Google Cloud’s journey towards the ‘agentic telco’ to reshape network AI

For more than a decade, Google Cloud has worked with the world’s leading global providers in network modernisation, global operations, IT transformation and contact centre experiences. Angelo Libertucci, global head of industry – telecom at Google Cloud, explained that in each of these areas, the technology giant has provided what he refers to as traditional cloud-based value – integrating AI into each area to provide greater value.

“In 2026, we’re starting to see the beginning of a new era – what we call the agentic telco,” he said.

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The “agentic telco” refers to AI agents operating behind the scenes with context and the ability to reason based on the information they have.

“They can enact cross-functional workflows to provide greater levels of efficiency and productivity across the enterprise,” Libertucci explained.

Google Cloud has supported organisations like Bell Canada on its autonomous networking journey, ultimately reducing customer complaints by 25%. Likewise, after announcing the RAN Guardian with Deutsche Telekom last year, the average time of network management events has been reduced by 95% – creating what Libertucci called “real value” out of cloud and AI.

As agentic AI further enters mainstream conversation, he expressed excitement about the telco industry’s embrace of AI.

“Consumers want experiences that are human-like, instantaneous, frictionless and tailored,” he said. “With the work we’re doing to build what we call the proactive loyalty engine, they’re achieving strong results.”

At MWC Barcelona 2026, Google Cloud demonstrated how it could connect an autonomous agent to identify, diagnose and fix its own problems without human intervention. For its customers, the goal is to make the network invisible – integrating its Gemini model across the full stack to enable continuous intelligence.

“The agent detects an anomaly – it uses an agent-to-agent protocol to autonomously connect with the platform, which can initiate a trouble ticket and dispatch a field service technician,” Libertucci said. “At the same time, we can identify which subscribers were affected and inform the contact centre agents, so carriers can proactively inform customers.”

Partnering to scale autonomous networks

Working to accelerate the next era of mobile, Google Cloud is partnering with a range of companies to advance autonomous networks.

For instance, it is delivering GraphML-based AIOps with NetAI by launching a pilot project with MasOrange. It is designed to demonstrate how specialised partner models can run on Google Cloud’s AI stack to resolve network incidents, while providing greater confidence for autonomous action.

“We’re building a digital twin and leveraging graph neural networks. The advantage is that they can now mathematically model what a fibre cut might look like and how it might propagate through the network,” Libertucci said.

By embedding AI into operations, he added that companies like Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone are able to reduce operational complexity and turn connectivity from a utility into a value-creating engine.

“We’re expanding our long-standing partnership with Vodafone, which will be leveraging our autonomous network framework network-wide,” he said. “They’re using agents to remediate network changes based on business intent, which is where they get a tremendous amount of value.”

He added: “With Deutsche Telekom, we’re expanding the RAN Guardian agent and announcing Minder, which brings the same autonomous detection and remediation capability network-wide across all DT properties.”

Unlocking the future

Google currently runs the world’s largest private network, overseeing two million miles of fibre in an autonomous way. Libertucci said all of the technology giant’s products and services it offers are run on this network.

“We’re proud of the service levels we maintain,” he said. “Carriers are looking for our prescriptive point of view on how to architect their way to that level of autonomy and that’s something we can share and replicate with them.”

Looking ahead, the company desires to meet the changing needs of consumers head-on – offering immediate value and reducing churn, while lowering OpEx.

“[We] can unlock data that wasn’t previously accessible, giving the business the ability to offer the services customers want to receive,” Libertucci said. “For us, that journey is about Gemini Enterprise and our leadership in data and AI.”

When leveraging an agentic platform like Gemini Enterprise and embedding it within BSS, OSS and IT systems, Libertucci explained that intelligent agents have the ability to activate cross-functional workflows.

“That bridges the gap between a network event and a commercial or business outcome, which is ultimately the goal,” he added. “Long-term, it’s about one Google in every hand.”

Google Cloud now works with carriers to achieve this across their operations and into their services.

“We’re orchestrating a single thread of intelligence so that, at some point, the network becomes invisible,” he said. “But the experience becomes seamless for the everyday user.”

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