Across the telecom industry, the language of “AI‑first networks” and “AI‑native operations” has become almost ubiquitous. Every major event, from MWC to regional forums, features declarations about autonomous networks, AI‑driven optimization and self‑healing infrastructure.

Behind the scenes, however, many operators are still working with fragmented OSS/BSS landscapes, manually intensive operations centers and a complex mix of legacy and cloud‑native architectures. AI is present, but the operating reality often lags behind the rhetoric.

In our (Cyient’s) Connectivity business unit, Embracing Intelligence is the way we close this gap – not by adding more AI projects, but by reshaping how networks are planned, built and run.

What Embracing Intelligence Means in Connectivity

At an industry level, Embracing Intelligence is how we recognize both the critical role networks play in society and the genuine constraints operators face. Three principles help to inform this:

1. Reliability and trust come before slogans

Telecom networks are now part of national critical infrastructure. Outages and security incidents have direct consequences for economies, public services and everyday life. In this environment, Embracing Intelligence cannot simply mean “adopt AI everywhere”.

Instead, it means using intelligence – human and artificial – to strengthen reliability, resilience and security at every layer of the network stack:

• Designing architectures that are inherently more robust, using AI‑assisted planning and simulation.

• Embedding anomaly detection and self‑healing mechanisms that respond quickly while keeping humans firmly in the loop for high‑impact decisions.

• Ensuring that automated actions are explainable and auditable enough to maintain regulatory and public trust.

2. Operations should be Human + AI

Operators are facing a structural talent challenge: experienced RF engineers, planners and NOC/SOC analysts are in short supply, and the complexity of multi‑vendor, multi‑cloud, multi‑domain environments is increasing.

Embracing Intelligence in operations means designing Human+AI teams rather than fully autonomous systems, so that:

• AI handles large‑scale pattern recognition, correlation and routine actions.

• People focus on judgment calls, complex incident handling and customer‑facing decisions.

• Continuous learning loops ensure that every incident, change and fix makes the system smarter and the service and solution sharper.
  We believe that the objective is not to remove human operators, but to give them better instruments.

3. Monetization should be ecosystem‑centric

The 5G business case is under pressure. While coverage has grown and device ecosystems are maturing, many operators are still struggling to convert investment into new revenue streams.

Embracing Intelligence helps to reframe monetization as an ecosystem challenge, where:

• Telcos, hyperscalers, device OEMs, tower and fibre companies, satellite providers, ISVs and integrators all play a role.

• Data and insights need to flow across boundaries in responsible ways to enable intelligent solutions for manufacturing, logistics, cities, healthcare and more.

• Business models must reward outcomes – uptime, latency, security, sustainability – rather than simply selling more bandwidth.

If you view it this way, intelligent connectivity is as much about collaboration as it is about technology.

From AI Projects to Intelligent Network Modernization: What This Means for the Business of Connectivity

These principles make it clear that Embracing Intelligence is more than just a concept, or a statement; in fact, it’s a mindset for how operators and their partners should approach network modernization. 

It’s a mindset that has three distinct areas of focus that are equally important:

Focus #1

Planning and design: where intelligence should be embedded at the drawing board

Modernization programs often begin with technology choices – vendor selection, cloud strategy, spectrum plans. At Cyient, we argue that to really embrace intelligence you need to recognize that there is different starting point: 

• We have to understand and define the target experience and performance levels for different segments (consumer, enterprise, critical services).

• We use AI‑driven simulations and digital twins to model coverage, capacity, interference and failure scenarios across radio, transport and core.

• We ensure we incorporate energy, sustainability and resilience objectives into the design, not as afterthoughts but as constraints to optimize against.

This helps operators avoid incremental upgrades that replicate old issues on new platforms.

Focus #2

Operations: where intelligent assurance and automation can make a big difference to maintaining connectivity

In many networks, assurance still relies heavily on reactive monitoring and manual triage of alerts. However, as complexity grows, reliance on human pattern recognition alone becomes unsustainable. This is where Embracing Intelligence in operations can make a big difference, by:

• Deploying anomaly‑detection models that can identify issues earlier and with more context than traditional thresholds.

• Implementing closed‑loop automation for well‑understood, low‑risk scenarios – for example, localized self‑optimization – with clear escalation paths for complex cases.

• Providing operators with “copilot” interfaces that explain why a recommendation is being made and what trade‑offs are involved, so they can make informed decisions.



The result is a gradual transition from manual firefighting to proactive, intelligence‑assisted operations.

Focus #3

Monetization: where intelligent connectivity is a platform for industries

Network modernization is often justified on the basis of new revenue opportunities, but those opportunities rarely materialize automatically.

Applying Embracing Intelligence to monetization means:

• Working with enterprises and public sector organizations to understand their specific pain points – from factory optimization to grid stability to urban mobility – and designing connectivity as one component of a broader intelligent system.

• Using analytics and AI at the edge to turn raw connectivity into actionable insights and differentiated services.

• Creating joint offerings with ecosystem partners that combine connectivity, cloud, devices and applications into end‑to‑end solutions.

This approach aligns with what telecom leaders increasingly recognize: value lies in intelligent solutions, not just in selling connectivity.

How Embracing Intelligence is the Way to Intelligent Network Modernization

(At Cyient) Our Embracing Intelligence mindset emphasizes the convergence of human expertise, domain knowledge and AI to build systems that are safer, faster, more reliable and more adaptive.

In the Connectivity this means something very specific: Embracing Intelligence enables intelligent network modernization that balances innovation with reliability, and monetization with trust. Embracing Intelligence has a direct impact on business - translating into concrete implications for operators: how they plan networks, run operations and create value with partners. And, it reinforces the observation and belief that AI-first is not a solution in its own right, when it comes to Connectivity. 

Network modernization must be grounded in purpose, values and ecosystems, which requires a more balanced and considered approach that embraces intelligence responsibly, and in context.



For telecom operators, the challenge is no longer to prove that AI can be used in networks; that has already been demonstrated. The real challenge is to make intelligence an integral part of how networks are modernized – from design and deployment to operations and monetization – in ways that enhance reliability, resilience and trust.

Embracing Intelligence, viewed through the lens of Connectivity, is about moving from AI‑first claims to intelligent network modernization: using human‑plus‑AI capabilities to build networks that work better for operators, partners and, ultimately, the people and communities they serve.