Openreach has turned to proactive AI agents from NiCE Cognigy as it seeks to streamline one of the UK's largest broadband upgrade programmes, using the technology across 15 million customer journeys.

The BT Group-owned network operator said the system marks a shift away from the traditional reactive model, with automated messages now sent by text, email and voice to update customers, answer questions and carry out routine tasks before problems escalate. The aim is to make the upgrade process clearer and less disruptive for households while reducing the burden on contact-centre teams.

According to Openreach, the results have been material. The company said missed appointments and inbound contact volumes have each fallen by around a third, while repeat calls have also dropped, freeing staff to deal with more complex issues. Openreach also said customer sentiment has improved sharply, pointing to a rise in its Trustpilot score from 2.0 to 4.7 out of 5 following the rollout.

Chris Herbert, Openreach's director of customer service, said the deployment was delivering "tens of millions in financial benefits" for the company and its customers, adding that the move to proactive engagement had improved appointment success and given people more clarity during a major national upgrade.

Jeff Comstock, president of CX Product and Technology at NiCE, said the project showed how agentic AI could be used to automate complex customer interactions while maintaining trust, inclusivity and control.

The deployment comes as Openreach continues a £15 billion investment in its Full Fibre network, with a target of reaching 25 million UK premises by the end of 2026 and up to 30 million by 2030. The scale of that build-out has made customer communications a significant operational challenge, particularly where appointments, engineering visits and service changes need to be managed across millions of homes and businesses.

Industry reports covering the rollout said the system is also intended to support Openreach's partners, including broadband providers such as Vodafone and Sky, by reducing friction in the upgrade process. For Openreach, the broader significance lies in showing how AI is being used not just to cut costs, but to handle high-volume customer engagement in a way that is more predictable and, if the company's figures are accurate, more effective.

Source: Noah Wire Services