Reinforcement Learning for optical network re-grooming

Systems and methods include obtaining a network state of a network having a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality of links and with services configured between the plurality of nodes on the plurality of links; utilizing a reinforcement learning engine to analyze the services and the network state to determine modifications to one or more candidate services of the services to increase a value of the network state; and, responsive to implementation of the modification to the one or more candidate services, updating the network state based thereon. The modifications can include changes to any of routing, modulation, and spectral assignment to the one or more candidate services.