Vodafone And Google Cloud Explore Telecom Gen AI Potential
Globally, generative AI is changing sectors, and the telecom sector is no exception. Generative AI has the potential to completely change the telecom sector, from individualized customer service and efficient content production to network optimization and increased efficiency.
Leading telecoms company Vodafone is aware of the enormous potential of advanced AI to transform its network engineering, development, and operations. Vodafone is starting an exciting journey to include generative AI into its network operations as part of its expanding, multi-decade cooperation with Google Cloud. The goal is to boost productivity, stimulate innovation, and optimize costs.
This blog post will explore the innovative ways that Google Cloud and Vodafone have used generative AI to increase productivity, creativity, and customer pleasure. They look at practical applications and give an overview of how this game-changing technology will develop inside Vodafone in the future.
The genesis of generative AI in Vodafone’s network
When Vodafone and Google Cloud began talking about the possible uses of gen AI in network use cases in late 2023, the roots of this partnership were planted. In March 2024, Vodafone and Google Cloud launched a hackathon in recognition of the technology’s revolutionary potential, bringing together more than 120 network experts with extensive knowledge of networks and telecoms but little expertise with AI/ML.
Innovation was sparked by this event, which led to the creation of 13 demonstration use cases using a combination of classical machine learning methods, Vertex AI Search & Conversation, Gemini 1.5 Pro, and a code generation model. These comprised:
- AI-powered site evaluations: Using pictures, determine whether installing solar panels at RAN locations is feasible right away.
- Using natural language searches, Doc Search for Root-Cause-Analysis (RCA) enables staff members to find pertinent material fast.
- Natural language to SQL (NL2SQL): Developing intuitive user interfaces to enable colleagues who are not technical to use generative AI for activities such as SQL query generation.
- Network optimization is the process of creating AI-driven tools to identify problems with networks, forecast possible outages, and help with setup.
With the help of Vodafone’s industry knowledge and the expanding possibilities of cloud computing, these creative solutions show how easily generative AI can be applied to real-world problems in the telecom sector. When the creative use cases from the Vodafone and Google Cloud hackathon specifically, RCA and NL2SQL were presented together at DTW 2024 in Copenhagen, other telecom companies keen to leverage the potential of generative AI expressed a great deal of interest.
Unveiling the potential: Understanding the network design, deployment and operations workflows
In order to have a thorough grasp of the normal workday in network departments, Vodafone and Google Cloud conducted in-depth interviews with a variety of network stakeholders. Network professionals’ problems and difficulties were clarified by these interviews, which also showed a wide range of areas where gen AI may be very beneficial.
The business case study that followed showed how using modern AI technologies might result in significant time and cost savings.
Vodafone and Google Cloud demonstrated the concrete advantages of gen AI in optimizing workflows, improving decision-making, and boosting efficiency, with over 100 use cases emerging from this network space discovery phase. Vodafone is working with Google Cloud to produce the following prioritized sample of gen AI for network use cases:
Empowering network operations with knowledge at their fingertips
During complicated occurrences, network operations teams frequently struggle to obtain vital information. It can take a lot of effort and impede quick resolution to move away from extensive documentation, incident reports, network topologies, and strategic plans. Vodafone is giving network operators immediate access to the information they require by leveraging Vertex AI Agent Builder‘s capability to extract and synthesize relevant information from these documents. They are able to make well-informed decisions more quickly as a result, which lowers downtime and improves network dependability overall.
Streamlining network engineering with automated documentation
It takes a lot of effort and time to create technical documentation, including network diagrams, high-level designs (HLDs), and low-level designs (LLDs). Multiple engineers and vendors are frequently involved, which might cause delays and irregularities. Vodafone plans to automate the creation of these papers by utilizing Gemini’s multimodal capabilities and artificial intelligence. Although human inspection is still essential, gen AI may offer a strong basis, saving engineers time, speeding up time to market, and enhancing the precision and coherence of technical documentation.
Transforming network development with data-driven insights
Large volumes of contractual data are thrown at network development teams, making analysis and decision-making difficult. Vodafone will using gen AI to examine thousands of contracts, extracting important terms and provide insightful information for the creation of contract templates. Together with ground categorization skills, gen AI can also make it possible to create digital twins of the Vodafone network. This minimizes mistakes and maximizes resource allocation by enabling more precise and efficient design and implementation of new network actions.
Enhancing customer fulfillment with AI-powered field technicians
Field technicians are essential to guaranteeing client pleasure. On-site visits, or truck rolls, are expensive and time-consuming. Vodafone will reduce the need for truck rolls, enable more efficient on-field responses, and prevent repeat dispatch by utilizing gen AI to provide field professionals with real-time information and multimodal troubleshooting help. Vodafone will save a lot of money as a result, and customers will have better experiences.
These applications demonstrate how gen AI has the ability to completely change a number of facets of Vodafone’s network operations. Vodafone’s usage of Gen AI is driving innovation and enabling a more customer-focused, agile, and efficient future.
Vodafone’s big bet: generative AI for the future
Vodafone’s network divisions stand to gain a great deal from the incorporation of Gen AI:
Zero-touch operations and accelerated automation: Gen AI can speed up network job automation, helping Vodafone meet its automation objectives more quickly and effectively.
Cost reduction: Gen AI can drastically cut Vodafone’s operating expenses by automating repetitive processes and streamlining network operations.
Time savings: Network workers may save a significant amount of time by using Gen AI-powered solutions to optimize operations and facilitate quicker decision-making.
Increased effectiveness: Gen AI has the potential to increase Vodafone’s network operations’ overall effectiveness through clever automation and optimization.
Innovation catalyst: Gen AI gives Vodafone the ability to stay ahead of the curve by creating new opportunities for innovation in network management, optimization, and design.
Building on past success: AI Booster and Neuron
Vodafone’s ambitious aim to integrate generative AI into all facets of its company is based on AI Booster and Neuron. Vodafone relies on these programs to research and apply cutting-edge AI.
Vodafone uses AI Booster, a Google Cloud Vertex AI-based machine learning platform, to build AI. Fast and efficient design allows this platform to create and apply AI models quickly. AI Booster’s strong automation and security features enable Vodafone’s data scientists to move from proof-of-concept to production with ease, greatly speeding up the rate of innovation.
Neuron, Vodafone’s specially designed “data ocean” hosted on Google Cloud, is a perfect match for AI Booster. As a central hub, Neuron compiles enormous volumes of data from all throughout the company into a single, easily accessible storehouse. The creation of potent generative AI applications is fueled by this data, which is essential for AI models training and analysis.
Imagine having an AI that can forecast possible problems, evaluate the performance of network components, and even recommend the best settings to avoid downtime. Vodafone is enabling this kind of revolutionary impact by fusing the extensive data resources of Neuron with the model creation capabilities of AI Booster.
Vodafone is able to create and implement innovative AI solutions with speed and efficiency thanks to the collaboration between AI Booster and Neuron. Faster insights, more precise forecasts, and eventually an improved customer experience are the results of this. Vodafone is putting itself at the forefront of the generative AI revolution in the telecom sector by making an investment in this strong foundation.
In conclusion
Vodafone’s work on generative AI marked a turning point in CSPs’ AI-powered future. Vodafone can use current AI to generate remarkable productivity, innovation, and cost savings. Vodafone’s dedication to pushing the limits of technical progress and providing its customers with outstanding network experiences is shown by this strategic cooperation with Google Cloud.
