The field should not wait for the network

From fragmented field operations to AI-assisted autonomy

Field operations remain one of the most resource-intensive areas of telecom, with service activations, fault resolution and maintenance activities still often dependent on repeated humanintervention, manual handoffs and specialist support.

That is the challenge addressed by the Catalyst project, LIA FieldOps: Autonomous AI agents for field technician support. The project focuses on reducing the dependency between field teams and centralized NOC or operations center specialists by giving technicians real-time, AI-assisted guidance and enabling approved actions to be executed directly through integrated workflows.

The underlying issue is fragmentation. Operators typically work across disconnected OSS/BSS platforms, ticketing systems, inventory, service assurance tools, topology data, alarms and operational knowledge bases. The information exists, but it is not always orchestrated in a way that supports safe, real-time, context-aware decision making at the operational edge.

For service providers, this has a direct commercial impact. Escalations increase cost-to-serve, slow restoration and activation, and consume scarce specialist resources on routine issues that could be resolved earlier through structured guidance and controlled automation.

How LIA FieldOps brings decision support to the technician

LIA FieldOps introduces governed, context-aware AI agents into field and central operational environments. When a fault, service order or field activity is triggered, the agent brings together live network and service data, alarms, topology, ticket history, customer and service context, operational playbooks and enterprise workflows.

Using this operational context, the agent can recommend the next best action, guide the technician step by step through troubleshooting, execute approved backend actions through APIs, update systems automatically and escalate only when confidence, policy or risk thresholds require human intervention.

The Catalyst uses TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture as the architectural foundation for a modular, component-based approach. It also applies TM Forum Open APIs to connect field operations, service assurance, trouble ticketing, inventory, orchestration and OSS/BSS domains, while using SID and shared information modeling principles to improve interoperability across systems.

The project is also aligned with TM Forum Autonomous Networks principles and maturity direction, showing how ODA-aligned AI agents can provide a practical step toward more autonomous operations without requiring operators to replace their existing operational stack.

Reducing escalations and improving service outcomes

The expected impact is measurable. In the Telefónica Vivo FieldOps use case, the solution indicates potential for a 35–50% reduction in NOC escalations within 90 days by enabling more routine issues to be resolved at field level. In the PA Digital Service Desk and Pantheon Operations Center scenario, early results point to an approximately 35% reduction in human-driven operations center interventions, with around 35% of activations resolved without overflow through the LIA x Magic Tools API integration.

For operators, this means lower NOC workload, faster troubleshooting cycles, improved resource utilization and more consistent field execution. Specialist teams can focus on higher-complexity cases, while repeatable tasks are handled in a more structured and autonomous way.

Guilherme Fernandes Silveira, Engineering Director, Digital Transformation, Networks at Vivo (Telefônica Brasil), said the Catalyst shows “how AI can deliver real operational impact in telecom, not as a future concept, but as a practical capability integrated into day-to-day operations.” He added that by improving the interaction between field teams, the NOC and the operations center, the solution can reduce escalations, increase efficiency and improve service quality in measurable ways.

For customers and end users, faster activation and restoration can improve service continuity and reliability. For the wider industry, the Catalyst provides a reusable model for applying AI agents, Open APIs and ODA-aligned operational workflows to live telecom operations.