BT Group’s Digital Unit has launched a groundbreaking internal platform designed to harness the capabilities of leading large language models (LLMs), a type of artificial intelligence (AI) designed to understand, generate, and manipulate human language from providers like Anthropic, Meta, Claude, Cohere, and Amazon.
Known as the GenAI Gateway, this innovative platform was developed in collaboration with AWS, leveraging the power of Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker, and AWS Professional Services. The platform offers BT Group secure and private access to various LLMs, a vital asset as the company incorporates AI into its business operations.
One of the GenAI Gateway’s key advantages is its flexibility. It allows BT Group to avoid dependency on any single LLM provider, protecting the company against potential vendor lock-in. This ensures that engineers can select the optimal model for each unique use case while keeping costs in check through a per-use case budget tracking system.
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Boosting Operational Efficiency with AI
The GenAI Gateway, hosted on AWS, integrates seamlessly into BT Group’s modular digital architecture through secure APIs. It is built on Amazon Bedrock, a managed service that offers a variety of high-performance foundational models from top AI developers, such as AI21 Labs, Stability AI, and Mistral AI. Additionally, Amazon SageMaker brings a wide array of machine learning (ML) tools that help BT Group deploy AI at scale, with built-in security and compliance features.
The platform supports many functionalities, including prompt security, chat history, enterprise search, and FinOps billing for individual use cases. It can also connect to multiple corporate data sources, making it a versatile tool for operational efficiency.
The GenAI Gateway is already in action with beta use cases. One of the first implementations is at Openreach, where the platform summarizes engineering notes for Ethernet and full-fiber jobs, streamlining workflows and enhancing productivity for both teams and communication provider customers. Another live use case involves contract analysis, benefiting BT Group’s business, legal, and procurement teams.
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A New Era for AI in Enterprises
Fabio Cerone, Managing Director for EMEA Telco Business Unit at AWS, praised the initiative, calling it a pioneering effort demonstrating how enterprises can scale generative AI efficiently. He also highlighted the platform’s ability to fast-track AI deployments into production environments while ensuring security and compliance, resulting in faster outcomes for BT Group and its customers. “The BT Group GenAI Gateway showcases how enterprises can effectively deploy generative AI at scale and speed. It’s been a brilliant, pioneering opportunity to collaborate and work backwards from the customer to provide a way to accelerate the deployment of generative AI use cases into production with embedded security and compliance. The GenAI Gateway will trigger the flywheel effect in the adoption of generative AI, delivering quicker results for BT Group and its customers.”
Deepika Adusumilli, Managing Director for Data & AI at BT Group’s Digital Unit, echoed these sentiments, noting that AI is transforming the company. “GenAI Gateway provides us with the flexibility we need to use our data alongside the best AI models,” she said. “It allows us to scale these technologies safely and responsibly, unlocking the human potential within BT Group.”
