Airtel Africa has entered a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership with Xtelify, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, to deploy a cutting-edge, AI-powered software platform aimed at simplifying telecom operations and improving customer experience across its 14 African markets.
Through the deal, Airtel Africa will deploy the Xtelify Data Engine and Xtelify Work platforms to empower its 150,000 field agents with deep market insights that enable micro-targeted strategies.
The technology will also support critical functions such as spam detection and fraud prevention, enhancing overall customer protection.
Xtelify’s new platform, launched this week, is designed to address complexity in telecom operations by offering an end-to-end solution that enhances service delivery, reduces churn, and increases average revenue per user (ARPU).
Airtel said it would deploy Xtelify IQ to drive secure, real-time, omnichannel customer engagement, thus positioning units to deliver hyper-personalized experiences and boost customer satisfaction.
“This partnership marks a transformative leap in our mission to build Africa’s digital future. By harnessing Airtel’s AI platforms that have proven scale in India, we are simplifying operations and accelerating personalized experiences across our 14 African markets,” said Group Chief Information Officer at Airtel Africa, Jacques Barkhuizen.
Bharti Airtel described the partnership as a strategic move that highlights the internal synergy between its African operations and its digital innovation arm.
“We are thrilled to partner with Airtel Africa. Combining our Xtelify platform with Airtel Africa’s vision will allow us to address industry-wide challenges like spam and fraud while ensuring customer protection and digital transformation,” said Chief Business Officer, Global Business, Bharti Airtel, Binod Srivastava.
In addition to the Xtelify platform, Bharti Airtel also unveiled the ‘Airtel Cloud’, a sovereign, telco-grade cloud platform capable of handling up to 140 crore (1.4 billion) transactions per minute.
Initially built for Airtel’s operations in India, the platform is now being expanded to support businesses in the Indian market.
Hosted on next-generation sustainable data centers and managed by over 300 certified cloud experts, Airtel Cloud offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), advanced connectivity, and Gen-AI powered provisioning.
The move by Airtel comes as the latest in the race to leverage AI for transformation by African telecommunications operators.