Agentic AI: Strategic Synergies for Digital Commons and GLAMs?
Speakers
Chris is the Senior Director of Machine Learning and Data Engineering at the Wikimedia Foundation.
Ilario Valdelli is Innovation Programme Lead at Wikimedia CH (Switzerland) and has 18 years of experience in Wikimedia projects. A Wikipedian since 2005, he has been involved with Wikimedia CH since its founding, contributing to the chapter’s early development and long-term growth. He co-founded Wikimedia Switzerland and Wikimedia Italy, has worked as Programme Manager at Wikimedia CH since 2014, and has led the organisation’s innovation work since 2020.
His work focuses on innovation at the intersection of open knowledge, digital transformation, and AI, with an emphasis on strategy, partnerships, and community-informed experimentation. He supports collaborations with universities, public institutions, and civic tech networks in Switzerland and across Europe, translating research and emerging technologies into practical prototypes, programme design, and governance discussions for the Wikimedia ecosystem.
Recently, he produced the report from the Collective Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence roundtable and co-organised WikiCite 2025, contributing to movement-wide discussions on knowledge infrastructure, responsible innovation, and the evolving relationship between Wikimedia and AI.
Jean-Philippe Moreux, ingénieur diplômé INSA Toulouse (informatique, 1990) est le chef de mission IA de la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Il a été auparavant l'expert scientifique de la bibliothèque numérique Gallica au département de la Coopération et l’expert OCR et formats éditoriaux du service de la Numérisation. Précédemment, il a exercé les métiers de chef de projet informatique, responsable éditorial et consultant (ingénierie éditoriale, édition scientifique).
Il travaille sur l’application de intelligence artificielle dans le contexte du patrimoine, les programmes de valorisation du patrimoine numérique et participe à des projets de recherche sur ces sujets. Ses principaux sujets d'activité et de recherche sont la production et la valorisation des ressources patrimoniales numériques, les services aux humanités numériques, l'ingénierie de la donnée et du document.
Nathalie Casemajor is a professor at the Centre Urbanisation Culture Société of INRS (Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Montreal). Her work focuses on the intersections of culture, technology, and territories. Her recent research examines global knowledge platforms, digital commons, data cultures, technological scenes, and blockchain. She holds the Research Chair on Digital Commons and serves as Director of the Fernand-Dumont Chair on Culture. She started contributing to Wikipedia in 2012, after conducting a post-doctoral research on GLAM projects. She was a board member of Wikimedia Canada from 2014 to 2016. In the last few years, she has been involved in several community, educational and GLAM projects in Canada and France.
Abstract
🎥 Session recording: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_2026_%E2%80%93_Agentic_AI_Strategic_Synergies_for_Digital_Commons_and_GLAMs%3F.webm
What might the agentic web mean for free knowledge projects and heritage institutions? The agentic web refers to an emerging environment in which AI agents autonomously navigate platforms, interact with services, and gather and synthesize information. This panel explores the implications of this transformation for digital commons and GLAM institutions. What infrastructures and interfaces may be needed to respond to the anticipated rise in agent-driven traffic? How can free knowledge and GLAMs help shape the standards that will structure these new forms of interaction? What synergies can be developed between public institutions and digital commons to address shared challenges? Bringing together perspectives from computer science, the Wikimedia movement, and the French National Library (BnF), the panel aims to share expertise and identify avenues for collective action.
Speakers:
- Jean-Philippe Moreux (AI Chief, BnF) will provide the BnF’s perspective and highlight shared challenges;
- Ilario Valdelli (Innovation programme lead Wikimedia CH) will discuss advocacy strategies;
- Chris Albon (WMF, Director of Machine Learning and Data Engineering) will present the implications for Wikimedia and how to prepare for these transformations;
- Moderator: Nathalie Casemajor, Professor at INRS (Canada).
The panel (in English) will be followed by a Q&A. Questions in French are welcome and will be translated by the moderator.
Additional information
The proposal relates to the theme of reliability. The prospect of an agentic web raises legitimate questions about the information landscape it might shape, potentially reinforcing - or perhaps not - the distortions and disruptions already unfolding in the era of agentic AI. With its promise of empowering agents capable of harvesting and aggregating data, documents, and information, and delivering them to other agents or to human users, the issue of reliability inevitably arises. What will remain of the information source as AI-formatted data circulates across networks of AI agents? While the monopolistic positions of AI and social media platforms might be challenged by a multi-agent web, the agentic model does not in itself provide solutions to current concerns (such as AI model bias, environmental costs, or digital sovereignty) and may even exacerbate some of them. Will the specific context of digital commons and public data producers enable them to participate meaningfully in this emerging paradigm? One pessimistic scenario points to the erosion of their human audience, replaced by an endless flow of anonymous digital interactions.
The panel is expected to attract three primary audiences: 1) Movement participants seeking to better understand the implications of AI for Wikimedia projects. For this audience, we will ensure accessible explanations of key concepts, including: What is agentic AI? and How might it affect Wikimedia projects and practices? 2) Decision-makers and institutional stakeholders within the movement, including Foundation staff and representatives from national chapters engaged in policy, advocacy, and technical strategy. For this group, the discussion will focus on identifying key challenges, risks, and potential scenarios, as well as exploring strategic and infrastructural responses to the growing presence of AI agents. 3) GLAM professionals, who face related transformations and concerns. This audience will be particularly interested in how Wikimedia is preparing for these developments, and in exchanging perspectives, tools, and advocacy strategies relevant to the upcoming agentic web. For this group, we will emphasize knowledge-sharing, focusing on practical responses, policy considerations, and collaborative opportunities.
Average knowledge about Wikimedia projects or activities