Networks in the AI Era
Wednesday, 3 June 2026, 17:00 – 18:30, room M1
Session Chair:
- Harish Viswanathan (Nokia Bell Labs, )
- Mikko Uusitalo (Nokia Bell Labs, )
We are entering a new technology supercycle—on the scale of the Industrial, Internet, and mobile broadband revolutions—driven by large language models and a rapid proliferation of intelligent applications. As investment shifts from training frontier models to monetizing inference, Generative, Agentic, and Physical AI are poised to reshape traffic patterns and performance requirements across access networks. In parallel, the use of AI within network design, optimization, and operations promises equally profound change.
This panel examines how AI is influencing communications networks from both directions: networks for AI (do networks need to be redesigned to accommodate emerging AI traffic patterns?) and AI for networks (how does AI change how we architect, build, and run future networks?). We will discuss whether networks can become self-evolving—autonomously conceiving, designing, developing, and deploying new capabilities—and how far AI’s impact will extend into the underlying hardware infrastructure.
Programme
Moderated panel discussion (90 minutes)
Panelists:
- Petar Popovski, Uni Aalborg
- Mehdi Bennis, Uni Oulu (tbc)
- Eric Hardouin, Orange (tbc)
- Sina Fazel, OVH Cloud (tbc)
- Bartek Kozicki, IMEC (tbc)
Panel Agenda with timing of the session (total 90 minutes):
1 – Round of introductions: Please introduce yourself. What is your background related to theme of the session? [10 min]
2 – Short introductory talks by the panelists
3 – Questions for all panel members
- Do networks need to be redesigned to accommodate emerging AI traffic patterns?
- What else do we need to change in networks for AI?
- How does AI change how we architect, build, and run future networks?
- What are the main challenges?
4 – Questions from the audience
5 – Two min closing remarks by each panelist and the moderator – main takeaway from the discussion [10 min]
