Conversations move past AI-enabled at AI-Native Forum

Most operators have AI running somewhere in their network today. However, few would call their network AI-native. That will be the focus of discussion at the AI Native Telco Forum 2026, taking place September 8–9 at Hotel Kö59 in Düsseldorf under the theme “Defining AI-Native Standard for Intelligent Growth.”

Rakuten Symphony will be there, sharing experiences from operationalizing Rakuten Mobile – the world's first fully cloud-native, AI-driven network – demonstrating that intelligent growth is an architectural shift more than anything else.

Here’s where to find the team, and what they'll be discussing.

Panel: AI Leadership and Accountability

Tuesday, September 8 · 14:00–14:45 CEST

A panel discussion on why even operators who are in advanced stages of AI deployments often lack dedicated leadership or the financial frameworks to prove their worth at board level.

• Vivek Chadha - Chief Growth & Marketing Officer, Rakuten Symphony
• Abir Hossain - Vice President, Technology & Operations Development, Elisa
• Pascal Prot - CEO, Legos (Local Exchange Global Operation Services)
• Ari Banerjee - Chief Strategy Officer, Netcracker Technologies‍
• Karim Kotobi - Senior Manager, Digital Product and Transformation, Vodafone‍
• Selenga Akiner - EMEA Regional Partner Manager, Telecom Systems Business, Dell Technologies

Keynote: Is There Another Way to Evolve Networks? Building 6G as an Opportunity

Wednesday, September 9 · 09:15–10:15 CET

A close look at how AI-first organizations build their foundation, and what it takes to turn 6G from a capital decision into a growth opportunity.

• Enrique Blanco – Strategic Advisor, Rakuten Symphony

Following his keynote, Enrique Blanco will join the ANTA Board panel to carry the conversation further.

The AI-Native Telco Accelerator (ANTA) is a global initiative from TelecomTV built to help operators move past AI adoption and into genuine AI-native transformation. Rakuten Symphony is proud to be a founding partner of this initiative, which aims to bring together leaders across the telecom ecosystem to accelerate the transition to AI-native networks.

Presentation and Q&A: The Fully Autonomous NOC

Wednesday, September 9 · 12:15–13:00 CEST

Getting to Level 4 autonomous network operations in live production takes more than ambition. This session looks at what separates operators making real progress from those stuck in pilot mode.

• Gaurav Jain – Vice President, AI and Data Products, Rakuten Symphony

Rakuten Symphony's focus areas at the forum

• The OSS advantage: transforming legacy operations into autonomous, self-healing, software-driven systems
• The evolution path: with 6G a key decision point for operators, the AI-native foundation built today is the prerequisite for the next generation of connectivity
• Operational scale: breaking down data silos to ensure AI is the core of the network

‍‍‍At the booth: AI Workbench powered by Rakuten AI

AI Workbench, powered by Rakuten AI, is a telco-grade AI platform to build, deploy and operate AI at scale. It brings together a governed data foundation, AI-driven insights, autonomous operations, and early agentic AI capabilities in one platform, built to run on-premises or in private cloud with zero data egress.

Visitors can expect:

• DataIQ AI-driven insights: Use cases of Customer 360, churn prediction, revenue assurance, fraud detection, and geospatial analytics that turn raw telecom data into decisions.
• Telco Operations AI Solutions: From manual troubleshooting & fragmented insight to autonomous, zero-touch ops.
• Autonomous Networking & GenAI: early-stage agents that automate operational workflows and generate insights, with governance and human oversight built in, not bolted on.
• Proof from production: real deployment results, including energy-saving rApps, DPI-based customer intelligence, and autonomous network operations already running at scale.

AI Native Telco Forum 2026 runs September 8–9 at Hotel Kö59, Düsseldorf. To book time with the Rakuten Symphony team on-site, schedule a meeting here.

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