Senza Fili Interview: Analyst's Views Unwrapped

RCR Wireless News
RCR Wireless NewsMar 23, 2026

Why It Matters

Understanding AI’s realistic, short‑term applications and the gradual path to AI‑native 6G helps telecom leaders prioritize investments, mitigate risks, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Summary

The interview wraps up Mobile World Congress with analyst Monica reflecting on the evolving role of artificial intelligence in telecom. She notes that while AI remains a hot topic, the buzz has given way to pragmatic experiments—energy‑saving loops, quality‑of‑experience trade‑offs, and narrowly defined optimization tasks—rather than sweeping, industry‑wide promises.

Monica emphasizes that AI’s greatest challenge is defining intent and aligning diverse agents toward that goal. Operators possess massive data and compute, but translating business objectives into machine‑readable prompts requires new cultural and organizational practices. Human expertise will shift from direct control to overseeing intent, ensuring that automation does not sacrifice customer experience for cost savings.

The conversation also touches on the longer‑term roadmap toward 6G. Rather than a sudden, AI‑native leap, the panel predicts a gradual evolution, building on 5G’s emerging AI tooling and integrated sensing capabilities. Sensing—leveraging existing radio infrastructure for applications from airport logistics to health monitoring—offers vast monetization potential, yet faces hurdles of spectrum cost, regulatory constraints, and privacy concerns.

Overall, the dialogue underscores that telecoms must balance immediate AI‑driven efficiencies with broader cultural change, while preparing for a slow‑burn transition to more advanced, AI‑native networks. Operators that master intent definition, manage trade‑offs, and navigate sensing’s regulatory landscape will capture the next wave of value.

Original Description

Monica Paolini, Founder and President, Senza Fili speaks with Sean Kinney, Principal Analyst, RCRTech.
Recorded at MWC 2026, presented as part of RCR Wireless News' MWC Key Takeaways 2026.

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