AN Leadership Forum: Unlocking the next phase of intelligent network operations

Chair: Aaron Boasman-Patel, Vice President, Innovation, TM Forum   

15:45 - 16:00
Building the AI-native foundation for autonomous operations 

• Enabling the shift toward AI-native, autonomous network architectures
• Transforming network data into actionable intelligence through digital twins, telco domain-specific large models
• Scaling closed-loop automation from individual use cases to domain-wide operations
• Practical deployment lessons and new paradigm concluded

Binglei Wang, Senior Project Manager, China Telecom Intelligent Cloud-Network Operation Center, China Telecom 
Echo Liu, President, Network Performance and Converged Data Operations, Global Technical Service (GTS), Huawei 

16:00 - 16:15
Cracking the code: Achieving Level 4 autonomy in massive wireless networks 

• How Verizon has built the world’s largest telco digital twin to achieve Level 4 autonomy across its complex wireless network  
• How migrating massive data estates unlocked the ability to use cutting-edge Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for precise origin analysis 
• Moving beyond simple anomaly detection to a self-healing, predictive operation that redefines network resilience and customer experience 

Muninder Singh Sambi, VP of Google Distributed Cloud & Supply Chain, Google Cloud 
Abhitabh Kushwaha, AVP AI Networks, Verizon   

16:15 - 16:30
Case Study: Advancing network operations through automation and intelligence 

• Applying automation and data-driven intelligence to optimise network operations  
• Reducing operational complexity while improving service quality and resilience  
• Taking a pragmatic approach to autonomous networks across OSS and operational domains  
• Lessons learned from scaling automation initiatives and aligning them with business priorities including efficiency and sustainability 

Keisuke Suzuki, Director of OSS, NTT DOCOMO

16:30 - 16:45
How to move from NaaS to autonomous networks 

• Why the building blocks of AN are NaaS (ODA) 
• Building a solid knowledge base for effective implementation 
• Moving from predictive automation to reasoned automation with Agentic AI 
• Case study of service closed loop for operations 

Shirish Basant Rai, Senior Specialist Network Architect, Colt 

16:45 - 17:15 
Panel: Designing the autonomous operations center of the future 

• Exploring the concept of the “Dark NOC”: network operations environments where AI and automation handle the majority of operational tasks with minimal human intervention 
• How Level 4 autonomy is transforming traditional network operations centers into intelligent, self-managing environments 
• The technologies enabling this shift, from AI-driven assurance and closed-loop automation to digital twins and intent-based operations 
• What organizational changes are required as operator teams transition from manual monitoring to AI supervision and strategic control 
• How the “Dark NOC” vision underpins the transition to 6G, where AI-native, fully autonomous operations are expected to be foundational rather than optional 

Panelists:  
Shahryar Khan, Sr. Director & Head of Mobile Packet Core, Telia Group
Daniel Smith, Group Technology - Operations Governance & Tools Specialist, MTN Group 
Shirish Basant Rai, Senior Specialist Network Architect, Colt 
Jørgen Brecke, Senior Vice President, Technology Strategy and Partnership Ecosystem, Telenor 
Alexis Koalla, Director Operations Strategy & Autonomous Network Transformation, Orange   

17:15 - 17:45
AN Levels Certificate Ceremony: TM Forum accelerates momentum towards autonomous networks 
Operators are saving time, reducing costs, and advancing AI-driven, self-optimizing networks
Certificates will be awarded to leading operators who have undertaken AN Level Assessment Validation (ANLAV)
The awards will be presented by George Glass, CTO, TM Forum

17:45
Close of session.