Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg (pictured) reportedly predicted generative AI (genAI) will help the operator retain 100,000 subscribers this year by proactively identifying why they were calling customer care and then connecting them with the most suitable representative.

Reuters reported Vestberg told a conference in Sweden the US operator receives about 170 million calls per year and, with genAI, it can work out why a subscriber is contacting it to better direct their call.

Verizon announced a raft of human-assisted genAI applications in May designed to improve its customer service operations, which included a tool to match subscribers with customer care representatives.

Reuters reported Verizon can generate 1,500 data points for each telephone number by using genAI. Vestberg noted the information and large language models reside on the operator’s network and said data is not exposed for use by anyone else.  

During the company’s Q1 earnings call, Vestberg said genAI was being used to develop personalised recommendations for customers across its myPlan phone tariffs.