Agentic AI
AT&T Slashes Staff While Automating Decades of Legacy Telecom Operations
The telecom giant is retooling for the AI era by cutting thousands of jobs, retiring its aging copper network, and deploying machine learning across customer service and infrastructure management.
WIRED — AI
AT&T is pursuing an aggressive workforce reduction as part of a sweeping modernization driven by artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. The company has already eliminated more than half its staff over the past decade and plans to continue shrinking headcount significantly in the coming years. This transformation includes phasing out its legacy landline operations and deploying AI systems to automate manual tasks and internal processes.
Chief technology officer Jeremy Legg confirmed to WIRED that AT&T expects a notably smaller workforce within five years. Last year alone, the company cut 8,000 positions, and if that pace continues, employee numbers could fall toward 85,000 by 2030—a target one insider described as the company's goal, though AT&T disputed the accuracy of that figure.
Automating Legacy Operations#
AT&T's infrastructure still relies on outdated systems in many areas, with paper records and manual workflows for routine customer requests like service disconnections. The company is now deploying AI tools across multiple functions: customer service interactions, site selection for new cell towers, maintenance issue detection, and network optimization during extreme weather events.
A custom AI system AT&T calls GeoModeler adjusts network settings in real time during emergencies. Starting next year, the company will replace physical hardware at thousands of central switching hubs with cloud-based software from Israeli startup DriveNets—an investment AT&T has backed. This shift enables remote adjustments for service upgrades and other tasks, but is expected to eliminate roles in middle management and junior development positions.
Retiring Copper, Cutting Power#
AT&T is decommissioning its energy-intensive copper wire network, which powered traditional landlines and DSL services for over a century. The company expects to eliminate copper requirements in more than 85 percent of its existing territory by year's end. While some rural communities have protested the move due to lack of alternatives, regulators have generally permitted the retirements.
Scrapping copper infrastructure delivers immediate environmental benefits: since 2024 alone, the shift has saved 660,000 megawatt-hours of electricity—equivalent to powering roughly 65,000 homes annually. AT&T's total energy use fell 13.1 percent between 2020 and 2025, though the company declined to share precise consumption figures.
