How Telstra uses AI

In a proof of concept in a live telco cloud environment, Telstra showed an agentic AI capability that detected an unplanned infrastructure outage and resolved it autonomously by moving critical network applications to healthy hardware in minutes rather than hours. Using the Model Context Protocol with retrieval augmented generation, AI agents connect data from multiple vendor platforms into one view and give teams context aware recommendations to speed up fault resolution. Telstra presents it as groundwork for self healing, self optimising operations, not yet as a production service.

No outcome disclosed.

Quantium Telstra built two services in collaboration with Commonwealth Bank. Scam Indicator detects and intercepts suspected scam calls to bank customers in real time and was later extended to landlines. Fraud Indicator, live from early 2025, securely shares intelligence about unusual mobile service usage so the bank can spot fraudsters opening accounts with a phone number they control. Telstra describes the Scam and Fraud Indicator as using AI and says it has safeguarded thousands of customers and prevented millions of dollars in fraud since 2023; the expected gain in detection of fraudulent accounts was published as a forecast.

No outcome disclosed.

Telstra's SmartFix system is embedded in its network operations and automatically fixes many issues before customers notice a problem. Telstra reports the number of proactive actions it performed in FY25 and says they prevented nearly 1 million support calls. The blog post is part of Telstra's description of its wider AI program and gives no detail on the models or the types of fixes.

• Interactions handled: 2.5 million, FY25, proactive actions

  "It automatically fixes many issues before customers notice a problem – in FY25 it performed 2.5 million proactive actions, preventing nearly 1 million support calls by resolving issues in advance."

  Claimed by: organization

In January 2022 Telstra said it had started working with organisations in the banking industry and would provide a risk rating, a number on a risk scale, when a banking organisation asks whether a mobile service used as a form of identity has had a recent SIM swap or port out. Banks and credit unions would request it when a customer makes a transfer, especially to a new recipient, and use it to ask for more information rather than to block the customer automatically. Telstra said it was considering applying the technology in retail, insurance, transport and logistics, social networking and online gaming. No results are published, and no later Telstra source cited here confirms how widely the rating is used today.

No outcome disclosed.

As part of its Cleaner Pipes initiative, Telstra blocks suspected scam calls in its network before they reach customers. Upgrades in 2021 made blocking more aggressive, improved detection of Wangiri one ring calls from international premium numbers and of spoofed calls that pretend to come from local numbers or trusted brands, and doubled the monthly volume blocked within four months. Telstra says it keeps evolving its algorithms and detection methods and takes care not to block genuine calls. From December 2024 it added Telstra Scam Protect, an in house network feature that warns customers on screen about calls that look spoofed, arrive from overseas while showing a local number, or come from a number with a suspicious calling pattern. Its Scam Protect article (published March 2025, updated May 2026) reports blocking more than 11 million scam calls a month on average and Scam Protect warnings on an average of 12 million calls a month.

No outcome disclosed.