Why Telcos Need to Rethink In-House AI Sales Agent Builds

The question is no longer whether to use AI - it’s how.

AI sales agents are transforming digital commerce, giving telcos scalable, compliant ways to personalise online sales interactions and drive revenue. But one strategic question keeps surfacing: should you build your own AI sales agent or partner with a specialist vendor?

For many telcos, building in-house feels like the safer route. Greater control over data, compliance, and brand. Yet that “walled garden” approach can quickly become a trap: costly to maintain, slow to scale, and harder to keep compliant as regulations evolve. Building internally offers a unique competitive advantage only if the AI is core to your competitive moat and differentiation. 

The Data Advantage

The true differentiator of a sophisticated AI sales agent is specialised capabilities like fine-tuned conversation models and behavioural intelligence.

If your AI sales agent can't build rapport, handle tough objections, or truly grasp what motivates a customer beyond just price, you're not actually going to automate sales. This is where many in-house solutions falter, unable to replicate the nuanced human touch needed for complex sales conversations, which leads to a frustrating user experience.

To create an experience that delivers meaningful results, AI sales agents need access to extensive data from real sales interactions. This data helps uncover customer motivations and emotional triggers. Vendor models are trained on vast quantities of rich, actionable data,  ensuring the sales agent effectively understands customer needs, guides them through sales processes, and ultimately boosts conversions.   

Buying a proven solution means you gain the benefit of additional industry knowledge and insights that allow your AI sales agent to understand intent, emotion, and purchase triggers faster than any single in-house system could. But that doesn’t mean giving up control. You still own your customer data and maintain full visibility over every interaction. 

The Essential Balance of Guardrails

Every AI deployment needs guardrails – rules to keep interactions accurate, compliant, and on-brand. But here’s the catch: too restrictive, and your AI becomes a robotic, unhelpful assistant. Too loose, and you risk off-brand communication or compliance issues. Getting it wrong leads to frustrating customer experiences where the agent fails to provide helpful answers, misinterprets requests, or cannot adapt to nuanced conversations.

Striking the right balance is tough. Specialised vendors have spent years perfecting guardrails that ensure total compliance while still allowing the AI sales agent to engage meaningfully and guide customers towards a sale. They implement safeguards that prevent the AI sales agent from retrieving unapproved info, using inappropriate language, or quoting outdated prices. And they constantly update them.

Embracing The Hybrid Approach

As Daniel Gurrola, former Chief Strategy Officer at Verizon Consumer, puts it, "AI is still a space of experimentation, but investment is shifting toward solving real-world problems. For telcos, the focus should be on proven solutions that deliver tangible ROI."

Leading telcos are no longer debating whether to outsource; instead, they're strategising “how much” to outsource. The key lies in a hybrid approach:

Own what differentiates you: Your unique front-end experience, orchestration logic, and brand voice.

Partner on the heavy lifting: Compliance, infrastructure, and the continuous optimisation of complex AI models.

This strategy accelerates your time-to-market, significantly reduces operational risk, and frees your expert teams to focus on true innovation, not just endless maintenance.

Ready to Re-evaluate Your AI Strategy?

The most secure and effective strategy isn't to erect higher walls around your AI sales agent. It’s to ensure the garden within those walls is nurtured by experts who can protect it and foster its growth. By partnering with a specialist in AI sales solutions, telcos can accelerate their market entry, reduce risk, and deliver the superior customer experience essential for long-term growth and success.

As AI reshapes digital sales, telcos that master this balance between control and collaboration will inevitably lead the next wave of growth.

If you're re-evaluating your current approach, download our latest report: Build, Buy or Blend: The Telco Guide to Sophisticated AI Sales Agents.

‍