~The showcase brings together AI agents
running on devices, AI processing across the device, edge and cloud, and live
integrated sensing on a commercial 5G network on the road to AI-native 6G
NEW DELHI, India, October 9, 2026 : At the 10th edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026 at
Yashobhoomi, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is demonstrating how connectivity and
computing are converging to power the next era of agentic AI. Through its
“Connectivity Plus Compute” approach, Qualcomm is bringing intelligence closer
to where data is generated - across devices, the edge and the cloud - enabled
by reliable, high-performance networks. This distributed architecture enables
AI systems to understand context, make decisions and take action in real time,
laying the foundation for more capable, responsive and AI-native experiences.
Commenting on the showcase, Rajen Vagadia,
President, Qualcomm India, said: “6G is being designed to be AI-native,
with networks that integrate connectivity and compute. The adoption of agentic
AI will significantly increase demand for both. Trust, security, and
affordability will be fundamental to scaling agentic AI and meeting them will
require workloads to be distributed intelligently across endpoints, devices,
the network, and the cloud. Our showcase at IMC offers a glimpse of this
transformation, including AI agents running across devices.”
From connectivity to connectivity plus compute
Traditionally, networks were built primarily
around connectivity, with compute playing a supporting role. As agentic AI
drives demand for compute, the network is no longer simply a connectivity layer
– it becomes connectivity plus compute. Alongside hyperscalers and cloud
providers, telecom operators will increasingly become part of this distributed
compute ecosystem, with AI processing shared across the device, edge and cloud.
Qualcomm's showcase at IMC brings this architecture to life.
Key highlights at the Qualcomm booth
AI agents on the device: Smartphones, earbuds, glasses, pendants and other emerging form
factors will increasingly serve as interfaces for AI agents, with some AI
processing happening directly on the device. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen
6 can run mixture-of-experts models of up to 30 billion parameters on a
smartphone, and booth demonstrations show AI agents running directly on
devices.
Disaggregation of inference: In what Qualcomm calls the disaggregation of inference, part of the
AI processing happens on the device and part across the edge or cloud,
depending on the task. This helps balance performance, affordability, security
and scalability. Qualcomm's data centre showcase highlights energy-efficient
computing designed for AI inference and agentic workloads.
AI-native networks and integrated sensing: As 6G is designed to be AI-native, AI functionality will increasingly
be integrated into the radio access network (RAN), creating new compute
requirements within the network itself. Agentic RAN Management, part of the
Qualcomm Dragonwing RAN Automation Suite, interprets high-level intent,
analyses network conditions and coordinates execution with human oversight. In
collaboration with Tejas Networks, a live Integrated Sensing and Communication
(ISAC) demonstration shows how a commercial 5G base station can combine
communication with object detection and tracking. This lays a foundation for
applications such as traffic management and drone and vehicle tracking. Sensing
capabilities demonstrated on 5G today are expected to become more deeply
integrated into 6G, generating new AI and compute workloads of their own.
Edge AI for industry: Processing data close to its source allows AI systems to respond
quickly to changing conditions. An autonomous mobile robot reasons and responds
in real time. A predictive maintenance demonstration with Nagarro, running on
an edge device powered by the Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ9 Series, analyses machine
data to identify anomalies and anticipate failures, helping operators reduce
downtime. An interactive smart mirror demonstration illustrates edge AI in
everyday settings.
Intelligent mobility: The new Mahindra BE 6 SPORTEQ, powered by Snapdragon Cockpit Platform
showcases Mahindra's Artificial Intelligence Architecture (MAIA) demonstrating
contextual in-car interactions, showing how Snapdragon-powered cockpit AI
brings personalised experiences to Indian consumers.
Together, these demonstrations connect
capabilities available today with Qualcomm's work towards AI-native 6G, where
the network becomes an intelligent, distributed compute fabric – not just a
connectivity network.
Visitors can experience the demonstrations at
the Qualcomm Booth A10, Hall 2, Yashobhoomi, until October 10.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a global computing leader at the
center of the AI era, enabling intelligence to scale from the most personal
devices to large‑scale infrastructure. Building on more than four decades of
innovation, we develop platforms and solutions that bring together advanced AI,
high‑performance, low-power computing and industry‑leading
connectivity—powering products and services used around the world. At Qualcomm, we are engineering human
progress. Qualcomm Incorporated includes
our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio.
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates,
along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering and research
and development functions and substantially all of our products and services
businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business. Snapdragon and Qualcomm
branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its
subsidiaries. Qualcomm patents are
licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm, Snapdragon, Qualcomm Dragonwing
and Qualcomm Dragonfly are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated.