Take the product manager who launches a successful new product in terms of sales, but who fails to take into account the impact the product has on the network, or the fact it drives a huge influx of calls into the call center. These associated costs outweigh the benefits of the new sales.

That’s why Amdocs is working on a new platform to enable service providers to make the best decisions possible, by putting artificial intelligence on top.

Discussing how to refine the business with a whole new approach to data and AI at TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World, Amdocs CMO Gil Rosen pointed out that the communications industry has been adopting vertical AI use cases: for example, AI being deployed in network, AI being deployed in call centers, AI being deployed in ecommerce.

However, the next-generation of AI, he said, has to live on top and make a decision for the entire organization, just as our body has one brain for the whole body “and not one brain for the hand and one for the leg.”

Minimum viable data

“I like the idea of AI on top,” agreed Dan Noel Natindim, Vice President & Head of Enterprise Data Office, at Globe Telecom, adding that the hard part for any organization was to bridge the silos between the business and the technology teams so that they could embed data models in their daily operations.

One solution Globe has developed is the concept of minimum viable data (MVD), finding and curating vital data from within the big data, and putting it as MVD “at the fingertips of the decision makers, in a way that’s accessible.”

Data doesn’t need to be an enigma

Indeed, Rosen stressed, “AI doesn’t need to be an enigma.” AI needs to be something every product manager, every marketing manager and definitely the Cx level can use by looking at a dashboard and understanding the numbers.

3-step approach: cloud, data networks, then AI on top

Looking to the future, Rosen said service providers need to look at how they move their data to the cloud and aggregate it there, create data networks consolidating all the different pools of information and then have the platform with AI on top to enable them to get the answers. And it won’t just be one element of the business that benefits.

“Our vision” said Globe’s Natindim, “is for every job function at Globe to benefit from analytics. There are front runners like product, marketing, network, but equally we want HR, finance, facilities, sales to also adopt these technologies and apply AI in their day-to-day.”