2026 Showcase
Welcome to the NextGenInfra Upperside World Congress Showcase. This was the 27th edition of what was previously called "MPLS World Congress. The conference showcases the cutting edge of transport and wide-area technologies.
The latest advances in IP, SRv6, Quantum, SASE/SD-WAN, and network automation were covered the discussions and presentations at the conference (along with AI, the ever-present topic across all technology and business conferences). Check out the perspectives from the speakers below.
While you're here, grab our latest research brief right from this page.
2026 Upperside World Congress
Welcome to the NextGenInfra Upperside World Congress Showcase. This was the 27th edition of what was previously called "MPLS World Congress. The conference showcases the cutting edge of transport and wide-area technologies.
The latest advances in IP, SRv6, Quantum, SASE/SD-WAN, and network automation were covered the discussions and presentations at the conference (along with AI, the ever-present topic across all technology and business conferences). Check out the perspectives from the speakers below.
While you're here, grab our latest research brief right from this page.
Sponsor Spotlight Arista Networks
AI Networking: Open Standards & 800G Switches Proven Through Live Testing
Alex Nichol, Principal Engineer at Arista Networks, showcases the company's new AI networking equipment including 800 gigabit switches and latest XPO optics while emphasizing their commitment to open standards.
Sponsor Spotlight Ciena
AI-Driven Networking: From Model Training to Inference at Scale
Rafael Francis, Senior Director of Product Line Management at Ciena, discusses how AI is changing networking as the market shifts from model training to inference, showcasing the company's routing portfolio for data center interconnection and coherent routing integration with optical capabilities. He also touches on automation and agentic AI.
Sponsor Spotlight Cisco Systems
AI-Driven Network Automation: Data Quality Powers Autonomous Systems
Tom Foottit, VP Products at Cisco Systems, presents Cisco Crosswork assurance and automation, highlighting how the company uses AI to enable autonomous networks through advanced data collection and analysis capabilities. He introduces Integrated Performance Measurement (IPM), a new technology providing granular network visibility.
Sponsor Spotlight DriveNets
AI Networking for Service Providers: A Different Approach with DDC Clusters
Juan Rodriguez, Senior Sales Engineer at DriveNets, explains how service providers are adopting AI networking through a "third" approach leveraging distributed disaggregated chassis (DDC) cluster technology with fabric architecture.
Sponsor Spotlight EANTC
Multi-Vendor Interop Testing: 5G Transport, SRv6, EVPN & Autonomous Networks
Carsten Rossenhövel, Managing Director at EANTC, presents results from this year's multi-vendor interoperability event for transport and cloud networks, featuring 12 vendors and over 80 engineers conducting three weeks of testing that generated more than 1,900 test result pairs across segment routing, EVPN, time synchronization, orchestration, and use case blueprints.
Sponsor Spotlight Ekinops
Ekinops acquires Chimere ZTNA & highlights Quantum Security
Marc Bouteyre, Head of Virtualization at Ekinops, discusses the company's acquisition of Chimere, a universal ZTNA solution that strengthens its SASE portfolio and market position. He also highlights Ekinops' optical portfolio advancements in quantum-resistant networks.
Sponsor Spotlight Flexiwan
Hybrid SASE: Cost-Effective Security Architecture for Enterprises
Amir Zmora, Founder and CEO of Flexiwan, highlights SASE market growth to $25B by 2027, SD-WAN infrastructure at $7.5B, and ZTNA with 18% YoY growth. He discusses how a hybrid SASE approach enables users to selectively route traffic through the security service edge or on-premises firewalls for optimized cost, performance, and security.
Sponsor Spotlight Keysight Technologies
Optimizing AI Inference Performance: Testing Networks at Scale
Daniel Munteanu, Senior Technical Product Manager at Keysight Technologies shares how to ensure optimal AI inferencing performance in production environments. He introduces an emulation and analytics test platform that enables organizations to build and deploy AI inference infrastructures with confidence through emulation and testing.
Sponsor Spotlight Keysight Technologies
Multi-Vendor Network Testing: EANTC Interop at Upperside
Malake Abidar, Solutions Engineer, South EMEA at Keysight Technologies, discusses the company's participation in the annual EANTC transport and network cloud interop, where Keysight provides realistic traffic generation, protocol emulation, and performance validation across multi-vendor environments testing segment routing, EVPN, and advanced transport services.
Sponsor Spotlight Lanner Electronics
Edge Computing, 5G Networks & Ruggedized Solutions
Cyril Chouviat of Lanner Electronics, presents the company's comprehensive product portfolio, featuring Edge Compute Appliances with Intel Granite Rapid CPUs and GPU acceleration, ruggedized IEC-compliant cybersecurity solutions, and IP67-rated 5G UCPE units for outdoor deployment. The showcase includes systems supporting Intel Xeon 6, Nvidia MGX architecture with Grace CPU, and Jetson Thor appliances for robotics.
Sponsor Spotlight Nokia
AI-Powered Network Defense & Quantum-Safe Solutions
Roland Thienpont, Director of IP Division Product Marketing at Nokia, presents data center interconnection with automation capabilities using modular architectures. He discusses the network journey from data centers to wide area networks, featuring AI agents for network operations, DDoS protection, and quantum-safe networks.
Sponsor Spotlight Ribbon
AI-Driven Network Automation: The Future of IP and Optical Solutions
David Stokes, Head of IP Solutions & Portfolio Marketing at Ribbon, discusses how the industry is evolving beyond traditional networking by incorporating automation and AI to optimize user experience. He showcases advances in IP and optical networking capabilities enabled by domain-level automation platforms.
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Analysis by AvidThink
What we learned at the 2026 Upperside World Congress
Five themes from the MPLS SD & AI Net World Congress in Paris.
AI networking pivots from training to inference
Ciena sees demand shifting from model training toward inference and data center interconnection, Keysight introduced an emulation platform to validate inference performance in production, and DriveNets pitches a distributed disaggregated chassis fabric as the 'third way' for service providers entering AI networking.
Autonomous operations get concrete
Cisco's Crosswork pairs AI-driven data collection with new Integrated Performance Measurement for granular visibility — with data quality as the stated foundation. Nokia ships AI agents for network operations and DDoS protection; Ribbon applies domain-level automation to optimize user experience across IP and optical.
Multi-vendor interop is doing the unglamorous work
EANTC's annual interop drew 12 vendors and 80+ engineers for three weeks, producing over 1,900 test result pairs across segment routing, EVPN, time synchronization, and orchestration. It's the proof layer that lets operators actually deploy the multi-vendor stacks being announced.
SASE consolidates — and hybridizes
Flexiwan cites a SASE market heading to $25B by 2027 with ZTNA growing 18% a year, and routes traffic selectively between the security service edge and on-prem firewalls. Ekinops bought ZTNA vendor Chimere to round out its SASE portfolio while pushing its optical line toward quantum-resistant networks.
The hardware catches up: 800G switching and AI-grade edge boxes
Arista's new AI networking lineup pairs 800-gigabit switches with its latest XPO optics on open standards. At the edge, Lanner's appliances span Intel Granite Rapids with GPU acceleration, IP67-rated outdoor 5G uCPE, and a roadmap through Nvidia MGX and Jetson Thor for robotics.
Highlights from industry thought leaders
Video interviews
AI Networking: Open Standards & 800G Switches Proven Through Live Testing
- Arista's new AI networking lineup features 800 gigabit switches and its latest XPO optics
- Open standards are central to Arista's AI networking strategy
Abstract
Alex Nichol, Principal Engineer at Arista Networks, showcases the company's new AI networking equipment including 800 gigabit switches and latest XPO optics while emphasizing their commitment to open standards.
AI-Driven Networking: From Model Training to Inference at Scale
- AI networking demand is shifting from model training toward inference
- Ciena's routing portfolio targets data center interconnection with coherent routing integrated into optical
- Automation and agentic AI are emerging themes in the portfolio
Abstract
Rafael Francis, Senior Director of Product Line Management at Ciena, discusses how AI is changing networking as the market shifts from model training to inference, showcasing the company's routing portfolio for data center interconnection and coherent routing integration with optical capabilities. He also touches on automation and agentic AI.
AI-Driven Network Automation: Data Quality Powers Autonomous Systems
- Cisco Crosswork uses AI-driven data collection and analysis to enable autonomous networks
- Integrated Performance Measurement (IPM) is a new Cisco technology for granular network visibility
- Data quality underpins Cisco's approach to network automation
Abstract
Tom Foottit, VP Products at Cisco Systems, presents Cisco Crosswork assurance and automation, highlighting how the company uses AI to enable autonomous networks through advanced data collection and analysis capabilities. He introduces Integrated Performance Measurement (IPM), a new technology providing granular network visibility.
AI Networking for Service Providers: A Different Approach with DDC Clusters
- DriveNets pitches a "third" approach to AI networking for service providers
- The architecture leverages distributed disaggregated chassis (DDC) clusters with a fabric design
Abstract
Juan Rodriguez, Senior Sales Engineer at DriveNets, explains how service providers are adopting AI networking through a "third" approach leveraging distributed disaggregated chassis (DDC) cluster technology with fabric architecture.
Multi-Vendor Interop Testing: 5G Transport, SRv6, EVPN & Autonomous Networks
- EANTC's multi-vendor interop drew 12 vendors and 80+ engineers over three weeks of testing
- Testing produced more than 1,900 test result pairs
- Scope spanned segment routing, EVPN, time synchronization, orchestration, and use case blueprints
Abstract
Carsten Rossenhövel, Managing Director at EANTC, presents results from this year's multi-vendor interoperability event for transport and cloud networks, featuring 12 vendors and over 80 engineers conducting three weeks of testing that generated more than 1,900 test result pairs across segment routing, EVPN, time synchronization, orchestration, and use case blueprints.
Ekinops acquires Chimere ZTNA & highlights Quantum Security
- Ekinops acquired Chimere, a universal ZTNA solution, to strengthen its SASE portfolio
- Ekinops' optical portfolio is advancing toward quantum-resistant networks
Abstract
Marc Bouteyre, Head of Virtualization at Ekinops, discusses the company's acquisition of Chimere, a universal ZTNA solution that strengthens its SASE portfolio and market position. He also highlights Ekinops' optical portfolio advancements in quantum-resistant networks.
Hybrid SASE: Cost-Effective Security Architecture for Enterprises
- SASE market projected to reach $25B by 2027, with SD-WAN at $7.5B and ZTNA growing 18% YoY
- Flexiwan's hybrid SASE selectively routes traffic through the security service edge or on-prem firewalls
- The approach targets balanced cost, performance, and security
Abstract
Amir Zmora, Founder and CEO of Flexiwan, highlights SASE market growth to $25B by 2027, SD-WAN infrastructure at $7.5B, and ZTNA with 18% YoY growth. He discusses how a hybrid SASE approach enables users to selectively route traffic through the security service edge or on-premises firewalls for optimized cost, performance, and security.
Optimizing AI Inference Performance: Testing Networks at Scale
- Keysight introduces an emulation and analytics test platform for AI inference infrastructure
- Goal is to validate and optimize AI inferencing performance in production environments
Abstract
Daniel Munteanu, Senior Technical Product Manager at Keysight Technologies shares how to ensure optimal AI inferencing performance in production environments. He introduces an emulation and analytics test platform that enables organizations to build and deploy AI inference infrastructures with confidence through emulation and testing.
Multi-Vendor Network Testing: EANTC Interop at Upperside
- Keysight supplies traffic generation, protocol emulation, and performance validation for the EANTC interop
- Multi-vendor testing covered segment routing, EVPN, and advanced transport services
Abstract
Malake Abidar, Solutions Engineer, South EMEA at Keysight Technologies, discusses the company's participation in the annual EANTC transport and network cloud interop, where Keysight provides realistic traffic generation, protocol emulation, and performance validation across multi-vendor environments testing segment routing, EVPN, and advanced transport services.
Edge Computing, 5G Networks & Ruggedized Solutions
- Lanner's edge compute appliances use Intel Granite Rapids CPUs with GPU acceleration
- Portfolio includes IP67-rated 5G uCPE units for outdoor deployment and IEC-compliant ruggedized cybersecurity systems
- Roadmap spans Intel Xeon 6, Nvidia MGX with Grace CPU, and Jetson Thor appliances for robotics
Abstract
Cyril Chouviat of Lanner Electronics, presents the company's comprehensive product portfolio, featuring Edge Compute Appliances with Intel Granite Rapid CPUs and GPU acceleration, ruggedized IEC-compliant cybersecurity solutions, and IP67-rated 5G UCPE units for outdoor deployment. The showcase includes systems supporting Intel Xeon 6, Nvidia MGX architecture with Grace CPU, and Jetson Thor appliances for robotics.
AI-Powered Network Defense & Quantum-Safe Solutions
- Nokia presents modular architectures for automated data center interconnection spanning DCs to the WAN
- Solutions feature AI agents for network operations, DDoS protection, and quantum-safe networks
Abstract
Roland Thienpont, Director of IP Division Product Marketing at Nokia, presents data center interconnection with automation capabilities using modular architectures. He discusses the network journey from data centers to wide area networks, featuring AI agents for network operations, DDoS protection, and quantum-safe networks.
AI-Driven Network Automation: The Future of IP and Optical Solutions
- Ribbon applies automation and AI to move beyond traditional networking and optimize user experience
- Advances in IP and optical networking are enabled by domain-level automation platforms
Abstract
David Stokes, Head of IP Solutions & Portfolio Marketing at Ribbon, discusses how the industry is evolving beyond traditional networking by incorporating automation and AI to optimize user experience. He showcases advances in IP and optical networking capabilities enabled by domain-level automation platforms.
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