AI Core Is Reshaping the Future of Telecom—And It’s Happening Faster Than Anyone Expected. But here’s where the story gets even more intriguing: the real transformation isn’t just about faster networks—it’s about creating an entirely new ecosystem where intelligent agents on devices and in the cloud work together seamlessly. And this is the part most people miss.
At the 10th 5G Core Network Summit in Bangkok, hosted by Informa Tech, George Gao, President of Huawei’s Cloud Core Network Product Line, delivered a keynote urging telecom operators to seize the massive opportunities emerging from AI. Gao emphasized that the industry is on the brink of a major shift: networks must evolve from traditional connectivity platforms into intelligent, agent-driven ecosystems capable of supporting next-generation digital services.
During the event, Huawei also unveiled the Striding Towards the Intelligent World White Paper 2025, which details seven major developmental trends in core networks. These trends revolve around the convergence of smart terminals, advanced service scenarios, and AI-native core network technology—all aimed at encouraging deeper collaboration across the entire industry.
Closing the Gap Between Terminals, Services, and the Network
Gao highlighted a growing reality: as devices and digital services increasingly adopt intelligent agent capabilities, networks can no longer remain passive. They must become active participants, capable of communicating, reasoning, and coordinating.
First, he identified the move toward network agentization. This involves integrating intent interfaces, network service agents, capability agents, and O&M agents directly into the network. With these components, the network can support A2A (agent-to-agent) protocols and MCP (model context protocols), enabling agents across different environments to communicate like teammates rather than isolated tools. For example, a terminal-side agent could request bandwidth optimization or service assistance instantly, and the network would respond intelligently based on the situation.
Second, Gao spoke about creating an agent communication network that spans multiple ecosystems. This includes adding A2A session management on top of standard IP sessions and expanding authentication beyond SIM-based methods to flexible digital identity systems. This shift opens the door for cross-platform interoperability in ways that simply weren’t possible before.
Four Strategic Paths Toward AI-Native Networks
Gao then laid out four major strategies to help operators transition their infrastructure into fully capable AI core networks.
1. Intelligent Network Services
By integrating AI agents directly into calling and communication services, operators can build entirely new types of user experiences. Take AI Calling as an example. Here, an AI assistant can interpret user intent, detect emotional tone, and understand contextual information—making calls smarter and more helpful than ever. Using the data channel (DC), networks can even enable interactive calling, where users can complete service actions during the call itself. In this model, your dial pad doesn’t just make calls—it becomes your gateway to AI-driven support.
2. Turning Network Capabilities into Products
Gao stressed that operators must evolve beyond simply selling data packages. By productizing network capabilities, telcos can begin offering experience-based services that customers can feel and value. Huawei describes five key elements for monetizing user experience: definable quality, guaranteed performance, clear productization, perceivable exclusivity, and dependable delivery.
For instance, with technologies like media relay, operators can dramatically enhance HD video reliability, improve the quality of third-party applications, and build premium service tiers that customers are actually willing to pay for. Some might argue that telcos shouldn’t commercialize network ‘quality’—but this debate isn’t going away anytime soon.
3. Autonomous Network Operations (O&M)
To boost efficiency and reliability, Gao proposed introducing digital employees—AI-driven systems that handle complex network monitoring and management tasks automatically. Huawei’s AI core network uses several cutting-edge technologies, including digital twins, agent frameworks, and the industry’s first MoM (mixture-of-models) architecture. This model combines fast-inference systems with deep-reasoning AI to achieve single-domain autonomy and paves the way toward Level-4 autonomous networks.
4. Diversified Telco Cloud Computing Power
In the mobile AI era, networks must support staggering numbers of agents and massive service loads. Gao explained that integrating AI computing resources into telecom infrastructure is essential. Through unified orchestration and resource pooling, operators can create a single cloud capable of handling both traditional computing tasks and large-scale intelligent computing workloads.
The Bigger Picture: A Total Ecosystem Shift
Gao ended his keynote with a bold claim: AI Core isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s a fundamental re-engineering of the telecom ecosystem itself. As networks become intelligent, operators gain new revenue pathways, stronger market positions, and the ability to deliver entirely new categories of digital services.
And here’s the controversial question: Will operators fully embrace this shift, or will resistance to change slow the industry down? What do you think—should telcos dive into AI-native networks aggressively, or take a more cautious approach? I’d love to see your thoughts in the comments.
