BLOG | 500 Professionals Certified: A Milestone for the Autonomous Networks Movement
By Andy Tiller, EVP Member Products, TM Forum
July 30, 2026
The achievement of 500 professionals attaining TM Forum’s Autonomous Network (AN) Levels certification marks far more than a training milestone. It is a clear signal that the telecom industry is building the skills, common language, and operational discipline needed to accelerate the journey toward Level 4 Autonomous Networks. TM Forum’s AN Levels framework defines Level 4 as AI-driven, closed-loop automation powered by real-time network intelligence, representing a critical step beyond traditional rules-based automation.
For years, the industry has understood what autonomous networks could achieve: lower operational costs, improved customer experience, greater service agility, and more sustainable operations. The challenge has been how to get there in a consistent, measurable, and industry-wide manner. That requires not only technology, but people with the expertise to assess, benchmark, design, and implement autonomous operations using common standards and methodologies. TM Forum’s AN Levels Certification Path was created to provide exactly that foundation.
Reaching 500 certified professionals demonstrates that autonomous networking is moving beyond vision statements and into practical deployment. These certified practitioners are becoming the industry's assessors, architects, transformation leaders, and implementation specialists. They can consistently evaluate network autonomy, identify capability gaps, and help organizations chart credible roadmaps toward higher levels of automation and intelligence.
The timing is particularly significant. Industry momentum toward Level 4 is growing rapidly. 23 communications service providers have already completed Level 3+ assessments in key network domains, certified through TM Forum's Autonomous Network Levels Assessment Validation (ANLAV) service, and operators worldwide are committing to ambitious autonomy targets. At the same time, ANLAV validations and benchmarking initiatives are providing objective evidence of progress and helping organizations learn from one another.
Importantly, autonomous networks are not achieved through isolated technology deployments. They require a combination of standards, architecture, assessment methodologies, implementation blueprints, and skilled professionals capable of applying them. Every newly certified individual strengthens the industry's ability to scale best practices, accelerate adoption of high-value use cases, and convert Level 4 ambitions into operational reality.
The milestone of 500 certifications therefore represents something larger than individual achievement. It shows that the telecom industry is investing collectively in the human capabilities needed to deliver autonomous, AI-native operations. As the ecosystem continues to expand, these professionals will play a crucial role in helping operators move from experimentation to production, from isolated automation to autonomous flows, and ultimately toward the industry's vision of Level 4 and beyond.
Today, we celebrate 500 certified professionals. More importantly, we celebrate 500 catalysts for change helping to turn the vision of autonomous networks into a reality.