Airtel Africa has inked a major deal with Xtelify to roll out artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software platform across 14 markets, aiming to simplify telecom operations and deliver smarter, faster customer experiences.
The multi-year, multi-million-dollar agreement with Bharti Airtel's digital arm aims to reduce complexity, lower churn, and increase average revenue per user, solidifying the telco's digital-first approach on the continent.
Jacques Barkhuizen, Group chief information officer at Airtel Africa, said the partnership marks a transformative leap in our mission to build Africa’s digital future.
“By harnessing Airtel’s AI platforms that have proven scale in India, we are not only simplifying our operations but also accelerating hyper-personalised experiences for our customers,” he said.
The rollout will introduce the Xtelify Data Engine, Xtelify Work, and Xtelify IQ, platforms designed to arm over 150 000 field agents with intelligent, real-time insights.
The AI system enables secure and personalised customer engagement while also providing spam detection, fraud prevention, and service optimisation features.
Across Africa, AI is fast becoming a game-changer for customer service and business growth.
Telcos like Airtel and MTN are embracing AI to automate service requests, predict network disruptions, deliver hyper-targeted marketing, and power fraud detection.
These advancements are transforming telecoms into agile, intelligent enterprises that better understand and serve their customers.
For Airtel Africa, the Xtelify suite will serve as both a competitive edge and a catalyst for growth.
Barkhuizen underlined that it allows for dynamic customer journey management, real-time decision-making, and significantly reduced time-to-resolution for service queries, critical factors in markets where digital adoption is surging.
Bharti Airtel is also making global waves, launching its new sovereign Airtel Cloud platform, built to process 1.4 billion transactions per minute.
Already adopted in India, the cloud and AI suite is being scaled to other regions, with existing partnerships in Singapore and the Philippines.
“With this move, Airtel is not just digitising its services it’s exporting a homegrown Indian innovation model into Africa’s fast-evolving telecom landscape,” stated Barkhuizen.
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