Communications service providers (CSPs) are poised to turn artificial intelligence from a cost center into a revenue stream. On June 24, 2026, Beyond Now announced a major expansion of its Wave AI Framework, integrating it with Microsoft Foundry to enable CSPs to build, deploy, package, bill for, and monetize AI agents as commercial products. The move, unveiled in a press release, marks a significant step in the telecom industry’s quest to capitalize on the generative AI boom beyond basic network automation.

Beyond Now, a company specializing in ecosystem orchestration and monetization platforms for CSPs, has long focused on helping telcos create digital marketplaces for services like cloud, security, and IoT. Its Wave AI Framework, launched earlier, provided a foundation for developing and managing AI-driven applications. Now, by embedding this framework into Microsoft Foundry—a robust AI platform within the Azure ecosystem—Beyond Now aims to give operators a complete end-to-end lifecycle for agentic AI solutions.

The integration addresses a critical gap: while many CSPs experiment with AI internally, few have a clear path to productize and directly sell AI capabilities to their customers. “This is about turning AI agents from internal tools into revenue-generating assets that can be offered in a telco marketplace, just like any other digital service,” a Beyond Now spokesperson explained in the announcement.

The Monetization Challenge

For years, CSPs have struggled to move beyond connectivity revenue. The rise of 5G and edge computing opened doors to enterprise services, but AI presents an even larger opportunity. However, monetizing AI isn’t straightforward. Most AI deployments remain in the realm of proofs-of-concept or are used to optimize internal operations. Beyond Now’s mantra is to make AI “sellable.” That means not just creating an AI agent but wrapping it with the commercial infrastructure—catalog management, pricing plans, subscription billing, usage-based metering, and settlement—that CSPs already use for other digital products.

The Wave AI Framework already provided the tooling to build and manage AI agents. With the Microsoft Foundry integration, those agents can now be published directly into a CSP’s existing marketplace, complete with automated billing and revenue sharing. For example, a telecom operator could offer a customer service AI agent tailored for retail businesses, an AI-driven predictive maintenance agent for manufacturers, or a network optimization agent for other service providers—all billed through the operator’s existing systems.

Inside the Wave AI-Foundry Integration

At a technical level, the integration allows CSPs to leverage Microsoft Foundry’s model catalog, prompt flow tools, and responsible AI safeguards to accelerate development. Beyond Now’s platform then layers on packaging and monetization capabilities. According to the announcement, key features include:

  • Agent Orchestration: Drag-and-drop tools to design multi-step AI workflows that combine large language models, APIs, and business logic.
  • Marketplace Syndication: One-click publishing to the CSP’s white-label marketplace, with support for bundling agents into service packages.
  • Flexible Billing: Support for subscription, consumption-based, and outcome-based pricing models. CSPs can set their own margins and revenue splits.
  • Partner Settlement: Automated revenue sharing across multiple parties, such as the AI model provider, the system integrator, and the CSP itself.
  • Lifecycle Management: Continuous monitoring, versioning, and deprecation of AI agents, with usage analytics fed back into the Azure-based dashboard.

This effectively creates a “storefront” for AI, complete with SKUs, invoices, and partner payments—all brandable and controlled by the telecom operator. It mirrors how CSPs already sell SaaS applications through marketplaces like Microsoft’s own Azure Marketplace, but now extended to custom AI agents built on their networks.

From Telco to Techco: A Pivotal Shift

Telecom operators have long aspired to shed their “dumb pipe” image and transform into technology companies. AI monetization is a cornerstone of that ambition. By packaging agentic AI as a billable service, CSPs can position themselves as providers of intelligent solutions rather than mere connectivity. Beyond Now’s platform, already deployed by operators like Deutsche Telekom and BT, gives these carriers a ready-made path to become techcos.

The Wave AI-Foundry integration is designed to accelerate this transformation. CSPs can now create a catalog of AI services that address specific vertical needs—such as healthcare, manufacturing, or smart cities—all while maintaining control over branding, pricing, and customer relationships. The revenue potential is substantial: analyst firm Aragon Research estimates that the market for telecom AI services could reach $30 billion by 2028, driven by enterprise appetite for industry-specific AI.

Agentic AI Use Cases in Telecom

The term “agentic AI” refers to AI systems that act autonomously, make decisions, and perform complex tasks with minimal human supervision. For CSPs, agentic AI can take many forms:

  • Network Self-Healing Agents: Automatically detect and resolve network anomalies, predicting failures before they impact customers.
  • Proactive Customer Engagement: AI agents that anticipate user needs, offer personalized plan upgrades, or troubleshoot connectivity issues.
  • Supply Chain Optimization: For enterprise clients, agents that manage logistics, inventory, and demand forecasting using real-time data.
  • Smart City Services: AI-powered solutions for traffic management, public safety, or energy optimization, sold as managed services to municipalities.
  • Fraud Detection and Security: Autonomous agents that flag suspicious activity and respond to threats in real time.

By enabling CSPs to package such agents as commercial offerings, Beyond Now and Microsoft are creating a new category they call “Network-Native AI Services.” These services leverage the low latency and high bandwidth of 5G networks, making them ideal for applications that require real-time decision-making at the edge.

Billing and Settlement: The Unsexy but Critical Piece

One of the biggest barriers to AI monetization is billing complexity. AI agents can be priced in multiple ways: per API call, per outcome, per user, or as a flat monthly fee. Beyond Now’s platform handles this through a flexible rating and charging engine that integrates with existing BSS/OSS systems. CSPs can set up complex pricing rules—for example, charging $0.01 per prediction plus a $100 monthly base fee—and automatically generate invoices.

Revenue sharing with third-party developers or model providers is equally important. The Wave AI-Foundry integration supports multi-party settlement, ensuring that each participant in the value chain gets paid according to predefined splits. This is similar to how app stores handle developer payouts, but tailored for the business models of tier-one telcos.

The Microsoft Foundry Edge

Microsoft Foundry, part of the Azure AI platform, provides the underlying AI infrastructure. It includes a curated model catalog with access to frontier models from OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft Research, as well as open-source options. CSPs can fine-tune these models using their own data, then deploy them as API endpoints within Foundry. The integration with Wave AI means that once an agent is created in Foundry, it can be exposed directly into the CSP’s marketplace without additional coding.

Security and compliance are also baked in. Foundry offers responsible AI tooling—content safety filters, bias detection, and explainability dashboards—that helps CSPs address regulatory concerns. This is critical in heavily regulated industries like telecom, where AI-based decisions must be transparent and auditable.

What This Means for Windows Users and Developers

While the announcement is squarely aimed at telecom operators, the ripple effects could extend to the broader Windows and Microsoft ecosystem. Microsoft Foundry is tightly integrated with Azure AI Studio, which in turn connects to Visual Studio and GitHub Copilot. The same toolchain that CSPs use to build, test, and deploy AI agents is also available to Windows developers. As AI monetization models mature in telecom, similar frameworks could emerge for enterprise ISVs or even individual developers publishing through the Microsoft Store.

Imagine a future where a Windows developer builds an AI agent using Visual Studio, deploys it via Azure AI Foundry, and packages it for sale in a marketplace that handles billing, subscription management, and usage tracking—all without writing custom commerce code. Beyond Now’s telecom play is a bellwether for what could become a universal AI packaging standard across all Microsoft platforms.

Industry Implications and Competitive Landscape

The Beyond Now-Microsoft announcement comes amid a flurry of activity in telecom AI. Rival platform providers like Netcracker, Amdocs, and Nokia have also touted AI marketplace features, but Microsoft’s endorsement gives Beyond Now a powerful differentiator. The tight coupling with Azure and Foundry means operators already invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem can adopt the solution with minimal friction, potentially compressing sales cycles from years to months.

Microsoft’s own telecom initiatives—Azure for Operators, the acquisitions of Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks—have laid the groundwork for network-function virtualization. The Foundry integration adds an AI-onboarding layer to that strategy. By enabling CSPs to become AI resellers, Microsoft deepens its Azure consumption while giving operators a way to differentiate beyond connectivity. It’s a win-win that threatens to squeeze out cloud rivals that lack a comparable end-to-end commerce platform.

Potential Challenges

Despite the promise, several hurdles remain. CSPs must skill up on AI development and management, which is no small feat. Although the Wave AI-Foundry combination simplifies the process, building effective agentic AI requires deep domain expertise. There’s also the question of customer readiness: are business customers ready to buy AI agents from their telecom provider? Trust in telcos as technology providers is not universal, and many enterprises prefer to work with dedicated AI vendors or cloud hyperscalers directly.

Regulatory uncertainty looms as well. As AI agents become more autonomous, regulators may impose new rules on AI services sold through essential network infrastructure. In the European Union, the AI Act already classifies certain AI systems as high-risk, which could trigger additional compliance requirements for CSPs. Beyond Now acknowledges these challenges and says it will offer optional professional services to help CSPs design their first AI catalog items. The company also emphasizes that the platform includes responsible AI tooling from Microsoft Foundry, which can help address compliance and ethical concerns.

Looking Farther Ahead: The AI Marketplace Vision

Beyond Now has indicated that early adopters of the Wave AI-Foundry integration will go live in the fourth quarter of 2026, with broader availability in the first half of 2027. The company plans to demonstrate the platform at upcoming telecom industry events, where attendees can see live agent creation and monetization workflows.

The move is likely to intensify the competition among cloud providers to become the AI engine for telecoms. As 5G standalone cores and edge computing mature, the network itself becomes a platform for AI delivery. Those who can wrap AI in a billable package will be best positioned to profit. For Windows and Azure-focused enterprises, the integration offers a preview of how AI services might be packaged and sold through any digital marketplace. As Microsoft continues to build out its AI infrastructure, expect more partnerships that bridge the gap between model builders and service providers. Telecom is just the first sector to get this treatment.

The bottom line: Beyond Now’s Wave AI expansion with Microsoft Foundry could be the blueprint for a new era of AI monetization, one where any digital service provider can become an AI retailer. While the success of this model depends on execution and market adoption, the tools are now on the table—and the telecom industry is eager to place its bets.