U.K. telecoms operator BT Group has reported record customer satisfaction scores as its digital transformation program continues to improve customer journeys and expand the company’s use of AI across its operations and service delivery.
In reporting its earnings results for the financial year that ended on March 31, BT said that its Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased by 4.1 points year on year to a record 33.4, while customer satisfaction increased across all of its brands.
Commenting on the results, Allison Kirkby, BT’s Chief Executive, said:
“Customer satisfaction reached a new high, with increased demand for our next-generation products and networks.”
BT indicated that its transformation program delivered £580MN in gross annualized savings at a cost of £336MN, adding that over the past two years, savings have reached £1.5BN with implementation costs totaling £0.8BN.
The company has raised its target for the overall transformation plan to £3.7BN from £3.0BN and extended the program by a year, to now end in the financial year up to March 2030. That will increase the cost to £1.4BN from £1.0BN.
BT Expands AI Operations Strategy with Accenture and ServiceNow
As part of the next phase of the initiative, BT Business has expanded its investment in AI-led operations through a new program with Accenture. The consulting firm will work with the telco to introduce AI-powered operations capabilities that use agents to autonomously analyze issues and, under controlled conditions, self-heal network and service problems while continuously learning.
The program, based on BT’s partnership with ServiceNow, will bring together Accenture’s global experience in service management and BT’s network intelligence, customer data and insight platforms to inform the deployment.
Damian Stirrett, Group Vice President and General Manager, UK & Ireland, ServiceNow, said: “By combining BT’s unrivalled network insight, Accenture’s expertise in scaling AI across complex environments, and ServiceNow’s AI control tower for business reinvention, we’re making agentic AI a reality for BT’s customers. The difference will be tangible—fewer disruptions, faster resolution, more resilient services.
Given that the growing use of AI is raising cybersecurity concerns while also enabling enhanced detection and defense, BT noted that AI operations (AI-Ops) will enable the telco to identify and resolve emerging threats and vulnerabilities fast, “which is increasingly critical as new frontier AI capabilities transform the security landscape.”
BT plans to use AI-powered journey mapping tools to redesign end-to-end customer processes. The company said it will use intelligent automation and agentic AI to streamline operations across the service lifecycle and improve customer experience outcomes.
Jon James, CEO of BT Business, said: “Working with Accenture, we are investing to bring our customers the latest in AI-Ops capability, combined with our unique data and networks, to enhance the UK’s resilience as well as accelerating the responsible deployment of efficient and autonomous systems.”
“As customer expectations increase and technology environments become more complex, enterprises are under increasing pressure to deliver always on, secure services,” Andrew McCaffer, Managing Director and Client Account Lead for BT at Accenture, added.
BT’s CX Gains Align With Salesforce Findings as AI Agents Drive Measurable Results
The increased focus on AI agents aligns with broader trends emerging across the customer service industry. New research from Salesforce indicates that the adoption of AI agents in customer service organizations has risen to 66 percent in 2026 from 39 percent in 2025.
Customer-facing applications for AI agents include proactive customer engagement, tailored product recommendations and resolving cases across multiple channels, while behind the scenes, the systems being used to automate tasks such as directing customer enquiries to the appropriate service representative.
According to the report, 70% of customer service organizations deploying AI agents report measurable value within 60 days. Customer satisfaction ranked as the top KPI improvement after deployment, ahead of service representative productivity, average handle time, customer retention and first-response time.
“That finding is notable because customer satisfaction isn’t strictly an operational metric,” Salesforce stated. “It reflects how customers actually experience service—and research consistently links it to retention and lifetime value, suggesting the efficiency gains from AI agents may run deeper than operational efficiency alone.”
While 65 percent of customer service professionals say their customers fully trust AI, research suggests that customers may be more hesitant. According to the Metrigy Consumer CX Index, just 44 percent of consumers trust AI to handle their service needs. But when customers experience AI-powered service, they tend to report that it exceeds their expectations.
Kishan Chetan, EVP & GM, Agentforce Service at Salesforce, said:
“This research shows that agentic AI in customer service has moved from promise to proof. But what’s really exciting is that agents are actually improving how customers feel about the service they receive.”
BT’s collaboration with Accenture also reflects a wider shift within the telecoms sector as operators increasingly view AI agents as a way to improve operational efficiency and customer loyalty.
Accenture research shows that telecom providers adopting an AI-led, data-driven approach see clear advantages against their peers, with improved customer loyalty (65 percent vs. 48 percent), faster time-to-market (68 percent vs. 39 percent), and improved network fault detection and resolution time (57 percent vs. 39 percent).
