Much of the conversation around artificial intelligence focuses on sweeping promises, but some of its earliest payoffs may be far more practical. Glenn Lurie, a General Partner at the connected-ecosystem investor Stormbreaker Ventures, outlined where he sees near-term opportunity in a wide-ranging AI Journal piece.

One target is customer service. “It still costs seven or eight bucks to handle a call-center call at a wireless carrier,” Lurie said. “Imagine the savings if no one had to call. That’s where early AI impact will go.”

He also points to a more structural opportunity inside the networks themselves. “There’s also AI in the networks and at the edge — edge compute, edge cloud,” he said. Lurie expects companies to move carefully, adding that “people will be cautious in how they roll out for good reasons.”

His perspective comes from decades inside the industry. Before Stormbreaker, he spent 27 years at AT&T and then served as CEO of a company specializing in RCS messaging and cloud systems. The Glenn Lurie Synchronoss era capped a long operating career before his move into venture investing.

Safety is another area of focus. One Stormbreaker investment uses AI-powered fire detection that can identify smoke within minutes. “If someone’s watching, LA fires never get going,” Lurie said. “This tech won’t just make life better; it’ll make it safer.”

Having launched AT&T’s Emerging Devices Organization in 2008, Lurie still describes the Internet of Things as being in “the third inning” when it comes to revenue and profitability. He also argues that the industry does not need to wait for 6G. “With 5G you can already do almost everything you need,” he said.

Looking further ahead, he envisions phones, cars, smart buildings, and calendars working together and using AI to anticipate needs rather than simply responding to commands. Reaching that point, in his view, will depend on the kind of discipline that separates useful tools from technical showpieces.