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At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, IBM brought together telecommunications leaders, technology partners and policymakers to explore how AI, network automation and quantum technologies are reshaping the future of telecom.
Across four days of discussions, demonstrations and executive exchanges, the message was clear: the telecom industry is entering a new phase where innovation must move beyond experimentation to AI-powered networks, intelligent automation and quantum-ready security at scale.
From fireside conversations at the IBM booth to thought leadership sessions across the GSMA conference program, IBM helped industry leaders rethink how telecom networks, operations and business models evolve in the age of AI and quantum.
Key highlights from IBM at MWC 2026
During MWC 2026, IBM hosted and participated in a series of experiences designed to explore real-world telecommunications transformation.
IBM speaker: Priya Kurien, Research Director, IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV)
IBM speaker: Lory Thorpe, Senior Quantum Ambassador, IBM
IBM speaker: Belen Martin, Senior Partner & VP, FSS SPGI Sector Leader
IBM Speaker: Eoin Coughlan, Global CTO TME Industry, IBM
IBM speakers:
Zygmunt Lozinski, Quantum Safe Networks, IBM Research
Lory Thorpe, Senior Quantum Ambassador, IBM
IBV and GSMA Intelligence
Priya Kurien, Research Director, IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV)
Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence
IBM speakers:
Zygmunt Lozinski, Quantum Safe Networks, IBM Research
Lory Thorpe, Senior Quantum Ambassador, IBM
Fireside Chats
Across MWC, our fireside chats brought together clients and industry leaders for short, TED Talk–style conversations about how they are transforming their businesses with AI, automation and emerging technologies.
The sessions explored:
- Real-world approaches to complex telecom challenges
- Lessons learned from scaling AI across operations
- Practical insights for organizations navigating their own transformation journeys
- 02 March
- 03 March
- 04 March
Speakers:
- Almudena Bonet, AI Product Manager, Telefónica Tech
- Jacobo Garnacho, Head of Data&AI Sales, IBM
- David Vilas Álvarez, Attorney General of the State
Speakers:
- Steve Gonzales, Director of Consulting Engineering, Palo Alto Networks
- Jim McGregor, TIRIAS Research
- Dinesh Nagarajan, Quantum Safe and Security for AI leader IBM Consulting Global
Speakers:
- Fran Heeran, Vice President & Head of Global Telecommunications Business @ Red Hat
- Eoin Coughlan, Global CTO & Industry Lead, Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment, IBM
Speakers:
- Juan Corro, General Manager, Informática Ayuntamiento de Madrid
- Alicia Richart, Public Sector Partner, IBM Consulting
Speakers:
- Miguel Angel González Doval , Chief Digital and Technology Officer Retail & Mobility, MOEVE
- José Miguel Rico, Industrial & Distribution Leader, IBM Consulting Spain, Portugal, Greece & Israel
Speakers:
- Ayachika Kitazaki , Deputy Manager, Operations & Planning Division, Network Operation Division, SoftBank
- Aaron Boasman-Patel, VP, Innovation, TM Forum
- Rahul Kumar, Senior Partner & Vice President - Global Industry Leader for Telco & Media Industry, IBM
Speakers:
- Sharat Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Business
- Rakhee Chachra, Global Research Leader –TME IBV
- Rahul Kumar, Global Industry Leader , Telco & Media Industry, IBM Consulting
Speakers:
- Ludovic Hazard - HPE Networking CTO
- Larry Baird , Vice President WW Sales, InfraStructure Delivery & Automation IBM
Speakers:
- Luq Niazi, Global Managing Partner, Industries, IBM Consulting
- Jagbir Singh, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited
Speakers:
- John Henriksen, CEO, B2B Business TDC Erhverv (Nuuday)
- Rakhee Chachra, Global Research Leader, TME IBV
- Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence
Speakers:
- David Prieto, Head of Data,Identity & IA Security, Telefonica Tech
- Leopoldo Andres, Principal zStack Technical Sales Manager, SPGI
Speakers:
- Harrison Lung , Group Chief Strategy Officer e&
- Eoin Coughlan, Global CTO & Industry Lead, Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment, IBM
Speakers:
- Adolfo Morais, Deputy Minister for Science and Innovation, BasQ Government
- Mikel Díez, Spain Strategic Partnership Executive, IBM Quantum
Speakers:
- Evgeni Gousev, Vice President Technology, Qualcomm
- Eoin Coughlan, Global CTO & Industry Lead, Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment, IBM
Speakers:
- Rakhee A. Chachra, Global Research Leader TME, IBM IBV
- Panelist: Tomás Alonso Marcos, Business Development & Strategic Advisor at BlueTab, an IBM company
- Ana Lopez Amat, Director of the Small Business and Self-Employed Division, MasOrange
Speakers:
- Nikilesh Eswarapu. Adobe Practice Lead, Telecom and Media
- Pierre Charchaflian, Vice President, Senior Partner, Global Marketing Offering Leader, IBM
New at MWC 2026: Senior leadership exchange
At Mobile World Congress 2026, the Senior Leadership Exchange brought together a select group of executives for exclusive, invitation-only discussions focused on the opportunities and leadership decisions shaping the agentic AI era.
Participants engaged in high-level conversations, built new strategic connections, and exchanged perspectives with IBM executives and industry peers on how to accelerate AI-driven transformation across their organizations.
Private Solutions Labs
AI, network automation and quantum innovation in action
At the IBM booth, five Private Solutions Labs (PSLs) provided an interactive environment where telecom leaders could explore how emerging technologies translate into operational impact.
These invitation-only sessions showcased how AI, network automation, quantum technologies and enterprise AI orchestration are being applied to solve complex telecommunications challenges and accelerate transformation at scale.
Move from fragmented visibility to intelligent, resilient networks.
IBM demonstrated how advanced network observability and analytics help telecom operators gain a single trusted view of network performance across hybrid and multi-vendor environments. By correlating signals across network domains, teams can detect issues earlier, improve service reliability and optimize operations proactively.
AI-powered automation for faster troubleshooting and network resilience.
IBM Consulting’s Telco Network Assistant Solution enhances cognitive operations by providing an AI-powered assistant for network troubleshooting and automation. This production-ready capability streamlines incident analysis, offers AI-driven insights, and empowers NOC teams with a unified interface for diverse network data.
By consolidating network data and eliminating manual “swivel chair” operations, the solution delivers contextual recommendations that significantly reduce Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and improve operational efficiency.
Orchestrating seamless telecom experiences at scale.
IBM showcased how agentic AI and enterprise AI frameworks help telecom providers transform customer engagement across service, billing and care operations. Using AI agents and industry-aligned data models, organizations can deliver more personalized, responsive and efficient customer journeys.
Preparing networks for the post-quantum era.
IBM explored how telecom providers can prepare for emerging cybersecurity risks with quantum-safe cryptography. As quantum computing advances, organizations must begin transitioning their networks and infrastructure to protect critical data and communications.
Exploring the next frontier of telecom innovation.
IBM demonstrated how quantum computing can transform complex optimization problems across telecommunications, including network planning, routing and resource allocation.
Scaling enterprise AI across telecom operations.
IBM showcased how organizations can move beyond experimentation and operationalize AI across the enterprise. With platforms like watsonx and watsonx Orchestrate, telecom providers can deploy AI agents, automate workflows and scale intelligent decision-making across operations.