Mobile World Congress has always been a useful temperature check for where the connectivity industry thinks it is heading. MWC26 Barcelona looks set to continue that role, but with a noticeable shift in emphasis. With more of the programme now confirmed, the event is shaping up to be less about big announcements and more about showing how connectivity, AI, and automation actually operate in real environments.

From executive keynotes to full-scale technology demonstrations, MWC26 is positioning itself as a preview of how networks, platforms, and intelligent systems are being deployed beyond slides and strategy decks.

A Keynote Programme That Reflects Industry Convergence

Thought leadership is expected to shape discussions across MWC26, with keynote stages featuring senior executives from telecom, artificial intelligence, devices, platforms, gaming, and digital services. The confirmed speaker line-up reflects how closely these sectors are now intertwined.

Confirmed speakers include John Stankey, CEO of AT&T; Johanna Faries, President of Blizzard Entertainment; Allison Kirkby, CEO of BT Group; Karandeep Anand, CEO of Character.AI; and He Biao, CEO of China Mobile.

Also expected on stage are Tim Höttges of Deutsche Telekom, Gabe Pereyra of Harvey, Kate Johnson of Lumen Technologies, and Justin Hotard of Nokia.

The broader keynote programme will also feature Christel Heydemann of Orange Group, Cristiano R. Amon of Qualcomm, Margherita Della Valle of Vodafone, and Akira Shimada of NTT.

Expanding beyond the technology sector, MWC26 will also feature actor, producer, and entrepreneur Aaron Paul, underlining how media, culture, and digital platforms increasingly intersect with connectivity.

Live Demonstrations Take Centre Stage

Alongside the keynote programme, MWC26 Barcelona is expected to place a strong emphasis on live showcases and real-world technology demonstrations. Two new experience zones, Airport of the Future and New Frontiers, are designed to highlight how advanced connectivity, automation, and AI are being deployed in operational environments rather than experimental labs.

Airport of the Future: Aviation as a Connected System

The debut Airport of the Future experience is expected to bring large-scale aviation innovation directly onto the MWC show floor. Built around real-world use cases, the exhibit will feature a live, full-scale Motional Digital Twin delivered by Outsight, marking the first time this technology is planned to be deployed at a technology event in a real, full-scale setting.

Attendees will be able to see how airports can anonymously track passenger movement, manage queues, optimise asset usage, and improve operational performance in real time.

Additional demonstrations planned for this zone include digital luggage tagging and pet travel passports from AENA, a connected aircraft cabin experience from Airbus that allows visitors to personalise onboard environments, and a 5G-connected aircraft showcase from Neutral Wireless focused on low-latency live video streaming for broadcasting.

New Exhibitors and Expanding Industry Boundaries

MWC26 will also welcome a wave of new exhibitors, offering further clues about where investment and innovation are concentrating. Companies confirmed to debut at the event include Adobe, Cohere, Siemens, Toshiba, and NSCALE.

They will join exhibitors such as ANYbotics, Agibot, and an immersive Meta Lab experience from Meta, where attendees will be able to explore the latest developments in wearable AI.

New Frontiers Looks Beyond Today’s Networks

Another major addition to MWC26 is New Frontiers, an immersive exhibition exploring future-focused innovation at the outer edges of technology. Featuring around 20 exhibitors, many of them first-time participants at MWC, the zone will cover quantum computing, satellite connectivity, non-terrestrial networks, and embodied AI.

Confirmed participants include European Space Agency, Eutelsat, Viasat, and initiatives such as Quantum Flagship.

This aligns with broader industry thinking from organisations like the GSMA and the International Telecommunication Union, which increasingly frame connectivity as a hybrid of terrestrial, satellite, and cloud infrastructure.

The GSMA Pavilion and Startup Momentum

The GSMA Pavilion is expected to highlight cross-industry collaboration, with experiences including a Formula E simulator, AI- and 5G-powered patient care demonstrations from NUHS in collaboration with Ericsson and Singtel, and the return of Elmo’s tele-driving service. This will allow attendees to remotely drive a car at the Circuit de Catalunya directly from the MWC show floor.

Startup platform 4YFN will once again run alongside the main event, offering a dedicated entrance and a programme focused on early-stage companies shaping the future of connectivity.

Conclusion

Taken together, the confirmed programme suggests MWC26 is shaping up less as a product launch showcase and more as an operational preview of where the connectivity ecosystem is heading. Compared with events like CES, which often prioritise consumer-facing concepts, or Web Summit, which leans heavily into platform narratives, MWC26 remains uniquely focused on infrastructure, execution, and scale.

This direction mirrors wider industry trends identified by firms such as Gartner and McKinsey, particularly around AI becoming embedded within networks, the growing importance of non-terrestrial connectivity, and the shift from experimentation to deployment.

If delivered as planned, MWC26 will offer a rare opportunity to see how these forces intersect in practice, not just in theory. Alertify will be on the ground in Barcelona, tracking what matters beyond the keynotes, separating working systems from marketing narratives, and reporting on what this next phase of connectivity really means for travellers, enterprises, and the wider telecom ecosystem. Follow our MWC26 coverage for analysis that goes deeper than announcements.