Network operations have long been treated as a cost center for Telcos and operators. Network operations are a silent but vital part of operations, remaining invisible until they react to a problem.
This system has never been ideal. But with growing demand and mounting complexity, this approach is totally unsustainable.
Thankfully, a shift is underway. With the help of LLMs and agentic AI, network operations can evolve into a strategic asset.
This mindset will soon become essential. Autonomous solutions can cut costs, speed up decisions, and build more resilient networks.
The Invisible Cost Center
Network operations are built on responsiveness. When something breaks, teams jump in to find and fix the problem. And when they do their job well, no one notices.
But this model is reactive by design, and it comes at a cost.
Problems trigger interventions where each step consumes time, resources, and human attention...
And because the work stays behind the scenes, its value is often overlooked.
But because this dynamic is viewed through a lens of expense, this mindset affects how operators seek solutions.
This creates a perception that network ops are a necessary expense, not a competitive tool. That mindset limits innovation, stalls investment, and hides opportunities for real change.
Think of this as an elevator.
Past and present solutions are like having a team of elevator technicians who show up after riders are already stuck.
Soon, these elevators will soon be responsible for carrying significantly more people: the new riders will expect rides to become faster with time and more readily available.
But the best your solution can do is get the existing ride back to speed after an interruption.
Why This No Longer Works? Complexity.
Today’s networks are more complex than ever.
Operators manage 5G alongside legacy technologies. Virtualization, cloud infrastructure, SaaS, and vendor diversity all add new layers of complexity.
With every new service or upgrade, the surface area for problems expands. As such, the number of incidents grows.
Too much data comes in from too many places. Teams spend far too much time correlating fragmented signals across RAN, Core, and Transport systems.
Problems escalate before they’re even noticed. SLA violations slip through, and customers may churn before anyone knows why.
Ops teams are overwhelmed, and more dashboards only add to the problem.
Telco is at a point where scaling existing solutions can't yield the results to keep networks functional, let alone grow. Like how the fires our ancestors built to cook food couldn't propel a modern jet, a new paradigm is needed.
Automation That Makes Smart Ops Possible
Solving modern Ops challenges requires a smarter underpinning, not more tools and fragmentation.
Kenmei’s automation stack is built around three key components:
Telco Fabric. A unified layer that collects, decodes, and enriches data from across the network. It supports multi-vendor, multi-RAT environments and runs on cloud, hybrid, or on-prem infrastructure.
AI/ML Algorithms. Intelligent models detect and classify issues like interference, congestion, or misconfigurations. Instead of operating within static thresholds, these models adapt over time and improve with every use.
AI Agents. Each agent focuses on a specific task, such as anomaly detection, QoS triage, or conducting root cause analysis. Agents make decisions and take actions in real time, based on data from the fabric.
These technologies enable operators to transition from a reactive to a proactive model. Eventually, Telco adopters can enjoy the advantages of full autonomy.
From Cost Center to Competitive Advantage
Unified intelligence empowers engineers by enabling issue resolution often before users even notice. Troubleshooting happens in minutes instead of hours.
Other benefits include:
- Chronic problems get fixed for good. Recurring issues are flagged and eliminated, improving long-term network reliability.
- Data pipelines are reusable. Teams don’t need to rebuild for every new use case—they scale solutions faster and apply insights network-wide.
- Drive tests become optional, not routine. This reduces manual overhead and makes operations more efficient.
- Workload scales smarter. As complexity grows, effort doesn’t have to—teams avoid the linear expansion of Ops.
- The model becomes leaner and more sustainable. Fewer customer-impacting events, better performance across the board.
- Ops shift from reactive to proactive. Network operations become a strategic edge, instead of just a cost center.
Why Kenmei Is Different?
Kenmei’s solutions are built for the real-world complexity of telecom operations.
Once decoded by the Telco Fabric, data becomes reusable across dozens of use cases with no rebuilding or duplication required. We support multi-vendor environments and different deployment models, all while avoiding vendor lock-in.
Our platform is modular, allowing teams to start small and scale as needed.
And most importantly, our tools are designed for engineers, and not dazzling executives. Teams get transparency, control, and value from day one.
From Reactive to Autonomous (One Step at a Time)
Smart automation turns operations into a performance advantage. With unified data and AI agents in place, Telcos can detect issues, resolve them fast, and scale solutions across the network.
The right architecture lowers OpEX, boosts reliability, and builds resilience into every layer.
Want proof?
📥 Download: Old Ops vs Smart Ops — The Real ROI of Telco Automation
• See how modern Ops outperform legacy models
• Compare key KPIs across cost, speed, and quality
• Built for Network Ops and Engineering leaders
