Key Takeaways from Flink Forward Asia 2026: Agentic Streaming and AI‑Native Real‑Time Data
The Flink Forward Asia 2026 conference in Shenzhen gathered leading experts to discuss the evolution of Apache Flink toward agentic streaming, multimodal data processing, and AI‑native real‑time platforms, highlighting insights from Alibaba Cloud, NVIDIA, and independent researchers on the future of AI‑driven data pipelines.
On June 26, Flink Forward Asia 2026 opened in Shenzhen under the theme “Real‑time Data, Intelligent Future,” bringing together global developers and industry leaders to witness real‑time computing entering an AI‑native era.
Li Feifei – Alibaba Cloud CTO & International Business President said, “AI is entering a massive agent explosion stage, and a keyword will become mainstream—Data Gravity. AI must perform complex work and generate maximum value in real enterprise scenarios.”
Wang Feng – Alibaba Cloud Intelligent Group Researcher & Open‑Source Big Data Platform Lead noted, “In the AI era, both models and data determine an agent’s quality and efficiency. Apache Flink upgrades to Agentic Streaming for AI, partnering with Agentic Lake to build an AI‑native data platform.”
Chen Chuan – NVIDIA Senior Director of Internet Solutions Architecture added, “NVIDIA and Alibaba Cloud teams collaborate to accelerate Apache Flink multimodal data‑stream processing with CUDA software.”
Li Bojie – Independent AI Researcher emphasized, “The performance of an AI system depends not only on the model but also on its interfaces and representations. Flink’s key value is converting diverse modal data into a format that models can efficiently consume, enabling maximum business impact.”
The round‑table “Real‑time Data Powers the Future of AI” featured Liu Xiangwen (Alibaba Cloud Smart Group VP), Wang Junhua (Alibaba Cloud Smart Group VP & Computing Platform Head), Zhu Xiwen (Anke Innovation Software GM), and Li Bojie (Independent AI Researcher), discussing how real‑time data fuels AI advancements.
In the session “Apache Paimon 2.0: The Next‑Gen Agentic Lake for AI,” speakers Li Jinsong (Alibaba Cloud Open‑Source Lakehouse Lead), Zhang Ziliang (Alibaba Senior Data Architecture Expert), and Zhang Jing (Kuaishou Data Platform Engine Architect) presented Paimon’s roadmap for AI‑centric lake management.
The “Apache Fluss 1.0: The Real‑Time Context for AI Agents” talk introduced Fluss as a streaming context layer, with Wu Chong (Alibaba Cloud Stream Storage Lead), Liu Han (Xiaohongshu Kafka & Fluss Lead), and Wang Peibin (Taobao Flash Sale Senior Data R&D Expert) outlining its architecture and use cases.
The two‑day agenda concluded with a reminder that the event, hosted by Alibaba Cloud, co‑organized with Ververica and supported by NVIDIA as the sole diamond partner, remains free to developers, aims to lower the barrier to high‑quality technical content, and will continue tracking core projects such as Apache Flink, Apache Paimon, Apache Fluss, Flink Agents, and Flink CDC to drive agentic streaming and lake development for AI.
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