TLDR: A recent KPMG India report highlights that Agentic AI is set to profoundly transform India’s telecom sector, enabling autonomous systems for enhanced operational efficiency, customer personalization, and revenue growth. The report, titled ‘From Automation to Autonomy: Reimagining Telecom with Agentic AI,’ indicates that 97% of telecom companies are adopting or assessing AI, with 49% already integrating it into daily operations. India’s vast digital infrastructure, massive subscriber base, and data richness position it as a global leader in this AI-driven revolution.
New Delhi, October 9, 2025 – India’s telecom sector is on the cusp of a significant transformation, driven by the emergence of Agentic AI, according to a comprehensive report released by KPMG in India. The report, titled ‘From Automation to Autonomy: Reimagining Telecom with Agentic AI,’ was unveiled by Shri Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of Communications and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region, at the India Mobile Congress 2025.
Agentic AI, defined as AI systems that operate autonomously on behalf of humans, is expected to revolutionize the telecom landscape by enabling intelligent networks, predictive maintenance, hyper-personalized customer engagement, and real-time service orchestration. This shift empowers telecom operators to transition from reactive to autonomous systems, unlocking new levels of operational efficiency, customer personalization, and revenue growth.
The adoption of AI within the sector is rapidly accelerating. The KPMG report indicates that a remarkable 97% of telecom companies are either adopting or actively assessing AI in their operations. Furthermore, 49% of these companies have already embedded AI into their daily functions, a notable increase from 41% in the previous year. Half of all telecom companies have also successfully implemented their first Generative AI (GenAI) use case.
India is uniquely positioned to lead this global telecom AI revolution. The report identifies the nation as a natural testbed for large-scale adoption due to its massive scale, unparalleled data richness (evidenced by over 18 billion UPI transactions monthly), supportive policy reforms, and a thriving AI startup ecosystem. India boasts over 1.2 billion mobile subscribers and approximately 800 million broadband users, with an average mobile data consumption of nearly 32 GB per month, one of the highest globally.
The financial health of the sector is also improving, with the average revenue per user (ARPU) rising to approximately Rs 174.46 per month. Wireless data revenues have shown robust growth, increasing by 15.5% annually to reach Rs 2.15 trillion in FY24–25.
Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner and National Leader – Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT), KPMG in India, emphasized the strategic importance of this shift: “Agentic AI is more than a technological advancement—it is a strategic paradigm shift that empowers telecom operators to move from reactive to autonomous systems. This transformation will unlock new levels of operational efficiency, customer personalization, and revenue growth. India’s unparalleled scale, data richness, and innovation ecosystem uniquely position it to lead the global telecom AI revolution, creating models that others will follow.”
Also Read:
- Generative AI Drives Transformative Automation Across Industries in 2025
- Telecommunication Companies Grapple with Exploding Data Volumes, Eye AI for Automation
Globally, investment in AI is on the rise, with 65% of telecom operators planning to increase their AI spending in 2025. These funds are primarily directed towards building AI-ready infrastructure and upskilling the workforce. Business leaders in the sector plan to invest $25 million in new tech talent and $24 million in customer experience initiatives over the next 12 months. To guide this transition, KPMG has outlined an ‘Agentic AI Stack for Indian Telcos,’ a six-layer model covering customer experience, network intelligence, orchestration, data integration, and governance, designed to facilitate the move from traditional networks to intelligent, autonomous systems. KPMG India has called upon startups, academia, and partners to collaborate and innovate, fostering an inclusive and intelligent telecom ecosystem.
