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Susan White is AVP Strategy at Netcracker. In this interview with TM Forum, she discusses the role that agentic AI will play in network modernization and why speed is now of the essence as CSPs look to transform their business operations.
Susan White
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Focusing on connected outcomes is key as CSPs move into an AI-native era
CSPs should think of “The Future. Faster” as an opportunity, but also as a warning, says Susan White, AVP Strategy at Netcracker. This also means they need to understand how AI redefines the telecom business from connectivity into intelligent value creation.
SW: AI, and in particular agentic AI, is fundamentally changing the telecom business model – and the change is happening under our feet. Connectivity alone is no longer sufficient to compete effectively in an environment in which hyperscalers and digital-native players are capturing an increasing share of customer engagement and digital value creation.
CSPs must fundamentally rethink how they operate and compete. AI is the engine for intelligent monetization, personalized engagement and rapid service innovation. At Netcracker, we see greater urgency from telcos to shift from static products and reactive operations toward AI-driven business models that can dynamically personalize offers, predict customer needs, automate engagement and optimize service delivery in real time.
Properly implemented, AI becomes a powerful enabler for new consumer enterprise services, ecosystem-based revenue models, and hyper-personalized experiences. The operators that succeed will be the ones that embed AI natively across all layers of the business, rather than treating it as a standalone tool or a set of stovepiped initiatives.
SW: Traditional OSS/BSS environments were designed for a very different era, primarily focused on traditional voice and data services. The AI era demands something entirely different: real-time intelligence, continuous automation and the ability to adapt instantly to customer, network and market conditions.
In this context, CSPs should think of “The Future. Faster,” as an opportunity, of course, but also as a warning that with the speed of adoption across multiple industries, telcos will need to embrace agentic AI to remain competitive and to keep pace with rapidly shifting market requirements. This should be a call to action: If network intelligence, customer engagement and monetization systems are disconnected, CSPs cannot deliver the real-time orchestration and decision-making required for modern digital services.
At Netcracker, we believe modernization is more than digital transformation. It’s about enabling the speed, flexibility and intelligence required to compete in an AI-driven economy. Operators that fail to modernize risk losing out on the higher-value digital relationships and revenue streams.
SW: In the enterprise market, CSPs can combine connectivity with edge computing, private networks, security, analytics and AI-powered assurance into integrated digital solutions. AI-driven operations allows operators to dynamically provision services, automate SLA management and optimize network performance based on customer intent and business outcomes. That creates opportunities for premium enterprise offerings with significantly higher value potential.
Network APIs are another major opportunity. CSPs possess highly valuable network assets, but historically those capabilities have been difficult for developers and enterprises to consume. AI-powered orchestration and API exposure enable operators to monetize network intelligence in new ways, opening the door for ecosystem-driven innovation across industries such as manufacturing, transportation, healthcare and media.
On the consumer side, hyper-personalization becomes a major differentiator. AI agents enable CSPs to proactively predict churn, recommend individualized offers, automate support interactions and create contextual experiences tied to customer behavior and network usage patterns. Instead of static product catalogs and reactive customer care, operators can deliver highly adaptive digital experiences that strengthen loyalty and increase customer lifetime value.
The key is integration. Monetization cannot happen in silos. Network automation, customer engagement, partner ecosystems and revenue management must operate together as part of a unified AI-native environment. That convergence has been central to Netcracker’s strategy because it allows CSPs to innovate faster while reducing operational complexity.
SW: The combination of Netcracker and CSG creates a uniquely comprehensive platform for AI-driven operations, monetization and customer engagement at global scale. Importantly, it aligns very closely with TM Forum’s industry priorities around composable IT, autonomous operations and accelerating AI and data adoption across the telecom ecosystem.
Netcracker is a global leader in digital BSS and OSS solutions, AI-driven automation and cloud-native platforms. CSG has built a strong customer base through its leadership in BSS, as well as customer experience and payment solutions across telecom and other industries, including financial services and healthcare. Together, the combined business brings complementary strengths in technology, customer segments and geographic reach.
This is particularly important as CSPs pursue TM Forum’s vision for autonomous operations and open digital ecosystems. AI adoption cannot remain experimental. Operators are demanding faster time-to-value, simplified integration and measurable business outcomes. By combining operational intelligence with customer and monetization intelligence, we believe the industry can accelerate the move from fragmented automation toward truly intelligent, AI-native telecom enterprises.
SW: The industry is reaching a point where incremental efficiency improvements are no longer enough. CSPs are looking for partners that can deliver measurable business impact in the form of faster service innovation, stronger customer engagement, improved operational resilience and new monetization opportunities.
At DTW Ignite 2026, Netcracker will stand out by focusing on connected outcomes rather than isolated technology demonstrations. We will showcase how AI redefines the telecom business from connectivity into intelligent value creation across consumer, enterprise and wholesale markets.
In network delivery, we are focused on helping operators move from fragmented automation toward high levels of autonomous operations powered by intent-driven orchestration and closed-loop AI-intelligence. In customer experience, we are demonstrating how predictive engagement, hyper-personalization and intelligent automation can transform digital customer journeys. And in monetization, we are showing how CSPs can unlock new value made possible by new creative business models, ecosystem partnerships and AI-powered enterprise services.
What differentiates Netcracker is our ability to connect these domains together with an intelligent AI-native platform where network intelligence, customer engagement and monetization work together in real time.
Ultimately, the operators that succeed in the next phase of the industry will not simply deploy agentic AI and AI tools. They will rearchitect their businesses around intelligent, automated and monetizable AI-native ecosystems. That is the vision Netcracker intends to demonstrate at DTW Ignite 2026 – helping CSPs move faster toward the future of telecom business itself.
