# AI in telecoms: which tasks to automate first Updated October 2026 Across the 591,190 US jobs in telecommunications, the work scores 49 of 100 for AI exposure, weighted by how many people do each job. AI can take on about 784 hours a year per full-time person, 39% of a working year. The task that frees the most hours across the industry is to keep records of customer interactions or transactions, about 186 hours a year for each person who does it. AI exposure, weighted by employment 49 out of 100 Moderate exposure Hours AI can take on 784 hours a year per full-time person Task time AI can do today 22% AI speeds up another 49% ## Tasks to automate first The 15 tasks where AI can take on the most hours across telecommunications: how exposed each task is, how much of the job it takes and how many people do that job. Hours are per person in the role that does the task. [How we score each task](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). | Task and who does it | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments, as well as actions taken. AI transcribes and summarizes interactions into case records automatically. Done by customer service representatives. | 85% AI can do it 186 hours a year for each person in the role | | Maintain customer records using automated systems. CRM record keeping is routine data entry for automated systems. Done by sales representatives of services. | 82% AI can do it 109 hours a year for each person in the role | | Compute and compare costs of services. Cost calculations and comparisons are simple for software and AI. Done by sales representatives of services. | 78% AI can do it 104 hours a year for each person in the role | | Complete contract forms, prepare change of address records, or issue service discontinuance orders, using computers. Structured form filling and address changes suit AI well. Done by customer service representatives. | 85% AI can do it 168 hours a year for each person in the role | | Create forms or agreements to complete sales. Agreements and forms generate from templates with minimal review. Done by sales representatives of services. | 72% AI can do it 96 hours a year for each person in the role | ## What stays with people 29% of the task time across these roles needs a person, and the output of the rest still needs someone to check it. The tasks below take the most of that time. - **22%** AI can do it - **49%** AI helps - **29%** Needs a person - Distribute promotional materials at meetings, conferences, or trade shows. Sales representatives of services, 8% exposed - Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment. Cable technicians, 15% exposed - Travel to customers' premises to install, maintain, or repair audio and visual electronic reception equipment or accessories. Cable technicians, 8% exposed - Measure signal strength at utility poles, using electronic test equipment. Cable technicians, 10% exposed - Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment. Cable technicians, 4% exposed ## Adoption path Start with the tasks where AI helps a person, then automate the routine ones, then give whole workflows to agents with a person approving the output. 1. ### Quick wins Support and sales staff get account summaries and reply drafts from an approved assistant. Example: Monitor market conditions. AI helps with 55% of the time. [AI governance](https://www.aigentcy.com/services/ai-governance/) 2. ### Workflow automation Order provisioning, fault ticket routing and billing queries run as automations. Example: Keep records of customer interactions or transactions. AI can do 85% of it. [Process automation](https://www.aigentcy.com/services/process-automation/) 3. ### Agents An agent diagnoses common faults with the customer, books an engineer when needed and logs the case. 13 of the 15 tasks on this page are ones AI can do end to end, the work an agent takes on. [Private AI](https://www.aigentcy.com/services/private-ai/) ## Teams in this industry The business functions in telecommunications, by share of the workforce, with each one's exposure. 1. [Sales, 19.4% of the workforce, score **61**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/sales/) 2. [IT and software, 16.7% of the workforce, score **57**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/it/) 3. [Customer service, 8.3% of the workforce, score **74**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/customer-service/) 4. [Operations and admin, 7.6% of the workforce, score **52**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/operations/) 5. [Finance and accounting, 3.3% of the workforce, score **59**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/finance/) ## Roles in telecommunications The 20 largest roles, each linked to its task-by-task score. Shares come from the BLS industry staffing estimates, May 2025. Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, customer service representatives score highest at 74, cable technicians lowest at 16. 1. [Telecommunications technicians, 15.9% of the workforce, score **32** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/telecommunications-technicians/) 2. [Sales representatives of services, 13.3% of the workforce, score **66** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/sales-representatives-of-services/) 3. [Cable technicians, 10.4% of the workforce, score **16** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cable-technicians/) 4. [Customer service representatives, 8% of the workforce, score **74** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/customer-service-representatives/) 5. [Software developers, 3.2% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/software-developers/) 6. [Computer network architects, 2.8% of the workforce, score **55** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-architects/) 7. [IT support specialists, 2.4% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/it-support-specialists/) 8. [Electronics engineers, 2.4% of the workforce, score **53** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/electronics-engineers/) 9. [Maintenance supervisors, 2.2% of the workforce, score **44** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/maintenance-supervisors/) 10. [General managers, 2.1% of the workforce, score **44** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/general-managers/) 11. [IT managers, 2% of the workforce, score **50** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/it-managers/) 12. [Network engineers, 2% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/computer-network-support-specialists/) 13. [Sales supervisors, 1.8% of the workforce, score **48** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/sales-supervisors/) 14. [Project managers, 1.8% of the workforce, score **53** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/project-managers/) 15. [Systems administrators, 1.4% of the workforce, score **58** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-administrators/) 16. [Administrative supervisors, 1.3% of the workforce, score **55** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/administrative-supervisors/) 17. [Sales managers, 1.2% of the workforce, score **45** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/sales-managers/) 18. [Systems analysts, 1.2% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/systems-analysts/) 19. [Digital marketers, 1.2% of the workforce, score **62** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/digital-marketers/) 20. [Retail salespeople, 1.1% of the workforce, score **48** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/retail-salespeople/) ## Questions about AI in telecoms Which tasks should a telecoms company automate first? The first task to automate is to keep records of customer interactions or transactions (85% exposed). Next come the tasks to maintain customer records (82%) and to compute and compare costs of services (78%). Together they free the most hours across the industry. How many hours can AI save a telecoms company? About 784 hours a year per full-time person, 39% of a 2,000-hour working year. For a team of 10 that is about 7,840 hours, the time of 3.9 full-time people. The figure is the share of task time AI can remove today, weighted by how many people do each job. Which roles in a telecoms company are most exposed to AI? Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, customer service representatives score highest, at 74 of 100, and cable technicians lowest, at 16. Each role's page lists its tasks one by one. Will AI replace jobs in telecommunications? AI can do 22% of the task time across these roles today. Another 49% gets faster with AI while a person stays in charge. 29% needs a person. One task that stays with people is to distribute promotional materials at meetings. Where should a telecoms company start with AI? With the quick wins: approved assistants for the tasks AI helps with, under a written AI policy. Then automate the 13 tasks on this page AI can do end to end. An AI audit maps the tasks in your team and ranks them the same way this page does. ## Next steps ### Find the tasks to automate first in your team We map the tasks in your business, score each one the way this page does and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.