BT Business collaborates with Accenture to supercharge AI deployment

BT Business has announced a multi-year programme with Accenture to deploy cutting edge AI capabilities into BT’s operations, further strengthening its support for the UK’s businesses and public sector.  

The initiative uses Accenture’s global experience in service management to strengthen BT’s existing AI capabilities, utilising BT’s unique network intelligence, customer data and insight platforms. It also builds on BT’s extensive partnership with ServiceNow – BT’s core service management platform.

As a result, BT will bring the latest in AI-powered operations (‘AI-Ops’) capability to UK customers, including the use of agents to autonomously analyse and – under strict control – self-heal at machine speed while dynamically learning.

In cyber-security, AI-Ops will enable BT to more rapidly identify and resolve emerging threats and vulnerabilities, which is increasingly critical as new frontier AI capabilities transform the security landscape.

The programme will enable new propositions that allow public and private sector customers to take advantage of the latest in AI-driven service operations, driving efficiency, security and resilience as well as unlocking new AI-enabled capabilities.

The programme will also use the latest in AI-powered journey mapping to re-design BT Business’ end-to-end customer processes.  By combining expert-led delivery with intelligent automation and the responsible deployment of agentic AI, BT will enhance customer experience and streamline operations across the full service lifecycle.

The shift shows that the industry is at a critical inflection point, with AI and data at its core. Accenture research shows that only one in five telecom providers are truly leading and successfully navigating this transition. Providers adopting this approach see clear advantages against peers, with improved customer loyalty (65% vs. 48%), faster time-to-market (68% vs. 39%), and improved network fault detection and resolution time (57% vs. 39%).

Jon James, CEO of BT Business, said: “BT has a unique responsibility in supporting much of the UK’s critical infrastructure. Working with Accenture, we are investing to bring our customers the latest in AI-Ops capability, combined with our unique data and networks, to enhance the UK’s resilience as well as accelerating the responsible deployment of efficient and autonomous systems.”

Andrew McCaffer, Managing Director and Client Account Lead for BT at Accenture, said: “As customer expectations increase and technology environments become more complex, enterprises are under increasing pressure to deliver always on, secure services. Accenture is supporting BT by applying AI responsibly at scale across its managed services business, drawing on deep industry expertise to strengthen resilience, speed up resolution and enhance the customer experience.”

Damian Stirrett, Group Vice President and General Manager, UK & Ireland, ServiceNow, said: "By combining BT's unrivalled network insight, Accenture's expertise in scaling AI across complex environments, and ServiceNow’s AI control tower for business reinvention, we're making agentic AI a reality for BT's customers. The difference will be tangible – fewer disruptions, faster resolution, more resilient services. Together, we're setting a new standard for enterprise managed services, and redefining the telco marketplace."