The death of Amdocs

“I predict one day Amazon will fail. Amazon will go bankrupt. If you look at large companies, their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years.” – Jeff Bezos

If the world’s richest man can predict the downfall of his own trillion-dollar company, is it really a stretch to predict Amdocs will fall one day, too?

You guys know all about Amdocs, the 41-year-old $5B revenue company that is the largest enterprise software provider in the telco industry. So, what will bring down Amdocs? A few weeks ago, I saw something that made me think it could be the beginning of the end.

Klarna, the innovative fintech company, made waves by announcing it’s parting ways with Salesforce and Workday. Its plan? Replace these SaaS mainstays with in-house systems powered by AI. Needless to say, this raised eyebrows from Silicon Valley to Wall Street.

Reactions have ranged from intrigued disbelief to outright skepticism. Even Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff chimed in, likely sensing the potential implications for his own company. But here’s the thing: if Klarna succeeds, it’s not just an interesting experiment. It could be the beginning of a significant shift in enterprise software.

So, let’s consider the bigger picture: Could AI be poised to disrupt the entire enterprise software market? And the question that should be on every telco exec’s mind: Is there potential for AI to replace our complex, customized business support systems (BSS) with more agile, AI-driven alternatives?

In my view? Abso-effing-lutely.

Klarna doubles down on AI

For those unfamiliar, Klarna is a fintech powerhouse that’s revolutionizing e-commerce with its “buy-now-pay-later” model. But its latest move? It’s not just disrupting payments—it’s potentially upending the entire enterprise software landscape.

CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s ambitious project to replace established SaaS giants with GenAI-powered alternatives is nothing short of audacious. As a software company, Klarna should have the technical chops to pull this off. But more importantly, if it has cultivated an AI-first culture internally, it’ll have the mindset to completely reimagine these applications from the ground up.

Even if Klarna doesn’t nail it on the first try, we’re witnessing the dawn of a new era. Major Large Language Models (LLMs) are evolving at breakneck speed, and their coding capabilities improving exponentially. It’s not a question of if, but when Klarna—or one of the myriad AI startups flush with funding—will succeed in this endeavor.

One thing’s crystal clear: it’s a perilous time to be a dinosaur software vendor. Declaring the death of Amdocs might seem bold, and as a self-proclaimed software girl, I’m not blind to the complexities of replacing entrenched enterprise software. But let’s face it—the writing’s on the wall, and it’s in AI code.

So, what does this mean for the telecom industry? If a fintech company can potentially replace CRM and HR systems, imagine the possibilities for BSS. The question telecom execs should be asking isn’t, “Could this happen?” but “How can we make this happen for us?”

Let’s break down what it will take to turn this AI-powered vision into a reality.

The challenges of AI-generated enterprise software

Let’s cut through the hype and get real about AI-generated enterprise software. While it’s enticing to think of using AI to whip up your own enterprise apps instead of buying them from vendors, developing software with AI is not without challenges—at least at the moment. I should know; my company Totogi is trying to do this with BSS for telecom. I’m coming at you with real experience—blood, sweat, and tears shed as our team works to overcome hurdles.

Everyone’s knee-jerk reaction to the Klarna news started with the fact you have to comply with legal, regulatory, and security concerns. That’s actually the easy part. Let’s talk about all the other problems you have to solve before you get to that stage, like…

These systems are complicated.

Enterprise software like CRM and ERP systems are incredibly complex, with intricate business logic, workflows, and integrations. Teaching an AI to understand and replicate these nuances is a monumental task. In telecom, imagine the complexity of a BSS that needs to handle real-time billing for millions of customers, integrate with various network elements, and manage complex product catalogs. But since the products are usually also super bloated with features users don’t use, Klarna (and you) can skip about 90% of the features in the product and just focus on the functionality your organization needs, making the task easier.

You’ll be on a roadmap of one.

Every organization has unique processes. While AI can create highly customized code to mirror your own internal processes, you’ll be managing the product, trajectory, everything. But with Amdocs, you were already on a roadmap of one with all of your expensive customizations. With AI, you don’t have to hire the technical talent to do this. AI can code and manage the product for you, but you will need master AI prompters, AKA Centaurs, to keep the features rolling into the “product.”

MIT’s research on “Centaurs”—the collaboration between humans and AI—shows that when used effectively, AI can boost productivity by up to 40%. In BSS development, this means having skilled workers who can guide AI within its capabilities, understanding both business requirements and AI limitations. This “Centaur” approach is crucial for navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape, and something you need to be hiring for, now.

Someone (you) has to test and maintain it.

Enterprise software requires regular testing, updates, and maintenance to prevent technical debt and keep up with the market. AI can generate code, sure. But will you be able to direct the AI to test, maintain, and update the software over time? In telecom, where regulations and technologies are constantly evolving, this ongoing maintenance is crucial. The MIT study emphasizes the importance of cognitive effort and expert judgment when working with AI. This suggests that while AI can handle much of the coding, human experts will still play a crucial role in these areas.

The big upside

Those are some very big, very real challenges. But as AI capabilities continue to evolve at breakneck speed, we can expect these hurdles to become easier to overcome in the near future.

The potential rewards of AI-generated enterprise software are too significant to ignore. By streamlining features to match your organization’s specific needs, you can dramatically simplify the user experience. Plus, you’ll gain the ability to make rapid, on-demand changes to help you stay agile in a fast-moving market. But best of all: custom AI solutions could slash costs by up to 90% compared to traditional vendors’ hefty fees for licenses, customization, upgrades, and maintenance.

As we navigate this new frontier, the question isn’t whether AI will transform enterprise software development, but how quickly we can adapt to harness its full potential. The key will be developing a workforce of Centaurs who can effectively collaborate with AI, understanding its strengths and limitations to create truly revolutionary software solutions.

BSS Magic to the rescue

So, how can you get the good stuff without getting mired in the bad? Lucky for you, I have an answer. Totogi is already working on an AI-powered solution to help operators build their own custom software. Totogi BSS Magic is our AI-powered BSS generator  that starts by modifying the BSS systems you already have, to help you begin to build your own BSS system.

At its core is what we call the (AI)PI—an AI-driven intelligent layer that harmonizes your existing BSS data. This step is critical in order to begin the climb to create a custom BSS just for you. Our vision is that business users (not technical consultants) will be able to do it unassisted. As I mentioned above—this is a tall order, but with the continual improvement of LLMs, I think it is possible. As part of our vision board, this is what we’re thinking:

• Allow business users to create entire BSS modules tailored to their specific needs, no coding required.
• Create user interfaces instantly, eliminating the need for a dedicated UX team.
• Build integrations between complex systems to support deeper insights and streamlined operations.
• Slash development time by a factor of 10, turning months of work into days.

BSS Magic will redefine the BSS landscape, leaving dinosaur vendors in the dust.

From vision to reality

Like I said, it’s a vision. But let’s come back to reality for a moment. We’re not close to this vision… yet. However, we’ve continued to improve BSS Magic since our demonstrations at Mobile World Congress and TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World earlier this year. I’m happy to report we continue to make progress, and I want to share the latest capabilities telcos can use today. (This one’s for you, John Abraham!)

BSS Magic has made significant strides in three key areas:

1. Rapidly move data between different vendors’ BSS systems, reducing weeks of work to hours. We can map system-to-system (for version upgrades) or even source-to-target for swap outs.
2. Convert plain English statements of work (SOW) into actionable project plans, code snippets for consultants, and system impact summaries to accelerate project planning and execution. Our consultants love the analysis to make sure they’ve thought of the downstream effects of making a change to the BSS.
3. Create “applets” and simple applications around a BSS system to accelerate project work, bypassing costly consultants. These are things like a temporary tool, test cases, or a quick report to make sure the project resources stay focused on high-impact tasks.

These advancements significantly reduce time, cost, and complexity in BSS operations and development, and it’s just the beginning. With each new AI model release, Totogi’s Centaurs are working with the “jagged technological frontier” of AI to make BSS Magic more and more powerful each day. We’re committed to pushing the boundaries until business users can generate their own BSS.

Ready to revolutionize your BSS and take control of your telecom operations? Let’s talk about how the latest version of BSS Magic can transform your business, just like Klarna is doing for its business. Come on telco—it’s time to take back control of your BSS and shape your future in this new AI-driven world.