The SAMENA Telecommunications Council highlights the growing importance of verifiable AI-agent identity, delegated authority, and accountability as autonomous AI systems gain greater access to telecommunications networks, enterprise platforms, financial transactions, and critical digital infrastructure. The issue, brought to the forefront by Council members, particularly Zetrix AI, is gaining industry attention as organizations face increasing challenges in verifying the identity, permissions, and accountability of AI agents operating across digital services and national boundaries.
The Council observes that the expansion of autonomous AI introduces new requirements for digital trust, particularly for telecommunications operators whose networks and services support interactions among businesses, consumers, and digital platforms. These requirements extend beyond organizations deploying AI agents, as external autonomous systems may interact with enterprise services and customer interfaces regardless of whether their operators have adopted AI internally.
Commenting on these developments, Bocar BA, CEO of SAMENA Telecommunications Council, stated: “We are entering an era in which autonomous AI agents can make decisions, access systems, and conduct transactions, often without equivalent assurances of identity, authority, or accountability. An organization may choose not to deploy AI, but it cannot necessarily avoid interacting with AI agents operating across the digital economy. This creates a shared responsibility for governments, regulators, telecommunications operators, and technology providers to establish mechanisms through which these agents can be identified, their authority verified, and their actions attributed to accountable entities.”
These concerns were also relevant to discussions at the ICT Development Forum 2026, organized by the UAE Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) in Dubai on 4 November, under the theme “The Future of Telecommunications in the Agentic AI Era: Toward Autonomous Services and Networks.” The SAMENA Council, represented by its CEO, Bocar BA, attended the Forum and welcomed TDRA's initiative in bringing together regulators, telecommunications operators, technology providers, and international organizations to address autonomous networks, AI infrastructure, responsible AI adoption, 6G connectivity, trust, and governance.
The emerging industry trust requirements are prompting urgency among stakeholders to act and are being taken forward through an international pilot aimed at testing practical approaches to AI-agent identity, delegated authority, accountability, and cross-border interoperability, as the pace of autonomous AI adoption increases the need for timely, coordinated action. The Know Your Agent (KYA) pilot, associated with AvatarLabs’ global service launch and advanced by Zetrix AI, a valued SAMENA Council member actively involved in AI-led transformation and agentic AI adoption across regions, brings together organizations from China, the UAE, Oman, and Malaysia, with early engagement from the Middle East. Findings from the pilot are intended for submission to ITU-T Study Group 17 through its Focus Group on Trust and Identity for Humans and Agentic AI (FG-TIDA), contributing practical industry experience to international standardization discussions.
Among the pilot’s immediate participants, Omantel, Airtel Africa, and government-backed organizations, including China based CAICT and Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure (MBI), will be participating in alignment with the international KYA pilot’s objectives, reflecting growing interest in advancing practical solutions without delay, with the scope of each organization’s participation to be determined separately. The SAMENA Council is supporting the initiative as the pilot’s AI Transformation Partner, facilitating operator engagement, advocating trust-driven AI adoption and bringing regional industry requirements into the pilot’s international discussions. This engagement does not imply commercial or operational commitments at this stage.
For telecommunications operators, verifiable AI-agent identities could support more secure interactions across customer services, enterprise platforms, digital transactions, and autonomous network operations. They could also enable operators to expand their role in providing trusted digital services by supporting authentication and authorization of AI agents interacting across different networks and service environments. This also reflects wider operator ambitions for AI-native networks, including SAMENA Council member stc Group’s recently announced vision to evolve toward an AI-native network by 2030.
The SAMENA Council further notes that recent AI-related cybersecurity developments have highlighted the risks associated with uncontrolled automated access, misuse of permissions, and malicious activity conducted with AI assistance. Addressing such risks requires verifiable identity alongside effective access controls, monitoring, auditability, and mechanisms for restricting or revoking an agent's authority.
The Council recognizes the importance of international coordination, given that AI agents may operate across multiple platforms, networks, and jurisdictions with differing regulatory and technical requirements. Interoperable approaches to agent identity and authorization can help reduce uncertainty over the legitimacy of automated interactions while respecting national regulatory frameworks and data protection requirements.
As telecommunications networks advance toward greater automation and future 6G capabilities, the SAMENA Council supports TDRA's efforts to advance dialogue on these developments and welcomes continued cooperation among regulators, operators, technology providers, and international organizations to strengthen trust and accountability as autonomous AI becomes more widely integrated into the global digital economy. The Council also considers trusted AI-agent identity and accountability increasingly relevant to the industry's operational security, customer confidence, and development of new digital services.
Source: SAMENA Council Press Release
