highlights to show where the telco industry is generating new value and opportunity with AI — and showcases opportunities for your organization to do the same.

1. AI agents are a top priority for telecommunications innovation. 

With the ability to independently plan, reason, and execute complex tasks, AI agents offer new avenues for building intelligence directly into the business. According to the survey, 56% of telco executives reported their organizations are actively using AI agents in production, with nearly half (43%) saying they have already launched ten or more. Notably, one in five respondents also said these agents are deeply embedded across their operations. Furthermore, telco leaders are already looking ahead, with 42% prioritizing greater AI agent deployment as a key business objective and around half (55%) saying they plan to allocate at least 50% of their future AI budgets to agents. Together, these findings indicate that telcos increasingly consider agentic AI as fundamental to reshaping how they operate and innovate, marking agents as a top priority for driving growth and competitive advantage.

2. Specialized AI agents offer the greatest opportunities for impact.

Powered by gen AI, agents combine the intelligence of advanced models with access to enterprise data and tools, enabling them to take action on the behalf of users, under supervision. 

These breakthrough capabilities provide a springboard for scaling proven AI use cases for greater business impact, helping telcos build on existing wins. Our research shows that applications with broader organizational focus are the leading areas for deploying AI agents, with security (47%), technical support (46%), and customer service and experience (45%) coming in as the top use cases. However, the survey also indicated that the biggest opportunities for AI agents are industry-specific use cases — despite longer implementation timelines — as they can directly impact revenue generation, risk mitigation, efficiency, and competitive advantage. 

For instance, nearly two in five (39%) organizations reported deploying agents for configuring or automating networks and equipment. Roughly one-third of all organizations also indicated agent adoption for purposes directly related to their core business, including network remediation (34%), network agents (32%) and field operations assistants (31%), and network operations orchestration (31%). In addition, these industry-specific agents were among the top use cases that have already delivered ROI, such as network or equipment configuration and automation (27%), network remediation (22%), network agents (19%), and field operations assistants (19%).   

These insights indicate that telcos are starting to tackle higher-stakes areas that can help them drive growth and gain a competitive edge.

3. Foundational enterprise needs lay the groundwork for gen AI success. 

Upholding high levels of security for all intellectual property and assets across every touchpoint is imperative. As gen AI adoption increases, telco leaders are prioritizing foundational enterprise needs throughout their decision-making processes.

Around one in three executives (35%) indicated that data privacy and security is a top consideration when choosing an LLM provider, followed by scalability and performance (27%), integration with existing systems (26%), and cost (25%). These priorities suggest that telcos are focusing on building AI foundations first before evaluating differentiated capabilities or specific features, underscoring that meeting core requirements is critical for enabling the sustainable growth and impact of gen AI initiatives. 

4. AI investments are set to maximize business value. 

Overall, AI investment in the industry remains strong, with 76% of executives saying their organizations are increasing generative AI spend as technology costs fall. Even more significantly, organizations appear to be doubling down on AI applications that are delivering tangible gains in five key areas: 

Customer experience: A substantial number of organizations (60%) using gen AI saw meaningful customer experience impacts, with 29% realizing gains over 10%.

Productivity: Telecommunications organizations reported increases in employee productivity across both IT (72%) and non-IT (55%) workflows, with gen AI also helping to enable faster time to insight (58%) and better accuracy (55%).

Business growth: A large majority of telco executives (78%) reported revenue increases from gen AI, with growth also resulting from improved leads and new customers (68%), new products and services (66%), and more conversions (65%).

Security: Telco organizations reported improved security posture from gen AI, including improvements in identifying threats (82%), threat intelligence and response (72%), and time to resolution (58%). 

Marketing: Nearly half (49%) of all surveyed respondents reported that integrating gen AI solutions had a meaningful impact on their organization’s marketing outcomes. 

Together, these insights demonstrate that telcos are strategically increasing their gen AI investments, with a clear focus on applications in areas with proven ROI to maximize business impact.

Looking forward

As gen AI continues to mature and reshape the telecommunications landscape, organizations should be prepared to harness these powerful capabilities and scale their AI initiatives for maximum impact. Prioritizing AI agents, strategic investment, and a focus on applications that deliver tangible gains will be paramount for unlocking the next wave of business value.

Download the full report, “The ROI of AI in telecommunications,” to explore all our latest insights and findings.