- It's only Day 1 but agentic AI is emerging as a big buzzword at MWC in Barcelona
- Render Networks' ClearWay agentic AI is designed to automate and govern execution across large-scale infrastructure deployments, including fiber broadband and electric grid modernization
- The challenge is whether agentic AI can make and govern decisions without introducing risk
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2026, BARCELONA — At Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2026, Render Networks rolled out ClearWay, an agentic AI architecture designed to automate and govern execution across large-scale infrastructure deployments, including fiber broadband and electric grid modernization.
While it's only Day 1 of MWC 2026, agentic AI is emerging as the biggest buzzword phrase in Barcelona. The challenge is not whether AI agents can recommend actions — but whether they can make and govern decisions without introducing risk.
Render's ClearWay launch comes as operators, utilities and builders face growing pressure to deploy capital efficiently while managing increasingly complex, multi-asset builds.
Render Networks aims to reduce risk
As infrastructure investment accelerates, Render's CEO Stephen Rose told Fierce in an exclusive interview by email that deployment risk has become capital risk, with delays, rework and manual decision-making directly impacting cash flow and financial accountability.
As a result, Render Networks positioned ClearWay as an execution-layer system rather than a collection of standalone AI features. The architecture consists of a federated system of specialized agents that operate autonomously within strict identity, policy and audit controls. Each agent has a defined scope of authority and least‑privilege access, allowing automation to scale without removing engineering or financial oversight, he said.
"The first ROI shows up in working capital velocity, and it's structural, not incremental," he said. "Most network builds don't fail because crews can't build. They fail because work in progress can't be verified, reconciled, and released fast enough. Capital stays trapped between "work done" and "work recognized." That gap is where overruns live."
ClearWay builds on the vendor's existing platform, ClearSight, which transforms design data into live scopes of work, captures verified field progress in real time and reconciles construction activity with payment and closeout requirements.
Render expanded the ClearWay platform
Initially developed for telecom deployments, Render expanded the platform for electric utility and multi‑utility environments where construction accuracy is directly tied to operational reliability and regulatory compliance.
The first release, scheduled for this spring, introduces two agents focused on field execution: an assurance agent that validates field-captured evidence against planned work in real time, helping ensure accuracy before crews leave a site; and an approval agent that autonomously approves work by correlating work type, planned vs. actual units, photos and test results, escalating only exceptions that require human review.
"Agents autonomously approve the majority of predictable, low-risk decisions by validating planned versus actual units, confirming photographic and test evidence, reconciling quantities, and approving completion when all criteria align. In most environments, that represents the vast majority of decisions, said Rose. "Humans stay firmly in the loop for exceptions. Any deviation from scope, defined quality thresholds, or policy constraints is automatically escalated. Engineers and supervisors intervene where human judgment truly matters, not where humans are simply bottlenecks."
By validating work at the point of execution, Render aims for ClearWay to reduce construction rework, accelerate closeout timelines and improve working capital velocity — outcomes that are particularly critical in broadband and grid modernization projects.
"Rule-based automation executes static logic. AI-assisted tools offer recommendations," said Rose. "ClearWay acts."
ClearWay also complements ClearSight, Render’s analytics and business intelligence layer, pairing agent-driven execution with portfolio-level insight to support predictive infrastructure deployment.
Moving forward with agentic AI
Over time, the company plans to introduce additional agents spanning lifecycle management, financial reconciliation, service activation, operational monitoring, predictive maintenance and sustainability governance, said Rose.
"Agentic AI is dominating attention because it's the first form of AI that closes the loop between insight and action," he said. "For years, the industry invested in analytics and tools that still depended on human follow-through. Agentic AI sets goals, executes multi-step processes, reconciles inputs, and resolves outcomes autonomously within defined constraints."
Read all of our coverage from Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona here.