Telcos Double Down on AI as 90% Report Positive Returns
Telcos Double Down on AI as 90% Report Positive Returns
Publish Date: 2026-02-20 15:51:00
Source Domain: www.pymnts.com
Telecom operators’ relationship with artificial intelligence (AI) is now defined by results, not rhetoric. Nvidia’s 2026 State of AI in Telecommunications survey, which polled more than 1,000 industry professionals globally, found that 90% of operators say AI is driving positive return on investment (ROI) and boosting both revenue and cost efficiency, while 89% plan to increase AI spending in the near term.
The most notable shift is where that ROI is coming from. Instead of leading with customer service chatbots, telecom operators are seeing the strongest returns from network automation and internal process optimization.
Network Automation Becomes the Leading Source of Value
Nvidia’s report shows that roughly half of respondents identified network automation as the top AI use case driving ROI, ahead of customer service and marketing applications. That reflects a broader industry recognition that the network itself is the highest-leverage domain for AI deployment.
AI models are being applied to predictive maintenance, traffic optimization, fault detection and spectrum allocation. These capabilities allow operators to prevent outages before they occur, dynamically reroute traffic during congestion and reduce energy consumption in radio access networks.
Bain cautioned that fully self-driving networks remain an aspirational goal for many operators. However, Bain noted that targeted AI deployments in service assurance, network planning and operations support systems are already delivering measurable cost savings and faster incident resolution times. Rather than attempting end-to-end automation immediately, operators are layering AI into high-impact workflows where returns are clear.
Vendor strategies are evolving accordingly. Ericsson recently partnered with Mistral AI to embed advanced AI capabilities into telecom operations. The collaboration focuses on automating troubleshooting, modernizing legacy code bases and accelerating next-generation network…
