Hot topics from MWC 2026: AI, data sovereignty, scaling

MWC 2026 trendwatch: AI sprawl, data sovereignty, and satellite for scaling

AI, agentic AI, data sovereignty and scaling: These were the conversations happening all day, every day, in every corner of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026.

The big risk of 2026: AI sprawl

Challenges in deploying enterprise-level AI were highlighted by many stands. How to use AI for customer service and as a tool for engineering and support services were repeated themes.

Martin Langmaid, our CTO, saw an industry rushing to sell AI licenses but thinks we need to keep a grounded perspective.

"Navigating the gold rush of companies trying to see AI services is going to be challenging in 2026. Every Managed Service Provider (MSP) is adding AI now and increasing license costs for that capability - it is very likely that organisations will end up with lots of different AI agents, LLMs and services deployed."

"There is real risk for AI sprawl with a confusing mess of disconnected agents and rising license costs."

Sovereignty and security in the "Age of AI"

The challenges of 2026 aren't just technical, they're geopolitical. Sovereignty of data and services, and data security, were hot topics - and they're only going to become hotter.

On the stand, our Venners met a wave of customers who are weary of relying solely on US-based data centers. They want to know exactly where their traffic is being routed and who has the keys, says Martin.

"I think all CXOs will need to justify where and how they host their services and data - more so than ever before."

Venn's "Human in the Loop" strategy has always been about combining any automated intelligence with expert oversight to deliver truly Value-Added AI. This means using tools like Agentic AI to make processes faster, without losing the sovereignty of our clients' data.

"We see AI as a tool to help our humans do more, better, and faster," says Martin. "It’s not about replacing the engineer; it’s about enabling them to build powerful automations to speed up service delivery while keeping data close and secure. We’re very focused on doing that safely and efficiently while keeping our data close. It’s a tricky balancing act!"

Scaling, satellite - and Peplink as a partner

While much of the 100,000-strong crowd at MWC 2026 spent their week debating the theoretical future of AI and 6G, the Venn team was at the Peplink stand, focusing on a much more urgent question: How do we make your network unbreakable today?

When we got down to brass tacks, the business was all about satellite. The most common question at the Venn stand wasn't about bots, it was "How do I bond multiple operators and manage it at scale internationally?"

How to bond multiple Starlinks and Starlink with 5G was a regular question, and our Peplink Antenna Max S was one star of the show there, proving that the hardware is capable of meeting demand for high-density, multi-link connectivity. And, as one of the Peplink community managers, while demonstrating it Martin got to meet many of their partners and customers in real life - "which is always nice!"

We don't just go to MWC to see shiny new technologies, we go to explore ideas and strengthen connections. Sharing the stand with our partners at Peplink and Frontier made for an excellent homebase atmosphere.

Innovation is a team sport, and MWC 2026 wouldn't have been the same without the incredible ecosystem surrounding us. In an era of "AI-everything," we returned from Barcelona with a clear message: no matter, what your challenges are, the best thing you can do is stay connected.