Podcast

Ep 112 – AI agents are transforming telco, with Microsoft (Kevin Shatzkamer)

This week’s guest

Telco in 20 Featured Guest Kevin Shatzkamer Microsoft View Linkedin profile

Kevin Shatzkamer

CVP, Customer Experience Strategy and Operations Microsoft

The telecom industry is adopting AI at break speed. Unlike past innovations that demanded risky network transformations and long timelines, AI-based innovation is accelerating experimentation without disrupting core networks. 

For this episode, I sat down with Kevin Shatzkamer, corporate vice president of customer experience strategy and operations at Microsoft, to explore the power of agentic AI and why it represents such a transformative opportunity for telcos. Listen now to hear:

  • Why AI could be the fastest technology adoption in telecom history [03:37];
  • How AI agents reimagine processes instead of retrofitting existing workflows [08:16];
  • Ways Microsoft’s telecom customers are putting agentic AI to work in their business [12:00]; and
  • How telcos are unifying their data for deeper insights [13:17].

Links and resources

Wanna talk AI and public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.

Guest bio

With more than two decades of software and operational experience, Kevin Shatzkamer has a record of driving transformation and innovation at scale to improve customer experiences. In his role as CVP of Customer Experience Strategy and Operations, he holds operational, technical, and customer responsibilities. His portfolio of work includes strategy and planning, market insights, business performance, learning and development technical enablement, compliance, and AI adoption within Customer Experience. He serves as an executive sponsor for new Azure commitments and other mission-critical engagements, as well as oversees onboarding and AI innovation across key customers.

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Podcast credits

  • Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios, TelcoDR
  • Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
  • Senior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing
  • Audio Editor: Andrew Condell
  • Supervising Producer: Amanda Avery
  • Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio
  • Music: Dyami Wilson

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is AI adoption happening faster in telecom than previous technologies like public cloud?

AI is being adopted at unprecedented speed because it doesn’t require telcos to transform their core networks or make massive CapEx investments. Unlike past innovations that demanded risky infrastructure overhauls, AI focuses on OpEx improvements in customer experience, operations, and back-office functions. This shift allows telcos to experiment and innovate without the traditional “wait for perfect information” approach. As Kevin Shatzkamer notes, 96% of Microsoft’s Tier 1 telecom customers are already using Microsoft AI, making it potentially the fastest adopted technology in telecom history.

2. What’s the difference between traditional workflows and agentic AI flows?

Traditional workflows follow strict, predefined paths with programmatic if-then logic. Agentic AI flows can reason, make decisions, adapt to new information, and handle unpredictable situations autonomously. Instead of simply making human processes more efficient, agents reimagine processes from the ground up. They can self-heal, self-learn, and self-improve, moving beyond the brittle automation of the past. This means telcos can iterate at AI speed in their upper layers while maintaining their risk-averse approach to core network infrastructure.

3. What are the four levels of AI agent maturity that telcos should understand?

Level 1 is “humans first,” where AI assists with tasks like coding or content creation. Level 2 features humans and agents working side-by-side, with tasks allocated between them to free human expertise for higher-order work. Level 3 is “agents first,” where humans supervise and coach agents to improve performance, similar to a manager role. Level 4 is “agents only,” where self-sufficient agents communicate with other agents without human intervention. Understanding these levels helps telcos plan their agentic AI journey strategically. For more guidance on implementation, check out Anthropic’s guide on building effective agents.

4. How is Danielle Rios and Totogi approaching AI implementation for telcos?

DR and Totogi are working with real telcos to implement agentic AI by unifying business systems behind a domain-trained, telco-specific ontology. This approach unlocks data trapped in legacy vendor systems and enables deeper insights across operations. At MWC25, DR presented on building AI-first telcos and tackling legacy BSS tech debt. Totogi’s AI-first solutions are already delivering real revenue growth to operators today, with proven results like the North American operator that saved significantly by switching to Totogi’s billing system.

5. What Microsoft tools and platforms can telcos use to start building AI agents?

Microsoft offers multiple entry points depending on technical maturity. Fabric provides a telco industry data model to unify network, customer, and operational data. For agent development, AutoGen is an open-source, multi-agent framework, while Semantic Kernel offers orchestration capabilities. Copilot Studio enables low-code/no-code agent building, and Azure AI Foundry provides APIs for hardcore developers to build custom solutions.

6. Which telcos are successfully deploying agentic AI in production today?

Several major operators are already implementing agentic AI across their operations. Telkomcel and Vodafone are rolling out agentic AI in both customer experience and employee experience. Korea Telecom is deploying multiple industry-specific agentic automations. These implementations span customer service, network operations, field ops, sales optimization, and back-office functions. The success stories demonstrate that agentic AI isn’t theoretical—it’s delivering measurable results today, enabling telcos to innovate faster while maintaining operational stability in their core networks.