The Problem That Stops Production Lines
Picture a factory floor where automated guided vehicles (AGVs) move critical materials between production stations in precise, continuous cycles. The operation depends on real-time network responsiveness. Now introduce a surge of inbound requests from less-critical applications consuming bandwidth on the same network. An AGV loses connectivity mid-cycle. Production halts. The business impact is immediate and measurable.
This is not a hypothetical edge case. It is a recurring failure mode in enterprise networks designed around connectivity volume rather than application intent. The network delivers bandwidth. It does not know what that bandwidth is for, which application needs it most urgently, or what the business consequence of degraded service looks like.
The same failure mode applies in robotic surgery suites where sub-millisecond latency is a patient safety requirement, in real-time payment infrastructure where queue depth translates directly into transaction failure, and in remote energy grid management where a dropped connection means unplanned outages. In every case, the network’s inability to understand application priority converts a fixable infrastructure problem into an operational crisis.
ADriN is Comviva’s answer to this structural gap.
The Market Behind the Problem: Why 2026 Is the Inflection Point
The global intent-based networking (IBN) market is valued at $2.70 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach $22.11 billion by 2035, growing at a 26.33% CAGR (Grand View Research, 2026). The 5G network slicing market, the infrastructure layer that enables application-aware resource allocation, is growing from $2.69 billion in 2026 to $14.36 billion by 2031 at a 39.85% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2026). The worldwide telecom and network API market is forecast to exceed $6 billion in annual revenue by 2028, growing at a 57.1% CAGR (IDC).
These figures reflect an industry in structural transition: from best-effort connectivity to programmable, application-aware network infrastructure. The operators and enterprises that build on intent-driven platforms now are positioning themselves at the inflection point of this transition. The ones that do not are investing in connectivity infrastructure that will underperform against the expectations of the applications running on it.
The Problem With Today’s Enterprise Networks
Applications and devices have become essential operational infrastructure in modern enterprises. They are not peripherals. They are production systems, logistics coordinators, customer touchpoints, and revenue generators. But the networks supporting them have not kept pace with this shift.
The prevailing bias in network design is toward connectivity rather than intent. Networks are optimised to move data. They are not designed to understand what that data represents, which workloads are mission-critical, or how to dynamically allocate resources based on real-time business priority.
Telecom providers have long aspired to be more than data pipelines. Yet many enterprises that have invested in advanced connectivity report the same set of problems: low ROI on connectivity investments, limited productivity gains, poor customer experiences, failed pilot projects, and complex data management challenges.
Developers face a parallel frustration. They build network-aware applications but are constrained by static network configurations that cannot respond to real-time application state.
What is ADriN?
ADriN, Comviva’s Application Driven Network Platform, is an intent-driven, network-aware, developer-first platform. It enables what Comviva calls Intent-Driven Experiences: the ability for applications to communicate their requirements to the network in real time, and for the network to respond by allocating resources accordingly.
The core principle is straightforward. Instead of all applications competing equally for network resources, ADriN gives applications a mechanism to declare their intent. A mission-critical AGV navigating a production line can assert its need for guaranteed low latency. A background analytics job is served with available capacity. The network understands the difference and acts on it dynamically.
ADriN ensures that applications and devices receive the bandwidth and meet the latency targets they require, when they require them, regardless of concurrent network load. Mission-critical services are always resourced appropriately. Non-critical workloads are served efficiently without displacing higher-priority traffic.
ADriN vs Traditional QoS vs 5G Network Slicing: Understanding the Differences
Enterprise architects evaluating application-aware network solutions encounter three distinct approaches. Understanding where each sits is essential for making the right infrastructure investment.
- Traditional Quality of Service (QoS): Static policy-based prioritisation configured at the network layer. QoS rules are set by network administrators and applied uniformly to traffic categories. They cannot adapt to real-time application state. An AGV and a background telemetry sensor might both be classified as ‘IoT traffic’ and receive identical treatment regardless of the operational criticality of each in that moment.
- 5G Network Slicing: Infrastructure-level virtual network partitions, each with its own guaranteed bandwidth, latency, and isolation characteristics. Slicing is powerful but operates at the infrastructure layer. It defines the envelope of what is possible. It does not dynamically orchestrate within that envelope based on what individual applications are actually doing at runtime.
- ADriN Intent-Driven Networking: The application layer above static QoS and above network slicing. ADriN enables individual applications to declare their intent at runtime, and the network responds in real time. ADriN can orchestrate across network slices, adjust resource allocation within a slice based on application state, and guarantee SLAs for specific application workflows without requiring network administrator intervention for each event.
In practice, ADriN and 5G network slicing are complementary. Slicing defines the performance envelope. ADriN’s intent-driven orchestration fills it intelligently based on real-time application priority.
ADriN and the CAMARA Quality on Demand API
CAMARA and the GSMA Open Gateway project are establishing the standardised APIs through which application developers can interact with network capabilities. The most directly relevant API for ADriN is the CAMARA Quality on Demand (QoD) API, which allows an application developer or an AI agent to request specific network performance guarantees dynamically for a given session.
Nokia’s Head of Network Monetisation Platform described the QoD API this way in late 2025: ‘The QoD API allows an AI agent or developer to request specific network performance guarantees dynamically.’ This is precisely the operational model that ADriN has been built to fulfil. CAMARA provides the standardised API interface. ADriN provides the intent-driven orchestration engine that executes the requested guarantee in real time across the live network.
ADriN builds on the CAMARA foundation, extending it with intent-driven orchestration that goes beyond static API calls to dynamic, real-time network adaptation. This means enterprise developers can build to the CAMARA standard and deploy on ADriN knowing their application’s declared intent will be honoured at the network layer, not just acknowledged at the API layer.
A new CAMARA white paper published in January 2026 outlines how CAMARA network APIs and Model Context Protocol (MCP) can work together to connect AI systems with real-time network intelligence. ADriN’s architecture is directly positioned to serve this model: AI agents consuming CAMARA APIs, with ADriN as the runtime engine that fulfils the network guarantee.
ADriN and Agentic AI: When AI Agents Become Network Consumers
In 2026, agentic AI has moved from a theoretical concept to a production deployment pattern. AI agents are beginning to consume network APIs autonomously, requesting performance guarantees dynamically, adjusting QoS requirements based on task state, and escalating to human operators only when SLA thresholds are breached.
Nokia’s NMP Head of Portfolio predicted this shift explicitly: ‘The rise of intelligent agents as both consumers and providers of network APIs will begin enabling automated, context-aware interactions for many kinds of consumer and enterprise use cases.’ For ADriN, this prediction is an architectural validation. ADriN was designed from the start for dynamic, runtime-declared intent rather than static policy configuration. An AI agent orchestrating an autonomous manufacturing workflow is doing exactly what ADriN was built to serve: declaring intent at runtime, receiving a guaranteed network response, and continuing operation without human intervention.
Practical examples in 2026: an AI agent managing a fleet of surgical robots can use the CAMARA QoD API served by ADriN to request guaranteed sub-10ms latency for each robotic arm command. An AI supply chain orchestrator can request elevated bandwidth for a live video quality inspection and release it the moment the inspection is complete. The network responds to the agent’s intent the same way it responds to a human-declared application requirement.
Who Benefits From ADriN and How
ADriN addresses four constituencies, each with distinct value:
Telcos and Network Equipment Providers:
ADriN unlocks network asset monetisation at scale by enabling telcos to offer differentiated, programmable connectivity as a product rather than undifferentiated bandwidth. The telecom and network API market is forecast to exceed $6 billion in annual revenue by 2028 (IDC), growing at 57.1% CAGR. ADriN provides the operational infrastructure through which telcos can package, expose, and fulfil network API commitments for enterprise customers at that scale.
Enterprises:
ADriN enables heightened productivity and seamless remote operations by ensuring that advanced network and technology investments actually deliver the performance they were purchased to provide. Data privacy for on-premises deployments is preserved within the platform architecture. In private 5G deployments, where enterprises have invested in dedicated network infrastructure for manufacturing, logistics, or healthcare, ADriN ensures that the performance SLAs that justified the investment are met consistently, not just at deployment time.
Application Manufacturers:
ADriN enables flawless application operation through real-time network interaction, removing a primary barrier to broader market acceptance for network-dependent applications.
Application Developers:
ADriN removes the complexity of building around unpredictable network behaviour. Developers can build network-aware applications that request and receive the network conditions their logic requires, enabling faster rollouts and continuous innovation. ADriN’s alignment with CAMARA API standards means developers build to an open standard, not a proprietary interface.
ADriN in Private 5G Enterprise Networks
Private 5G SA (Standalone) networks are the primary enterprise deployment context in which intent-driven networking delivers the most measurable value. In 2026, manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics are the three verticals leading private 5G adoption globally.
In manufacturing, ADriN enables the three distinct 5G slice types that Industry 4.0 deployments require simultaneously: URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication) for AGVs and robotic arms requiring guaranteed sub-5ms latency; eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) for live 4K video quality inspection and remote expert support; and mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications) for dense IoT sensor networks monitoring equipment health and environmental conditions. On a shared private 5G infrastructure, ADriN’s intent-driven orchestration ensures each workload receives exactly the network conditions it requires without displacing the others.
In healthcare, the same model applies to robotic surgery systems, remote patient monitoring, and real-time diagnostic imaging workflows that all share hospital network infrastructure. In logistics, autonomous warehouse systems and real-time fleet management coexist on the same network with enterprise ERP integrations and video surveillance. ADriN’s runtime intent model is the only architecture that can serve all of these simultaneously without requiring separate physical networks for each.
ADriN and Industry 4.0
The AGV scenario that opens this article is a microcosm of a broader challenge facing Industry 4.0 deployments. Advanced manufacturing, logistics automation, and smart infrastructure all depend on networks that can differentiate between workloads and prioritise accordingly.
As enterprises deploy more connected devices, autonomous systems, and real-time analytics pipelines on shared network infrastructure, the potential for priority conflicts increases. ADriN’s intent-driven model addresses this structurally by making application requirements legible to the network rather than relying on static QoS configurations that cannot adapt to real-time operational state.
ADriN in the B2B2X Monetisation Model
ADriN sits at the intersection of several converging trends in telecom: the programmability of 5G networks, the emergence of CAMARA and GSMA Open Gateway APIs, and the shift toward B2B2X monetisation models where telcos create value through capabilities exposed to enterprises and developers.
For telcos building B2B propositions, the combination of ADriN’s intent-driven network intelligence and the API Marketplace monetisation infrastructure represents a meaningful shift from connectivity provider to platform provider. Telecoms.com’s 2026 outlook noted: ‘The operators who build robust API strategies and engage developer communities will create entirely new revenue streams in 2026.’ ADriN is the product capability that makes those API commitments operationally credible.
Conclusion: Intent-Driven Networking Is Not a Future State
The intent-based networking market at $2.70 billion in 2026, the 5G network slicing market growing toward $14.36 billion by 2031, and the telecom and network API market heading for $6 billion by 2028 all point to the same conclusion: the shift from best-effort connectivity to application-aware, programmable network infrastructure is happening now, not as a roadmap item.
Comviva’s ADriN is the operational infrastructure for this shift. It gives applications the ability to declare their intent to the network at runtime, and gives telcos and enterprises the ability to fulfil those intents reliably at scale. In a world where an AGV, a surgical robot, and a payment processing engine might share the same network infrastructure, the network that understands application priority is not a premium option. It is an operational requirement.
