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

• Take a look at Kevin’s LinkedIn post about how AI has the potential to be the fastest adopted technology in telecom history.
• Read Anthropic’s guide on building effective agents.
• Watch my talk from MWC25 on how to build an AI-first telco, and how operators need to tackle the legacy tech debt in their BSS estate to do it.
• Check out my conversations with TelecomTV and Mobile World Live about how Totogi’s AI-first solutions are delivering real revenue growth to telcos TODAY.
• Learn more about the North American operator that switched billing systems and saved big bucks with Totogi.
• Read more about Microsoft’s tools for telcos:
  • AutoGen
  • Semantic Kernel
  • Copilot Studio
  • Fabric
  • Azure AI Foundry
• How to write a book with AI tweet thread
• Check out this episode on our YouTube channel. 
• You can find the episode transcript here.

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. 

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This week’s guest
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.

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