Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (00:05):
So we're at DTW Ignite 2026 in Copenhagen. I'm here with Mario Voluntario. He is head of digital networks and AI at Fastweb and Vodafone, the Italian operator. Mario, thanks very much for joining us. Great to have you on telecom TV.

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (00:22):
Thanks to you, Ray, and good afternoon.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (00:25):
So look, you've got a fascinating role at FastWeb and Vodafone. Can you just tell us briefly about what you do and the digital network and AI unit that you lead up?

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (00:35):
Digital network and AI DNA and the acronym choice has been deliberate because at the end of the day, we are working transforming the way we design, deploy, operate, and ensure our networks. We are in a precare moment because we are merging two operator. We are merging two networks, two SS, BSS, stack, et cetera. So we are taking also the opportunity to transform and then making our network more autonomous, I would say. Autonomous on one side, but also ensuring the compliance, ensuring the security in our operation. And I mean, the technology is here and this is the right moment to transform.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (01:28):
And that does sound like the perfect time if you're integrating a lot of systems, it really is a chance for a refresh, especially at this time when a lot of decisions have to be made. Now you mentioned their autonomous networks. What is the Fast Web and Photophone plan or strategy when it comes to automated network operations? Have you got a target of what you want to achieve by a certain year or date?

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (01:53):
Progressively, we will evolve to the payments level four.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (01:57):
Okay.

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (01:59):
Largely level three when convenient, et cetera, not everything, but this is our plan. It's a step approach. It's a multi-year program. It's not unfortunately an overnight stuff, but this is our plan starting from the data. So there are shortization of the data, the management of those data, and then progressively introducing new capabilities, new use cases. The dark knock, for example, is one of the important pillar of this transformation. And yeah, at the end, reaching this level four.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (02:37):
And you mentioned the data management. Where are you in that particular transformation? Do you have the data management foundations in place that are needed for network automation? And how challenging is that? I mean, you mentioned the integration process you're going through. How challenging is that to do that when you've got two lots of data and two lots of systems to bring together?

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (03:00):
We are an operator, so we are not lacking data. The problem is that data are as usual, unfortunately fragmented, they are a multiple system. So yes, we are putting in place a single one network data platform, a framework to have everything in the same place. Also because we make easier also guarantee first, the fact of having reliable information secured. Now we are talking a lot of AI. The injection of marri issues, data, et cetera, poses several risks, especially when then used by agents, et cetera.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (03:48):
Right.

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (03:49):
So we have this framework. On top of this, we have a digital team that we just released and we presented here DTW. And in parallel, we are working also on the unstructured data. So the knowledge management. In order to make our engineer, our operational guys, very effective, super powered by the fact of having an effective knowledge management system that helped us and can also be used by our agents.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (04:23):
Obviously process automation, operations automation, automated networks, all very important for operators because AI touches every part of every company. How does what you are doing in terms of your data management tie in or impact the broader AI strategy within the company?

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (04:45):
AI is a fundamental component for the entire company strategy. We are conscious that the real value will be delivered when we will be able to approach the entire value chain. So yes, we are a key component, same of IT, same of the commercial and everyone needs other data in order to have a visibility on the entire value chain and then steer our decision. So we have our technology strategy as two pillars. One is AI for technology, so the autonomous network is it, but also technology for AI because we will invest adapting our network, for example, to be able to carry more uplink traffic because our customer will be human, but also a lot of agent. Trust will be fundamental. Who is the agent that is asking? Who is the agent? Again, those are action that we will implement in our network for enable our company selling also a different AI with respect to their competitors.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (06:01):
So you mentioned trust there and that it's actually a seam that has been really strong here at DTW. It's obviously not new, but I think it's really risen up to be name checked and talked about as much as AI and data. There's still a lot to learn obviously about AI, about its role in the way that any kind of company in the telecoms ecosystem is run. But do you think there are any sort of big misconceptions about AI or misunderstandings that maybe need to be made clearer for this sector?

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (06:36):
I think the misconception, and believe me, that is for AI today probably was for cloud or analytics in the past. Technology cannot solve everything and this transformation is not a pure technology transformation or technology implementation. It's culture. It's a matter of adoption is a matter of changing the operating model. What I'm observing with my team, we are not making process automatic, but we are implementing automatic processes a huge difference. And then as you mentioned, trust. Trust is something that drives adoption, for example. We need to scale the AI responsibility. Trust is fundamental. To link the current situation with the target future, we have in the middle adoption and this is the key of the success.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (07:34):
I think we're all hoping in this industry that adoption will be strong once the services and the capabilities come online and provide some new opportunities for the sector, because we don't really want to be missing the next wave of innovation and service creation and everything else that goes with it, which has maybe been happened in the past. So Mario, thanks very much for talking with us, pleasure to meet you and enjoy the rest of the show.

Mario Volonterio, Fastweb + Vodafone (08:02):
Thank you. Thank you, Ray.