Circles, GreySkies, and HCLTech have joined the TM Forum Catalyst Program to build an AI-powered multi-agent framework that unifies customer experience, network operations, and business processes for telecom operators. The collaboration, announced June 21, 2026, includes participation from operators Circles.Life, KDDI, Orange, and TELUS, and targets end-to-end automation and autonomous decision-making across network domains.
The initiative combines three distinct capabilities. Circles contributes its AI-native digital telco platform and customer engagement tools. GreySkies adds its AI-enabled network operations and data-driven automation expertise. HCLTech brings AI, automation, and TM Forum Open APIs within an Open Digital Architecture framework. The goal is a system that continuously analyzes customer and network signals, anticipates issues, and acts without manual intervention.
How the multi-agent framework works
The solution integrates advanced AI with open, standards-based architectures to support self-optimizing networks. Rather than operating in silos, customer experience data, network performance signals, and business logic feed into a shared intelligent layer. This approach aims to shorten the gap between insight and action while improving service assurance and customer engagement.
For operations teams, the framework promises to reduce the manual overhead of correlating alarms, diagnosing root causes, and escalating incidents. GreySkies Chief Operating Officer Dr. Ibrahim Ghaleb described the operational logic: "By bringing AI-driven observability and assurance into this Catalyst, we are helping operators anticipate and resolve issues before customers ever feel them."
Operator involvement and industry showcase
Four operators are directly involved in co-developing the solution. Their participation ensures the framework addresses real-world operational constraints rather than theoretical use cases. The Catalyst projects will be demonstrated at TM Forum's DTW Ignite event in Copenhagen, running June 23-25.
Sanjay Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer at Circles, framed the business case: "Through this collaboration, we are bringing together complementary capabilities to help operators connect customer insights with network and business operations in real time, creating new opportunities for growth and differentiation."
The architecture and standards approach
HCLTech's role centers on ensuring the multi-agent system adheres to TM Forum Open APIs and ODA standards. This matters for operators who need to integrate AI capabilities without ripping out existing OSS/BSS stacks. Anil Ganjoo, Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Telecom, Media and Technology at HCLTech, said the work reflects "our commitment to co-innovate with the global telecom ecosystem and accelerate the industry's transition to AI-driven, autonomous operations."
The standards-based design also supports the monetization angle. By connecting network telemetry to customer behavior patterns, operators can identify upsell triggers and service degradation risks within the same operational workflow.
Why this matters for operations professionals
Autonomous network operations shift the ops workload from reactive troubleshooting to exception management. When a multi-agent system handles routine incident detection, correlation, and remediation, operations staff focus on edge cases and continuous improvement. This Catalyst project tests that model at scale with four operators, making the results directly relevant for teams evaluating AI for Operations investments. The framework's emphasis on real-time signal-to-action pipelines also maps closely to the skills covered in an AI Learning Path for Operations Managers, particularly around workflow automation and predictive analytics integration.
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