Planning for day zero AI-driven operations: a live discussion
Rakuten Symphony
The mission is to connect everybody and enable all to be. Rakuten. Telecom Reinvented.
"Automation across silos doesn’t work. You need a connected system from day zero." – Vivek Murthy, President, OSS Business Unit, Rakuten Symphony
As telcos get set to head to DTW Ignite in Copenhagen, one truth stands out: AI and automation in telecom networks can’t be bolted on after the fact. In this pre-DTW episode of Zero-Touch Live, Vivek Murthy joins Rakuten Symphony CMO Geoff Hollingworth to explore why intelligent operations must be built in from the beginning.
The replay is available now below.
From Fragmented to Connected
Vivek opens the conversation with lessons from his time at BT, where he led OSS transformation programs and platform development. There, he saw how siloed operations can be effective locally but ultimately limit visibility and diminish the customer experience at scale. The larger fallout? Fragmented planning, disconnected systems and isolated service centers that can result in 15+ NOCs, inconsistent data and dashboards that offer surface-level insights without enabling true service assurance.
In Vivek's view, layering AI onto this complexity doesn’t work. Instead, telcos need a digital-first, cloud-native foundation that connects planning (day zero), provisioning (day one) and intelligent operations (day two). Without it, AI efforts stall as they become limited by fragmentation and a lack of usable insight.
The takeaway: AI success starts by simplifying the operational model, not automating complexity. That means making tough choices early, like retiring legacy systems, rethinking processes and laying the groundwork for scalable, real-time operations.
Going to DTW Ignite?
Catch Vivek at the show to hear how Rakuten Symphony is helping operators rethink OSS and turn AI into business value.
Be sure to read Vivek’s Zero-Touch newsletter article on this topic and drop a note in the comments if you’d like to connect.
Solution Architecture | Customer Experience | Nokia radio access network operations automation and operability expertise | #OpenToWork
2moWell said! Thinking that magical AI glued on top of something is a silver bullet is definitely wrong. From network operations viewpoint, traditional fragmented approach should be exploded and e.g. planning, provisioning and (preferably self-healing capable) assurance should be considered as dependent operations or even a closed-loop, although process-wise tasks are seemingly separated and handled by different stakeholders. Vendors in their product strategies and CSP’s in their operational methods tend to stick in the comfy silos – “I’m just responsible of X, couldn’t care less of Y” – this doesn’t really support transformation towards TM Forum specified higher autonomy levels (L4/L5). Also, vendors should consider simplifying their equipment and system level operability, although it is definitely easier and more cost efficient just to add new functionalities and technologies on top of existing ones, without providing in-build automation or abstraction, i.e. not considering the "operability big picture". Ref. also: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rakuten-symphony_as-futurenet-world-london-wraps-this-week-activity-7326302104589856768-IUdU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAEoGux8Bnsfj1iJspbh2OgvZpkqQEmKKXBE