AWS highlights how agentic AI and autonomous networks put CSPs on the path to profitable growth

Jan Hofmeyr, Head of Telecom at AWS, discusses how AWS is helping communication service providers (CSP) accelerate their transformation into AI-powered technology companies, and outlines what visitors can expect to see at the AWS booth during DTW Ignite 2026 in Copenhagen.

TM Forum: What is the overarching theme for AWS at DTW Ignite 2026, and how has your focus evolved since last year?

JH: Our theme this year is clear: Agentic AI is delivering real business results today. Last year, most organizations we talked with were experimenting with AI, they saw the potential, but few had put it into action. That’s changed. Now we’re seeing telcos move agentic AI into production to help them to modernize, automate, and grow their business. At DTW Ignite 2025, we talked about transformative potential. This year we’re showcasing how leading operators such as AT&T, BT, and NTT DOCOMO are leveraging AWS agentic AI services, including AWS Transform, AgentCore, Kiro, and Bedrock, to deploy live agentic AI systems for production use cases. And things are only getting started. There are so many new opportunities that stretch across network transformation, application modernization, customer experience, and entirely new ways to grow. What AWS is providing are practical, production-ready services that help operators clear the roadblocks and quickly move to delivering business results.

TM Forum: Your keynote is titled “AI, Digital Sovereignty, and the Path Back to Profitable Growth.” Can you give us a preview of the key messages you'll deliver on the Park Stage?

JH: I am going to talk about three strategic imperatives that every telco executive I’ve talked to in the past year is grappling with. First, getting to AI adoption at scale. I’m not talking about pilots or proofs of concept, but enterprise-wide deployments of agentic AI that can fundamentally change how their networks operate and how they serve their customers. Second, how AI can unlock the value trapped in legacy applications by transforming them into modern, agile, and composable services. Lastly, how to convert that operational efficiency into sustainable revenue growth. I'll be joined on stage by BT, which will share real-world examples of this transformation. The session is designed as an overview of everything we’re talking about at DTW. The audience can attend our AWS track sessions and visit our booth on the mezzanine level to dive deeper into any of these themes.

TM Forum: Autonomous networks have been a focus for AWS. Also bearing in mind the TM Forum's missions on AI and Data and Autonmous Networks, how are you advancing that agenda at DTW Ignite 2026, and what's different from a year ago?

JH: A year ago, we were demonstrating how AI could predict network failures and automate fault isolation. That was a largely reactive approach using intelligent monitoring and automated responses. This year, we’ve evolved into an agentic approach. Our demos with BT and NTT DOCOMO show multi-agent AI systems built on Amazon Bedrock that perform end-to-end remediation across network domains. They don’t just detect anomalies, they act without human intervention. We’re also showing how intent-based network slicing, powered by agentic AI, enables operators to dynamically allocate and monetize network resources in real time.

With regard to the TM Forum missions, we’re also part of three TM Forum Moonshot Catalysts this year. Two of the projects are using the AI and Data mission assets. Our goal is to share tangible examples of how AWS is helping shape industry standards that will govern how these autonomous systems interoperate securely across operators and partners. Visitors can see Amir Rao’s session on scaling autonomous use cases from pilot to production, and Vara Prasad Talari’s session on building trust in multi-agent AI systems across domains to learn more about what we’re doing.

TM Forum: IT modernization remains a major challenge for operators. What’s AWS’s approach, and what will attendees see at the exhibition?

JH: You can argue that legacy technical debt is the single biggest barrier to telco transformation. Tech debt consumes budgets, slows innovation, and creates security vulnerabilities. Our approach to legacy applications is to use practical, agentic AI tools to accelerate the modernization process. In our AWS exhibition space, we have ten live demonstrations across our four solution areas. One highlight is our work with AT&T, where we’re showing how Amazon Transform and AWS Outposts enable on-premises cloud modernization at scale with AI. AT&T estimates they can migrate 50% faster and reduce infrastructure cost by 30%. We’re also demonstrating with Ericsson how agentic AI using Amazon Bedrock agents and Kiro agent personas can autonomously break down legacy monolithic systems, generate cloud-native architectures, and then execute migration plans with built-in safeguards. For CIOs evaluating modernization strategies, Ishwar Parulkar's session on reducing technical debt through agentic AI-led modernization will be very helpful.

TM Forum: Looking beyond DTW Ignite, what’s your vision for how the AWS-telco partnership evolves over the next two to three years?

JH: I believe we’re at an inflection point. The telcos that move decisively on AI and cloud over the next two years will have a fundamental advantage over those that don’t, and this viewpoint certainly aligns with this year’s DTW Ignite tag, “The Future. Faster”. Our vision is to help operators become AI-native technology companies. These are organizations where network decisions, customer interactions, and business processes are augmented or fully automated by intelligent agents. That means continued investment in purpose-built solutions, like using Amazon Connect for customer experience, and our Sovereign Cloud infrastructure for operators with data residency requirements, and our AgentCore platform for deploying and governing multi-agent systems at enterprise scale. It also means deepening our partner ecosystem. At DTW, you’ll see us highlight joint innovations with Nokia, Ericsson, Amdocs, Salesforce, and many others. The opportunity is enormous. Telcos sit on some of the world’s most valuable data and infrastructure. Our job at AWS is to help them unlock that value, profitably and securely.

Visit the AWS Next Level showcase on the mezzanine floor at Bella Center Copenhagen, 23–25 June. Jan Hofmeyr's keynote — “AI, Digital Sovereignty, and the Path Back to Profitable Growth” — takes place on the Park Stage on Tuesday, June 23 at 10:10 AM.