Toward AI-Native Network Management: Architectures, Protocols, and In-Network Intelligence for Software-Defined Infrastructures

25 Giugno 2026
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Thursday June 25th, 2026 - 15.00-16.00
DII meeting room ground floor, Via Caruso 16 Pisa

Abstract:
Software-defined infrastructures (Cloud, Edge, and IoT) have opened new opportunities to reduce computer network operators' burdens and enhance the programmability of several network mechanisms. This talk covers some of my research group's investigations on the design, prototyping, and performance analysis of network protocols and architectures designed to rethink a few fundamental networked services, including congestion control, in-network computing, and distributed learning. Such services support cyberinfrastructures in general, as well as cyber-physical and cyber-human systems connected through wired or wireless networks. Through examples spanning congestion control, traffic matrix inference, anomaly detection, and in-network packet processing, the talk illustrates a broader vision of AI-native networks, where learning and inference are integrated directly into network control, management, and forwarding functions to enable continuous adaptation to changing conditions.

Biography:
Flavio Esposito is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Saint Louis University (SLU), and a Fellow of the Research Institute at SLU. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Boston University and his M.S. in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Florence, Italy. His research interests intersect (wireless) network management, network virtualization, artificial intelligence, and cyber-physical systems. Before joining SLU, Flavio was a senior software engineer at a high-frequency trading company, building network protocols and firmware for FPGA. Flavio was also a visiting research scientist at Bell Laboratories, NJ, BBN Technologies, MA (the company that built ARPANET), at Eurecom, France, and at the Center for Wireless Communications, in Oulu, Finland. Flavio has received several research and service awards, including five best paper awards in IEEE conferences, the Comcast Innovation Award twice, and the Outstanding Graduate Mentoring Faculty Award from the School of Science and Engineering at SLU. Currently, Flavio is currently managing four National Science Foundation (NSF) grants and welcomes visiting scholar applications.