Netcracker showcases multiple facets of AI in action at Innovate Americas

The fast transition from GenAI to a more expansive approach to Agentic AI is driving significant enhancements across our portfolio, says John Byrne (JB), Director, Strategy, at Netcracker. He adds that although that will dominate discussions at Innovate Americas this year, his company is also addressing the overarching challenge of ensuring that pervasive end-to-end network security is “built in” and not an afterthought.

TM Forum: What areas of AI are you focusing on at this year’s TM Forum Innovate Americas?

JB: We will be focusing on several key areas. First is the continued progress in Agentic AI: we believe we have done more than any vendor to commercially deploy GenAI for our customers across a growing list of operations and monetization use cases. Second, we are showing new innovations in our Agentic AI solution that leverage emerging protocols to connect AI Agents with the necessary data systems and tools to act and achieve goals. Third is our affirmative approach to end-to-end security through automation, AI and DevSecOps so that telcos can assure their customers, especially in B2B, that they can deliver mission-critical use cases with confidence.

TM Forum: Where does security fit into Netcracker’s development plans and activities at the event?

JB: The telecoms industry needs to take a stronger stance on more resilient, end-to-end network security as a core competency. All telcos must “own” security if they want to build high-value, mission-critical use cases in industries like healthcare, transportation and energy. Netcracker will be spearheading a keynote session that addresses the growing cybersecurity threat including how innovation in AI and collaboration across the ecosystem can create more resilient supply chains.

We’re excited to demonstrate our Enhanced Security Framework. It has never been more important considering the increasing number of threats faced by operators as their networks become more complex, and the number of endpoints and partners continue to increase. Netcracker has poured decades of delivery experience into its security framework to keep customer solutions safe and compliant with local security and data sovereignty regulations. Security must not be afterthought; our framework bakes in best practices, processes and tools to deliver end-to-end protection across networks, applications, environments and day-to-day operations.

At Innovate Americas we will also highlight our DevSecOps services. They are run by dedicated teams that blend expertise in development, security and operations to build security into every phase of the software lifecycle. The aim is faster delivery of secure, high-quality software without slowing innovation.

TM Forum: What areas will you be talking about regarding AI’s progress?

JB: Many customers are embracing GenAI and Agentic AI and seeing immediate value from doing so – these are not just proofs of concept but real deployments. We will be showcasing some of those use cases and that value, in both operations and monetization. In monetization in particular, we have deployments of Agentic AI across the entire revenue lifecycle: for example, autonomous agents observing rating, billing and collections data in real time, generating narrative explanations or recommended actions, learning from outcomes and refining their logic on the fly. This creates a virtuous cycle in which every customer query, error pattern or late payment becomes a point of feedback that improves billing accuracy, speeds decisions and frees staff for higher value work.

We are also using Agentic AI for automated assistance in product catalog configuration, which helps accelerate deployment of billing offers and minimizes errors.

TM Forum: How should we think about the buzz around agentic AI heading into Innovate Americas? Is it hype or real?

JB: For Netcracker, it is very real. The industry coalesced around the concept of “agentic AI” this year, but we have been down this path for several years, before the industry settled on the “right” terminology. The apparent momentum of the past year – including the development of open protocols such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent2Agent (A2A) – are forcing a discussion on common building blocks that align very well with our approach to Agentic AI.

Against that backdrop, Netcracker will be taking the opportunity at Innovate Americas to take its Agentic AI Solution for telcos to the next level, to scale AI beyond small pilots into creating real, business-wide impact. We will be talking to customers about important updates to our portfolio that center around three innovations: ready-to-deploy telecom AI agents, an enhanced, open Agentic AI Platform; and AI features integrated directly into every part of Netcracker’s digital IT portfolio. All these developments will help operators automate more, innovate faster and build trust in AI-driven operations.

Regarding ready-to-deploy AI agents. Netcracker has a substantial, growing number of purpose-built agents designed for telecom use cases, covering everything from customer journeys to core network operations. These agents are not one-size-fits-all; they can connect seamlessly to any LLM, data system or operational tool and adapt in real time to meet goals. Service providers can run them individually for quick wins or orchestrate them for complex, end-to-end workflows so they can realize value right away and scale up at their own pace.

Let me emphasize that Netcracker isn’t just dropping off tech at the doorstep. We partner closely with providers to prioritize use cases, define return on investment and continuously measure value as deployments expand. Netcracker positions its Agentic AI as the way for operators to capture near-term benefits while building a lasting competitive edge.

TM Forum: How does Netcracker Cloud Platform support SaaS-based growth and long-term cloud strategies for service providers?

JB: Clearly all operators need to embrace principles of cloud-native development to achieve the scale and agility they need for emerging requirements. Increasingly, that calls for a forward-looking approach to IT investment that is SaaS-based and continuously updated. Netcracker Cloud Platform is built to help service providers scale OSS and BSS applications using microservices and containers, so everything is flexible, modular and easy to scale across private, public or hybrid clouds. Since it’s powered by open-source staples like Kubernetes, Docker, Kafka and Cassandra, it’s future-proof and agile – supporting rapid upgrades and zero-downtime deployments.

Simplicity is a big win here. With a low-code/no-code studio, teams can design workflows, business rules and integrations using drag and drop, which cuts time to market dramatically. GenAI-powered agents lighten the load further by automating development tasks, troubleshooting and through business optimizations. Deployment and operations are similarly streamlined and DevOps-driven, regardless of the cloud platform. Real-time monitoring plus AI-driven alerts make scaling and incident management proactive rather than reactive, and help lay a foundation for innovation and growth without the headaches of traditional operations.

Register for Innovate Americas here.