Reliable autonomy starts with connected intelligence

From fragmented autonomy to reliable, holistic operations

Autonomous networks are moving quickly from ambition to operational necessity.

As AI-era services become more dynamic, distributed and business-critical, communications service providers need to launch services faster, assure them more reliably and operate at machine speed without increasing operational complexity.

This fragmentation is especially challenging as CSPs look to monetize advanced 5G services. Business intent, service operations, network assurance, and customer experience are often managed across separate domains, creating gaps between commercial objectives and operational execution. Selling 5G standalone slice connectivity together with edge-based AI computing requires more than network automation alone. It demands connected intelligence across BSS, service management, network operations and customer experience, enabling commercial intent to be validated, fulfilled, monitored, and continuously optimized end to end.

The Moonshot Catalyst, Autonomy accelerated: Connected intelligence for reliable agentic operations - Phase III, addresses this challenge by showing how CSPs can move from isolated automation to reliable, holistic autonomy. The project focuses on the Autonomous Networks Mission challenge and demonstrates a practical model for combining autonomous networks with AI-driven BSS to support B2B sales, service assurance, and zero-touch operations.

Connected intelligence for 5G AI slice monetization

The Catalyst demonstrates how CSPs can streamline the full sales and delivery process for advanced 5G AI slice services. In the showcased stadium-event scenario, a CSP sells and delivers a 5G AI slice with edge-enabled capabilities for AI glasses, live streaming and low-latency fan experiences. This creates a concrete monetization opportunity by packaging guaranteed connectivity, edge intelligence and service assurance into a differentiated B2B offer. Connected intelligence brings together intent, trusted data, observability, knowledge graphs, agentic reasoning and closed-loop automation so that decisions are coordinated across business, service and resource domains.

Building on this foundation, the project brings together agentic lead generation, negotiation and intent probing with autonomous service qualification and fulfilment, helping CSPs answer three critical questions before committing to a service opportunity: can we sell it, can we deliver it and at what price? By combining commercial intent with real-time operational intelligence, the solution supports more dynamic, context-aware service packaging and pricing for advanced 5G and edge AI services.

The Catalyst also demonstrates how different forms of AI can work together across the service lifecycle. AI-driven analytics monitor services, identify risks and predict incidents, while agentic AI coordinates decision-making and closed-loop actions across incidents, problemsand changes, helping break down traditional barriers between network operations and service management. Many assurance outcomes still depend on service-management workflows such as dispatch, change approval, customer SLA tracking, and verified resolution. The Catalyst shows how recommendations generated through the assurance path flow directly into these workflows, enabling CSPs to complete service restoration with full traceability and auditability.

A key differentiator is its focus on trusted or “reliable” autonomy. Rather than treating AI as a black box, the Catalyst adopts a glass-box approach in which operators can understand what an agent recommends, why it recommends it and what data was used before actions are approved or executed. Combined with policy guardrails and human-in-the-loop controls, this transparency helps CSPs scale autonomous operations safely in live, mission-critical environments. Rather than anchoring autonomy only in network insights, the Catalyst uses a common data foundation to connect decisions to business impact, security context, and end-user experience. This gives CSPs a wider view of how autonomous actions affect customers and services while maintaining appropriate governance and oversight.

Afnan Ahmed and Sana Khan, Director NW Strategy and Architecture and Director Digital Transformation Strategy at Telenor, said the leap from intent to impact is no longer theoretical for Telenor, but “an operational necessity in a world where manual processes have become a bottleneck.” They added that by partnering with Nokia on Phase III, the team is “bridging the gap between complex AI ideation and bottom-line financial performance.”

Standards-based autonomy from intent to assurance

The solution is grounded in TM Forum-aligned openness, using ODA principles, Open APIs, and autonomous network assets to create a common language between business, service and resource operations.

The project uses TMF921 for intent probing and reporting, alongside TMF633, TMF645, TMF639, and TMF638 to support service discovery, qualification, inventory management slice attachment.

It also draws on a broad set of TM Forum components and guides, including TMFC050, TMFC001, TMFC002, TMFC003, TMFC015, TMFC060, TMFC007, TMFC008, TMFC009, TMFC027 and TMFC036, as well as GB1086, GB1339, IG1274M, IG1251, IG1252, IG1253, IG1345, IG1395 and IG1310. Together, these assets provide a standards-aligned foundation for intent, digital twins, data management, lead and opportunity management, guided selling, knowledge management, and autonomous network architecture.

By aligning TM Forum ODA and Open APIs, the team created a common language and architectural framework to reduce integration and testing time. This helps make the model more repeatable for CSPs that need autonomy to scale across complex operational and commercialmultivendor environments.

The Catalyst was recognized as one of the top five finalists in the Moonshot Attendees' Choice category at DTW Ignite 2026.

Faster services, fewer failures and lower costs

The project team expects the solution to deliver measurable improvements across monetization, operations, customer experience, and cost efficiency. Key outcomes include faster service onboarding, drastic reductions in service failures, significant OPEX savings, and operational efficiency gains.

The business impact statement points to a transformative shift from fragmented to reliable, holistic network autonomy, with the potential to speed up time-to-market for new services by up to 90% and cut costs by 30%. Alongside these gains, the Catalyst demonstratessignificant assurance improvements, including a 96% reduction in mean time to detect (MTTD) and an 83% reduction in mean time to repair (MTTR). For CSPs, this means autonomous decisions can be made with a fuller understanding of service context, customer impact, and commercial value, while improving operational resilience, service reliability, and customer experience.

For customers and enterprises, the benefits are more reliable digital experiences, faster issue resolution and services that can adapt when conditions change. For CSPs, the wider value is strategic: autonomy becomes a growth enabler, helping them monetize 5G slicing, edge AI and AI-era services while improving operational efficiency and customer trust.

As Ahmed and Khan put it, intent-based automation and digital twin technology are helping Telenor turn sophisticated models into “a self-governing network that removes operational barriers and drives unprecedented cost efficiencies.” They said the project proves that Level 4+ autonomy is “the primary engine for unlocking new growth and service reliability today.”