Telstra is rolling out AI agents to sales teams and customer-facing roles after testing the technology at board level, part of a broader workforce shift that has already eliminated 600 positions.
The ASX-listed telco reported A$23.4 billion in total income for FY26 and employs 29,334 people across 20 countries. CEO Vicki Brady is pushing AI as a productivity and sales-enablement tool under the company's "Connected Future" strategy. Around 200 of the 600 roles cut in H1 FY26 were connected to Telstra's Data & AI partnership with Accenture, which covers platforms, governance and agentic-AI applications.
Telstra's AI deployment is operational, not experimental. More than 15,000 employees completed at least one Data & AI Academy course in FY26. 86% of staff with Microsoft Copilot licences used it weekly or more in June. The company has deployed generative-AI search across its website and My Telstra app, translation into 37 languages, and an "agentic customer care" program designed to improve call containment and reduce transfers.
The company is now partnering with the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) to deploy AI agents for lead qualification, enquiry handling, listing admin and appointment booking. The partnership combines Telstra's enterprise AI infrastructure with REINSW's access to NSW real estate professionals and agencies. REINSW previously deployed an AI board advisor called Alice Ing in 2024 and is now extending similar capabilities to members.
This puts Telstra in the same territory as Salesforce's Agentforce, Artisan AI and other AI SDR tools competing to automate repetitive sales workflows. The difference: Telstra is building internal agents and selling infrastructure, not selling AI SDR products. Management has said the workforce could be smaller by 2030 as technology improves efficiency.
Worth noting: Telstra's AI push is happening while it cuts headcount. The 600 roles affected in H1 FY26 span Consumer and Enterprise segments. The Accenture partnership gives Telstra external implementation capacity, but the company is training its own workforce at scale. The question for sales teams: whether AI agents replace SDRs and AEs or just change what they spend time on.