It’s time for tech’s biggest European show! MWC Barcelona kicks off in two weeks — celebrating 20 years in Spain’s second city! That means it’s time to review the themes and reveal who we are representing at the event. Interested in meeting with our clients or with our team? Simply respond now!
The overarching event theme for MWC 2026 is the IQ Era. The telecommunications industry — and by extension, technology and the world — is going from simple connectivity to a new age of intelligence, where AI is not just a tool but the foundation of networks and the whole industry.
MWC always brings together the cutting-edge and the connected standards that support the stability of the telecom industry.
At the state of the art sits our client eero mesh Wi-Fi systems, leading the way with Wi-Fi 7. If you’re an internet service provider (ISP) or operator looking to bundle your hardware with high-speed, full-fiber internet plans, let me know if you would like to book a meeting with eero. The eero Plus is a subscription service that adds security, content filters and privacy tools to any eero network, giving customers more control and peace of mind. One leading ISP discovered that customers who add eero Plus to their mesh wifi service are twice as likely to stay, creating a powerful boost to revenue.
With this in mind, our client Interop Technologies has been a MWC mainstay since becoming the first to deliver Rich Communication Services (RCS), predating the global rollout of 5G. Award-winning Interop remains the premier global platform for demonstrating interoperability, securing partnerships and validating new, standards-based technologies. Email me if you want to know more about ways to enable both traditional and next-generation technologies for mobile messaging.
GSMA — the advocacy and lobbying org for the mobile communications industry — not only sets the necessary standards and agenda for the telco sector, but it highlights what it predicts are our near future. MWC will make sure you know all about:
As AI gets better, so does customer support, when employed correctly. Schaman stands out by shifting the focus of customer service from merely responding to symptoms to automating the identification and resolution of root causes. Unlike traditional rule-based systems, Schaman's platform uses specialized AI agents to orchestrate real-time diagnostics and personalized resolutions across all channels. If you are a mobile network operator or other technology company, email me so we can plan to meet at MWC to chat about this AI customer experience platform specifically built with telcos in mind.
The governing body of MWC, GSMA places a heavy emphasis on security, privacy, and trust as the foundational requirements — both an obligation and an opportunity — for the AI era.
A major feature of the Ministerial Programme this year is a dedicated "Digital Rights and Protection" track. This is where the industry's highest-level policy debates happen. Key focus areas include:
While MWC reflects a global view on our connected world, we can’t help applying a European lens to our continent’s big event. By 2027, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) requires that almost everything with digital elements (connected or not) sold in the EU, including IoT, apps and software, meet strict cybersecurity standards. This urgency has Sales Force Europe representing several companies that are helping make this happen.
One of the companies we are acting on behalf of this March is Fractalia Cybersecurity, which provides white-label digital protection and support platforms that enable service providers — such as telcos, banks, and insurers — to offer cybersecurity solutions to their own customers. Their B2B2C services combine advanced security tools with 24/7 expert technical support, designed specifically to protect small businesses and residential households.
Another client we are representing at MWC — and bringing samples of — is GoDark Faraday Bags. Faraday bags help comply with the CRA by providing a physical, air-gapped security measure that ensures devices with digital elements are secure by default, as required by the regulations. By blocking wireless signals (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, GPS), they prevent unauthorized remote access and data exfiltration during transport or storage, mitigating the risk of exploiting vulnerabilities.
If you want to learn more about Fractalia or GoDark Bags, just email me and we can set up a demo.
The event features a dedicated half-day Security Summit, this year titled "Intelligence in Action: Predict, Prevent, Protect." This summit shifts the focus from reactive security to predictive cybersecurity. Key sub-themes include:
The AI Nexus theme pillar specifically addresses the obligations of this new AI era, including to:
Under the intelligent infrastructure pillar, there is a clear push for quantum-ready security. As quantum computing progresses, the GSMA is highlighting the need for quantum-safe networking to protect long-term data privacy against future decryption capabilities.
Besides representing these key clients, I’d be happy to have a conversation about how we at Sales Force Europe can help your company strategically expand into and across Europe. Simply email me at rickpizzoli@salesforceeurope.com to plan a conversation over café or caña!
