Titled Intelligent WAN, Building an Intelligent Connectivity Foundation, infrastructure managers, analysts, and technology executives examined how WANs are becoming a critical foundation for AI-driven digital infrastructure.
The session, which took place on 17 September in Shanghai, looked at how networks need to evolve to support the next phase of AI. It focused on building a foundation for intelligent connectivity, before executives showcased a new roadmap and white paper.
Colin Hu, VP of Huawei’s global public sector business unit, highlighted two challenges currently facing global network operators: expanding connectivity while also supporting agile AI deployment.
Hu explained that, as more industries rapidly adopt AI, networks must cope with increasingly demanding requirements around security, coverage, real-time performance, and deterministic assurance.
At the same time, longstanding challenges remain. Network coverage gaps and access disparity to digital services continue to affect remote and underserved communities. To remain responsive, operators need to build a solid WAN foundation on inclusive coverage and intelligence.
Accelerating AI traffic is also influencing change. Dustin Kehoe, head of AMEA tech research at GlobalData, said evolving AI demands require WAN architecture to modernise. AI workloads generate highly distributed frameworks and often experience unpredictable traffic spikes; these can quickly overwhelm legacy networks that can’t cope with the large real-time data flows.
Ado Du, CEO of Huawei’s WAN team, noted that agentic AI is shifting network connections away from humans and towards AI agents.
This transition will change traffic patterns, with a growing emphasis on massive uplink traffic as agents continuously generate and exchange data. As a result, network experience assurance must support entire AI workflows.
Du called for industry leaders to prioritise long-term WAN planning, focusing on upgrading backbone networks, security, and devices.
He outlined several requirements for future networks, including intelligent traffic awareness, predictive analytics, and flow-level scheduling to maintain a reliable and consistent user experience. Security, meanwhile, must combine built-in protection, end-to-end encryption, quantum-resistant links, and automated closed-loop management systems.
Huawei also used the event to showcase its own technology roadmap.
Ethan Liu, Huawei’s VP of the data communication product line, router team, presented the company’s Stellar AI Integrated Data WAN Solution. The new product is designed to support intelligent transformation through four capabilities:
- Â Â Â Ultra-broadband connectivity.
- Â Â Â Multi-dimensional network awareness.
- Â Â Â Enhanced security and resilience.
- Â Â Â Greater network autonomy through self-healing operations.
Meanwhile, Nick Liu, VP of the enterprise optical team, proposed a national fibre target network in his keynote speech.
Liu said technologies such as 400G and 800G optical transmission, all-optical cross-connect (OXC), and AI-enabled operations could help build national information highways that support inclusive connectivity while progressing digital and intelligent strategies.
At the session, Huawei and GlobalData jointly released the Intelligent WAN White Paper in AI Era. The white paper examines industry trends, target architectures, and WAN evolution strategies as the AI era evolves.
The white paper’s release tied in with general discussions of the day, as industry experts explored ways to utilise intelligent WANs as enablers of the digital infrastructure needed to support the AI boom.
Pictured: Ado Du, CEO, WAN domain, Huawei
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