TM Forum, the leading global alliance of telco and tech companies, launched the first three projects within its AI-Native Blueprint: Model as a Service (MODaaS), Data Products Lifecycle Management (DPLM), and Agentic Interactions Security. This marks a significant step in enabling telco organizations to move from isolated AI pilots to trusted, production‑scale operations.
The AI-Native Blueprint was initially introduced at DTW Ignite 2025. Since then, the first projects have been developed collaboratively by TM Forum’s global membership, including Accenture, AT&T, China Telecom, China Unicom, Cloudera, Databricks, Dell, Google, Huawei, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson, Mulesoft, Netcracker, PWC, Salesforce, SAS, Telstra, Telenor, T-Mobile, TPG Telecom, and Verizon.
The three projects unveiled provide practical pathways to overcome challenges created by fragmented data foundations, inconsistent model operations, and the absence of common governance frameworks. Together, the structured, standards-based approach of the AI-Native Blueprint enables scaling of AI across core operations, potentially unlocking hundreds of billions of dollars in long-term industry-wide value.
“AI will only deliver real business impact when it is trusted to be deployed at scale, which requires the same rigor as any other critical network or IT service. By introducing these first three core projects under the AI-Native Blueprint, we are arming the industry with a critical common foundation to move beyond experimentation and operate AI as a reliable, governable engine for growth and long-term value.”
– Guy Lupo, EVP, AI and Data, TM Forum
Model as a Service (MODaaS) defines how communication service providers (CSPs) can source, operate, and scale multiple AI models as enterprise-grade services across cloud, edge, and on-premises environments. MODaaS introduces a standards-based blueprint for integrating and operating AI models with clear service expectations, governance, and lifecycle management, regardless of whether models are sourced from hyperscalers, vendors, or developed in-house. By providing a common control plane for model consumption, MODaaS reduces fragmentation, avoids lock-in, and enables consistent integration of AI models into agentic and automated workflows. TM Forum notes that MODaaS is highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s whitepaper, “Strategic pathways to build a modern AI telco,” as an actionable foundation for industry standards.
Data Products Lifecycle Management (DPLM) enables CSPs to transition from fragmented data initiatives to discoverable, governed data products that AI agents can safely and consistently access without human intervention. The blueprint defines domain taxonomies, outlines how domains provide data products, and establishes data contracts for use. Metadata standards ensure platforms and marketplaces are uniformly discoverable and agent-accessible, supporting scalable, reliable, and responsible data use for agentic AI.
Agentic Interactions Security establishes a framework for secure agentic AI interactions. It defines critical guardrails for agentic AI, delivering a common policy language and ontology for governance and assurance at scale, fully machine-readable and operable without a human in the loop.
The AI-Native Blueprint, including MODaaS, DPLM, and Agentic Interactions Security, will be showcased at the AI and Data Summit at DTW Ignite 2026 (June 23–25, Copenhagen). TM Forum members will demonstrate how AI-native architectures and standards-based operating models enable telco organizations to scale AI from proof-of-concept to measurable business impact.
