Agentic AI could rewrite the terms of everyday services – World Broadband Association DG

The next phase of artificial intelligence may not simply recommend products or generate content. It may negotiate on behalf of consumers, reshaping how everyday services are bought, priced, and delivered. 

During the Africa Hyperscalers Conversation series,, Martin Creaner, Director General of the World Broadband Association explained that agentic AI – a new class of autonomous digital assistants capable of making decisions and acting on behalf of users – could fundamentally alter consumer contracts across industries such as telecom, insurance, utilities and finance.

Instead of signing long-term service agreements, consumers may soon rely on AI agents to secure and renegotiate services dynamically, sometimes daily or weekly, based on price, quality and personal preferences.

“Once you’re using agents for contract negotiation, a 12-month contract doesn’t make sense anymore. You might end up with one-day phone contracts, one-week health insurance, or one-hour or one-month travel insurance – whatever fits,” Creaner said.

For decades, consumer services have relied on fixed-term contracts to stabilize revenue and reduce administrative complexity. Telecom operators, insurers and utilities typically lock customers into multi-month or multi-year agreements even as consumer needs fluctuate.

Agentic AI could dismantle that structure.

By continuously monitoring prices, network performance, service quality and user preferences, AI agents could renegotiate contracts in real time, switching providers or adjusting plans automatically.

“The agents will be constantly renegotiating all of my outgoings to optimize my spend,” Creaner said.

Such a shift could compress the lifecycle of consumer contracts dramatically. Telecom subscriptions might become daily services. Insurance policies could be activated only when needed. Utilities might dynamically adjust tariffs based on consumption patterns.

While many of the world’s most powerful AI systems are currently being developed by global technology companies, the institutions that ultimately deploy agentic AI for consumers may be very different.

Creaner argues that trust, not just technological capability, will determine who controls these agents.

“When you’re being asked to trust an agent with something as sensitive as your investment portfolio – and to have it negotiate every contract you have – trust becomes the deciding factor,” he said.

Consumers may therefore prefer agents offered by institutions they already trust, such as local banks, telecom operators and regulated financial institutions, rather than global technology platforms whose business models are often built around large-scale data extraction.

These institutions already operate under regulatory oversight and often carry financial liability for the services they provide.

“To trust an agent to do that properly – and not leave you in the lurch – you need to get that agent from someone who will underwrite it in some form,” Creaner said.

“I’ll look for whoever is willing to provide the level of assurance – almost like insurance – that underpins my use of the agent. And I’ll probably pay a premium for that.”

For telecom operators and banks, the emergence of agentic AI could open an unexpected avenue for growth at a time when traditional revenue streams are under pressure.

Instead of competing directly with hyperscalers on large-scale AI infrastructure, these institutions could position themselves as trusted intermediaries, providing AI agents that manage consumer services, subscriptions and digital transactions.

Such agents might monitor telecom plans, optimize household energy usage, manage financial subscriptions, negotiate insurance coverage and coordinate travel services automatically.

Both banks and telecom operators already maintain extensive relationships with customers and operate within regulatory frameworks designed to protect consumers.

If agentic AI becomes a trusted intermediary between consumers and services, those existing relationships could become a decisive advantage.

In that world, competition may shift from controlling digital platforms to earning trust. AI agents could become the interface through which consumers interact with markets, negotiating continuously on their behalf.

If that vision takes hold, the familiar 12-month contract may soon look like an artifact of an earlier digital era – one negotiated not by people, but by machines acting in their interests.