“The real-world experience of specialist companies delivering represents real industry progress and often reflects more original approaches to addressing the issues.” – Francis Haysom

This Appledore Research note examines the second Inmanta Network Automation and Innovation Summit in Leuven, where smaller, specialist OSS vendors and their operator customers set out how network autonomy is actually being delivered. In a market where almost every vendor now claims autonomy, AI, orchestration and digital twins, the event offered a view from the people at the coal face.

We review keynotes from Inmanta, Proximus Global (BICS) and Liberty Global’s Telenet, alongside sessions from Celfocus, Viavi, FNT Software and Tieto. We assess the recurring themes: why tested orchestration matters before AI is allowed to act, why inventory and ground truth come first, and why the digital twin sits at the centre of autonomous decision-making. We also give our candid view of where the messaging still outpaces practical examples, and where the harder questions — skills, trust and failure — remain open.

For CSP operations and strategy teams, and OSS vendors positioning around autonomy, this is a grounded read on what is working beyond the architecture slides.

Companies mentioned in this report: Celfocus, Ductus, FNT Software, Fortinet, Globe, Inmanta, Liberty Global, Proximus Global (BICS), Spirent, Telenet, Tieto, Viavi Solutions