Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method performed by a processing system; the method includes receiving a plurality of values of key performance indicators (KPIs) relating to performance of a cell on a communication network. The plurality of values of the KPIs includes labeled training data for training a machine learning (ML) model for the performance of the cell. The method further includes iteratively executing, using the labeled training data, a training procedure for the ML model; and testing the trained ML model. The labeled training data corresponds to ground truth data that may include a training data set, a validation data set and a test data set. The trained ML model, when deployed on a communication network, receives as input near-real time data regarding the performance of the cell and provides as output predictions of the performance of the cell. Other embodiments are disclosed.