October 6-7, 2026
Dallas
Towards the Dark NOC: AI-native operations at scale
October 6, 2026
12:00-13:00
Innovate Stage
Autonomous Networks
Chair: George Glass, CTO, TM Forum
12:00 – 12:15
Case study: How the NOC becomes AI-native
Traditional network operations centers are evolving into AI-native operational environments powered by predictive assurance, digital twins, and autonomous workflows. This session explores how CSPs are redesigning the NOC for AI-native operations using digital twins, predictive assurance, and autonomous workflows to move from reactive fault management to real-time decision-making.
in conversation with
Shuvo Saha, VP of Education, TM Forum
12:15 – 12:30
Fireside chat: AI and future data: Charting the path to network autonomy
Paul Challoner, VP Chief Technology Officer, Global Customer Unit AT&T, Ericsson
12:30 – 13:00
Panel: When AI takes the ops seat
As telecom operators introduce AI-assisted and autonomous operational workflows, the role of network operations teams is rapidly evolving. This panel explores how AI is already making operational decisions inside live network environments - and what it takes to scale this safely across the NOC, from incident management to real-time optimization.
12:00 – 12:15
Case study: How the NOC becomes AI-native
Traditional network operations centers are evolving into AI-native operational environments powered by predictive assurance, digital twins, and autonomous workflows. This session explores how CSPs are redesigning the NOC for AI-native operations using digital twins, predictive assurance, and autonomous workflows to move from reactive fault management to real-time decision-making.
- Scaling autonomous assurance across complex, hybrid networks
- Using digital twins to predict and simulate network behavior
- Benchmarking autonomy and bridging the people gap: How will we advance our understanding of network autonomy levels and the impact on business outcomes?
- And how will we equip people across the industry to work together to make it happen?
in conversation with
Shuvo Saha, VP of Education, TM Forum
12:15 – 12:30
Fireside chat: AI and future data: Charting the path to network autonomy
- How communications service providers are leveraging data, AI, assurance, and automation to advance toward autonomous network operations
- Building trusted data foundations and enabling closed-loop decision-making
- Accelerating the transition from assisted operations to autonomous networks at scale
Paul Challoner, VP Chief Technology Officer, Global Customer Unit AT&T, Ericsson
12:30 – 13:00
Panel: When AI takes the ops seat
As telecom operators introduce AI-assisted and autonomous operational workflows, the role of network operations teams is rapidly evolving. This panel explores how AI is already making operational decisions inside live network environments - and what it takes to scale this safely across the NOC, from incident management to real-time optimization.
- Where is AI already making real operational decisions today?
- What currently breaks when you try to scale autonomy and what do we need to do to have more trust in AI operations?
- How far AI should go in live operations?
- Determining what the next-generation NOC team looks like
Panelists include:
Mike Witkowski, VP Network Engineering & Operations, T-Mobile
Bradley Mead, Head of Networks Managed Services, Cloud Software & Services, Ericsson
Karthik Kannan, Lead – Made in Telstra Engineering, Telstra
Sara Coppo, Telco Programs Lead, BMC Helix
Please note: All topics and timings are provisional and may be subject to change.
