Rethinking HPC User Support for the AI and Exascale Era

HPC is entering a new phase defined by extreme heterogeneity and the tight integration of AI workflows into the existing production ecosystem. As these systems become increasingly complex, effective user support is no longer just an operational detail - it is a strategic enabler. It serves as the essential bridge that allows researchers and customers to translate powerful hardware into scientific output and return on investment.

However, as the complexity of systems and user requirements grows, traditional support models are facing significant pressure. Many HPC centres and industrial sites operate with finite staffing and fragmented resources, often developing similar solutions in isolation. To keep pace with the exascale era, we must move toward a collaborative community approach. By connecting teams and improving knowledge sharing, we can save time, eliminate redundant tasks, and significantly enhance the user experience.

This Birds of a Feather (BoF) session invites user support practitioners at all levels, infrastructure providers, and users to jointly examine how support can evolve to remain sustainable and effective.
What to expect:
This session moves beyond traditional presentations in favour of peer exchange and collective insight.
- Live interactive survey: we will kick off with a live survey to get to know the audience, understand the distribution of organisations and roles in the room, and capture the current landscape of support needs.
- Roundtable discussions: participants will break into groups to exchange practical experiences and challenges. Potential discussion topics include scaling support under increasing demand, the role of AI and automation in support tools, knowledge transfer strategies, and improving the visibility of support work.
- Outcomes: the session will conclude by identifying promising ideas for shared practices. The results and insights gathered from the discussions will be documented and made available to all participants after the conference in the form of a white paper or blog post.

Whether you come from public research or industry, join us for this session to kickstart a community-driven effort to help define a sustainable future for HPC user support.

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Organizers:

• Thomas Breuer
• Ilya Zhukov
• Dominik Brands
• Helena Vela Beltran
• Laura Bellentani
• Marc-André Hermanns
• Alberto Lanzanova
• Gaurav Saxena
• Emir Imamagić
• Virvatuli Uusimäki