The intersection of Artificial Intelligence, especially GenAI and Agentic AI, and experience is not just a trend; it is a strategic imperative for communications service providers and enterprises aiming to thrive in the digital landscape Sudarshan Srivastava, Senior Vice President at Verizon and Sanjeev Kumar, Vice President at HCLTech, emphasized at a recent event, Innovate Americas 2025 in Dallas, that GenAI and Agentic AI deliver real value only when they transform both customer and front-end employee experiences. This article draws on real-world case studies and programs in the telco and communications service provider industry, highlighting both successes and failures.
GenAI’s four dimensions of impact in communications
Srivastava and Kumar break down GenAI’s impact into four strategic areas, each illustrated with practical examples from communications service providers and telcos:
- OPEX reduction
GenAI-powered self-service, field operations and operational team innovations are automating repetitive tasks, freeing up employees for higher-value work. In telecom operations, predictive maintenance and resource allocation powered by GenAI have led to measurable cost savings and productivity gains. - Accelerating time to market
GenAI is a catalyst for rapid innovation, enabling communications service providers to move beyond traditional OPEX savings and create new business models. Rapid prototyping and intelligent automation have resulted in faster product launches and differentiated offerings, giving communications service providers a competitive edge. - Driving revenue growth
Personalization engines and next-best-offer capabilities powered by GenAI have unlocked new revenue streams. Real deployments in the telco sector demonstrate that value creation and long-term customer loyalty go hand in hand when AI is used to tailor experiences and offers. - Legacy modernization
Many communications service providers still rely on legacy infrastructure. The pragmatic approach is to use Agentic AI to wrap or incrementally modernize these systems, delivering immediate gains without waiting years for full-scale transformation. This approach enables communications service providers to unlock value from existing assets while preparing for future innovation.
Breaking the Net Promoter Score plateau
A recurring challenge for communications service providers is moving beyond mid-range Net Promoter Scores. GenAI and Agentic AI can break this cycle by transforming communications service providers into intelligent service providers that deliver more than connectivity; they deliver intelligence and value. However, the real challenge is ensuring data is not just clean but meaningful, so organizations can build effective GenAI models and deliver experiences that matter.
Overcoming legacy and data challenges
Legacy platforms and fragmented data are recurring hurdles for communications service providers. The solution is to standardize data integration and adopt composable IT architectures. By wrapping legacy systems with unique API strategies or moving to modular architectures, communications service providers can unlock differentiated customer experiences without the need for massive overhauls.
Empowering the frontline: Employee and customer experience
GenAI’s real power is in reducing the cognitive load on frontline employees, letting them focus on high-value transactions and conversations. For example, a mobile app relaunch built around GenAI became more conversational and remembered customer responses throughout the journey, strengthening relationships and experiences.
Network and OSS: Unlocking B2B opportunities
GenAI’s role in network and Operations Support Systems is especially significant for B2B enterprise customers, whose needs are highly project-driven and custom. In the public sector, AI agents have been deployed in healthcare and law enforcement to respond dynamically to evolving scenarios, cutting deployment times from days to less than a day.
Lessons learned: Failures, adaptation and continuous improvement
The journey to GenAI transformation is not without setbacks. Early failures in prompt engineering made it clear that deep domain understanding and process design are non-negotiable. Productivity and value come from thoughtful, expert-driven approaches, not shortcuts. Investing time in robust prompts and leveraging subject matter expertise was key to overcoming initial failures and delivering meaningful results.
Embrace holistic transformation
AI, GenAI and Agentic AI are now touching every layer of the communications stack, drawing a direct line to improved customer experience and business outcomes. Srivastava and Kumar urge organizations to embrace holistic transformation, invest in expertise and stay agile as new use cases and innovations emerge. Their closing thought at the event session: “Next year is going to be interesting. Stay tuned for a lot more.”
Clarity, focus and the path forward
As GenAI and Agentic AI continue to evolve, communications service providers and enterprises must embrace holistic transformation, invest in expertise and stay agile as new use cases and innovations emerge. The future of communications is intelligent, adaptive and customer-centric, all powered by GenAI.
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