Third edition of the Forum to convene global leaders from photonics, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, quantum technologies, advanced manufacturing, and investment ecosystems in Málaga, Spain.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Optica today announced the strategic agenda and executive speaker line-up for the Global Photonics Economic Forum (GPEF) 2026, taking place 24–25 September 2026 in Málaga, Spain.
Now in its third edition, the Global Photonics Economic Forum has evolved into one of the leading boardroom-level industry forums for the global photonics ecosystem, bringing together CEOs, CTOs, investors, policymakers, and senior industry leaders shaping the immediate future of photonics, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and enabling technologies.
This year’s edition will be co-located with the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC Exhibition 21-23 September 2026), significantly strengthening engagement from the global optical communications, datacenter networking, semiconductor manufacturing, and photonics infrastructure ecosystem at a time when optical technologies are becoming increasingly central to AI-driven computing infrastructure.
The strategic importance of the Forum comes at a pivotal moment for the global technology industry. The unprecedented acceleration in AI datacenter infrastructure investment is reshaping semiconductor manufacturing priorities, optical networking architectures, testing infrastructure, advanced packaging, and photonic integration roadmaps across the industry. Photonics technologies are increasingly moving from enabling components to strategic infrastructure.
This transformation is already reflected in global financial markets. Companies enabling AI infrastructure scaling, optical networking, semiconductor manufacturing, testing systems, and photonic integration have experienced substantial increases in market valuation over the past year. During the last six months alone, companies such as Keysight Technologies and Lumentum experienced significant increases in stock valuation as investor confidence accelerated around AI infrastructure demand, hyperscale datacenter deployment, and optical interconnect scaling.
The Forum will address a central strategic question now facing the industry: how to ensure that the current AI driven growth cycle develops into a sustainable long-term industrial expansion shared across the broader photonics ecosystem. Discussions throughout GPEF 2026 will therefore focus not only on demand acceleration, but also on manufacturing scale-up, resilient supply chains, trusted production capacity, packaging, testing, semiconductor integration, workforce readiness, and the industrial coordination required to avoid future infrastructure bottlenecks.
Confirmed keynote speakers already include Michael Hurlston (President & CEO, Lumentum), Satish Dhanasekaran (President & CEO, Keysight Technologies), Aldo Kamper (CEO, ams OSRAM), Andy Bechtolsheim (Co-Founder & Chief Architect, Arista and founder of Sun Microsystems), John Morris (CTO, Seagate), Holly Hulse (President & CEO, Lightera), and Paul Meissner (General Manager Photonics, Applied Materials).
Additional senior executives participating in the Forum include leaders from NVIDIA, GlobalFoundries, MKS Inc., IPG Photonics, TTM Technologies, Ciena, SMART Photonics, Seagate, Jabil, TRUMPF, Thorlabs, ORCA Computing, Lightwave Logic, PHIX, FYLA, Optimax, Edmund Optics, SENKO, and others.
One of the central strategic themes of the 2026 edition will be quantum technologies and their transition from research-driven innovation toward industrial and commercial deployment. The Forum’s Quantum Panel will be moderated by Chuck Mattera, Chair & CEO of Avalanche Thinking, and will focus on manufacturability, scale economics, supply chains, government investment, and the role of photonics in quantum networking, sensing, and computing infrastructure.
The Forum’s AI Infrastructure panel will examine where optical interconnects are becoming the critical bottleneck in hyperscale AI cluster scaling, including the transition from copper to optics, co-packaged optics, photonic integration strategies, datacenter architecture evolution, and whether the current photonics manufacturing base is capable of supporting AI infrastructure demand at scale.
Another central discussion will focus on whether photonics is truly becoming a semiconductor industry, addressing wafer-scale manufacturing, packaging standardization, foundry economics, manufacturing equipment, laser technologies, and the industrialization challenges required to achieve semiconductor-style scaling and cost structures.
Additional strategic discussions throughout the Forum will address capital allocation under volatile demand conditions, geopolitical trade dynamics, export controls, supply chain regionalization, manufacturing geography, trusted manufacturing, industrial resilience, AI-driven organizational transformation, defense and critical technologies, and the long-term competitive positioning of photonics companies operating in a rapidly changing global environment.
“Photonics is becoming one of the foundational technologies behind the next generation of AI infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, communications, defense, and quantum systems,” said Jose Pozo, CTO of Optica. “The Global Photonics Economic Forum brings together the senior executives and strategic decision-makers shaping these transitions to discuss the industrial, economic, and geopolitical decisions that will define the next phase of growth for the global ecosystem.”
The Global Photonics Economic Forum 2026 will take place at the FYCMA Conference Center in Málaga, Spain, on 24–25 September 2026.
Optica would like to express its special thanks to its principal sponsors and strategic supporters, including the City Council of Málaga, Promálaga, Invest in Andalucía, MKS Inc., and Keysight Technologies, whose support helps make this edition of the Forum possible.
Additional information, registration details, sponsorship opportunities, and confirmed speakers can be found at http://globalphotonicseconomicforum.org/
Key Strategic Themes of GPEF 2026
• AI Infrastructure Scaling and Optical Interconnect Bottlenecks
• Photonics as Semiconductor Technology
• Quantum Commercialization and Industrial Deployment
• Supply Chain Resilience and Trusted Manufacturing
• Geopolitical Trade Dynamics and Export Controls
• Advanced Manufacturing and Semiconductor Scale-Up
• Co-Packaged Optics and Datacenter Architecture
• Wafer-Scale Photonics Manufacturing
• Packaging Standardization and Foundry Economics
• Optical Communications Infrastructure
• Defense, Security, and Critical Technologies
• Strategic Investment and Entrepreneurship
• Regionalization of Manufacturing and Supply Chains
• Industrial Leadership and Capital Allocation
• AI-Driven Organizational and Industrial Transformation
Images and descriptions. Attached full resolution separately.
First Edition 2024.
Panel discussion: Is Photonics a Semiconductor Technology?
Moderator: Jose Pozo, Optica CTO
Panelists: Gregg Bartlett, CTO, GlobalFoundries; Burkhard Slischka, Co-founder & CEO, ALLOS Semiconductors; Ed Bailey, GM/VP, Jabil; Martin Schell, Executive Director, Fraunhofer HHI; Torsten Vahrenkamp, CEO, ficonTEC; Ashkan Seyedi, Principal, NVIDIA
Second Edition 2025
Panel Discussion: New Strategies of Photonics Profit from Semicon
Moderator: Jose Pozo, Optica CTO.
Panelists: Greg Bartlett, CTO, GlobalFoundries; Chuck Mattera, Chair & CEO, Avalanche Thinking; Sanjai Parthasarathi, Chief Marketing Officer, Coherent; Matt Streshinsky, Sr. Director Photonics, AMD; Johan Feenstra, CEO, SMART Photonics
Second Edition 2025
Panel Discussion: New Strategies of Photonics Profit from Semicon
Moderator: Jose Pozo, Optica CTO
Panelists: Greg Bartlett, CTO, GlobalFoundries; Chuck Mattera, Chair & CEO, Avalanche Thinking; Sanjai Parthasarathi, Chief Marketing Officer, Coherent; Matt Streshinsky, Sr. Director Photonics, AMD; Johan Feenstra, CEO, SMART Photonics
Link to Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Optica today announced the strategic agenda and executive speaker line-up for the Global Photonics Economic Forum (GPEF) 2026, taking place 24–25 September 2026 in Málaga, Spain.
Now in its third edition, the Global Photonics Economic Forum has evolved into one of the leading boardroom-level industry forums for the global photonics ecosystem, bringing together CEOs, CTOs, investors, policymakers, and senior industry leaders shaping the immediate future of photonics, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and enabling technologies.
This year’s edition will be co-located with the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC Exhibition 21-23 September 2026), significantly strengthening engagement from the global optical communications, datacenter networking, semiconductor manufacturing, and photonics infrastructure ecosystem at a time when optical technologies are becoming increasingly central to AI-driven computing infrastructure.
The strategic importance of the Forum comes at a pivotal moment for the global technology industry. The unprecedented acceleration in AI datacenter infrastructure investment is reshaping semiconductor manufacturing priorities, optical networking architectures, testing infrastructure, advanced packaging, and photonic integration roadmaps across the industry. Photonics technologies are increasingly moving from enabling components to strategic infrastructure.
This transformation is already reflected in global financial markets. Companies enabling AI infrastructure scaling, optical networking, semiconductor manufacturing, testing systems, and photonic integration have experienced substantial increases in market valuation over the past year. During the last six months alone, companies such as Keysight Technologies and Lumentum experienced significant increases in stock valuation as investor confidence accelerated around AI infrastructure demand, hyperscale datacenter deployment, and optical interconnect scaling.
The Forum will address a central strategic question now facing the industry: how to ensure that the current AI driven growth cycle develops into a sustainable long-term industrial expansion shared across the broader photonics ecosystem. Discussions throughout GPEF 2026 will therefore focus not only on demand acceleration, but also on manufacturing scale-up, resilient supply chains, trusted production capacity, packaging, testing, semiconductor integration, workforce readiness, and the industrial coordination required to avoid future infrastructure bottlenecks.
Confirmed keynote speakers already include Michael Hurlston (President & CEO, Lumentum), Satish Dhanasekaran (President & CEO, Keysight Technologies), Aldo Kamper (CEO, ams OSRAM), Andy Bechtolsheim (Co-Founder & Chief Architect, Arista and founder of Sun Microsystems), John Morris (CTO, Seagate), Holly Hulse (President & CEO, Lightera), and Paul Meissner (General Manager Photonics, Applied Materials).
Additional senior executives participating in the Forum include leaders from NVIDIA, GlobalFoundries, MKS Inc., IPG Photonics, TTM Technologies, Ciena, SMART Photonics, Seagate, Jabil, TRUMPF, Thorlabs, ORCA Computing, Lightwave Logic, PHIX, FYLA, Optimax, Edmund Optics, SENKO, and others.
One of the central strategic themes of the 2026 edition will be quantum technologies and their transition from research-driven innovation toward industrial and commercial deployment. The Forum’s Quantum Panel will be moderated by Chuck Mattera, Chair & CEO of Avalanche Thinking, and will focus on manufacturability, scale economics, supply chains, government investment, and the role of photonics in quantum networking, sensing, and computing infrastructure.
The Forum’s AI Infrastructure panel will examine where optical interconnects are becoming the critical bottleneck in hyperscale AI cluster scaling, including the transition from copper to optics, co-packaged optics, photonic integration strategies, datacenter architecture evolution, and whether the current photonics manufacturing base is capable of supporting AI infrastructure demand at scale.
Another central discussion will focus on whether photonics is truly becoming a semiconductor industry, addressing wafer-scale manufacturing, packaging standardization, foundry economics, manufacturing equipment, laser technologies, and the industrialization challenges required to achieve semiconductor-style scaling and cost structures.
Additional strategic discussions throughout the Forum will address capital allocation under volatile demand conditions, geopolitical trade dynamics, export controls, supply chain regionalization, manufacturing geography, trusted manufacturing, industrial resilience, AI-driven organizational transformation, defense and critical technologies, and the long-term competitive positioning of photonics companies operating in a rapidly changing global environment.
“Photonics is becoming one of the foundational technologies behind the next generation of AI infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, communications, defense, and quantum systems,” said Jose Pozo, CTO of Optica. “The Global Photonics Economic Forum brings together the senior executives and strategic decision-makers shaping these transitions to discuss the industrial, economic, and geopolitical decisions that will define the next phase of growth for the global ecosystem.”
The Global Photonics Economic Forum 2026 will take place at the FYCMA Conference Center in Málaga, Spain, on 24–25 September 2026.
Optica would like to express its special thanks to its principal sponsors and strategic supporters, including the City Council of Málaga, Promálaga, Invest in Andalucía, MKS Inc., and Keysight Technologies, whose support helps make this edition of the Forum possible.
Additional information, registration details, sponsorship opportunities, and confirmed speakers can be found at http://globalphotonicseconomicforum.org/
Key Strategic Themes of GPEF 2026
• AI Infrastructure Scaling and Optical Interconnect Bottlenecks
• Photonics as Semiconductor Technology
• Quantum Commercialization and Industrial Deployment
• Supply Chain Resilience and Trusted Manufacturing
• Geopolitical Trade Dynamics and Export Controls
• Advanced Manufacturing and Semiconductor Scale-Up
• Co-Packaged Optics and Datacenter Architecture
• Wafer-Scale Photonics Manufacturing
• Packaging Standardization and Foundry Economics
• Optical Communications Infrastructure
• Defense, Security, and Critical Technologies
• Strategic Investment and Entrepreneurship
• Regionalization of Manufacturing and Supply Chains
• Industrial Leadership and Capital Allocation
• AI-Driven Organizational and Industrial Transformation
Images and descriptions. Attached full resolution separately.
First Edition 2024.
Panel discussion: Is Photonics a Semiconductor Technology?
Moderator: Jose Pozo, Optica CTO
Panelists: Gregg Bartlett, CTO, GlobalFoundries; Burkhard Slischka, Co-founder & CEO, ALLOS Semiconductors; Ed Bailey, GM/VP, Jabil; Martin Schell, Executive Director, Fraunhofer HHI; Torsten Vahrenkamp, CEO, ficonTEC; Ashkan Seyedi, Principal, NVIDIA
Second Edition 2025
Panel Discussion: New Strategies of Photonics Profit from Semicon
Moderator: Jose Pozo, Optica CTO.
Panelists: Greg Bartlett, CTO, GlobalFoundries; Chuck Mattera, Chair & CEO, Avalanche Thinking; Sanjai Parthasarathi, Chief Marketing Officer, Coherent; Matt Streshinsky, Sr. Director Photonics, AMD; Johan Feenstra, CEO, SMART Photonics
Second Edition 2025
Panel Discussion: New Strategies of Photonics Profit from Semicon
Moderator: Jose Pozo, Optica CTO
Panelists: Greg Bartlett, CTO, GlobalFoundries; Chuck Mattera, Chair & CEO, Avalanche Thinking; Sanjai Parthasarathi, Chief Marketing Officer, Coherent; Matt Streshinsky, Sr. Director Photonics, AMD; Johan Feenstra, CEO, SMART Photonics
Link to Press Release