The Artificial intelligence field has moved beyond whether AI can transform telecoms to whether it actually delivers measurable outcomes, real reach, and value beyond the network core. SATNAC 2026 takes up that test, framed as the last mile: not only running more intelligent networks, but using them to carry AI's benefits to organisations and to society.

Within the network, AI drives a triple transformation. It enables cost leadership through automation and energy optimisation, revenue expansion through edge computing, AI services and network slicing, and sustainability leadership through green, resilient networks. Yet intelligence does not arrive on a clean slate. Real networks are mixed estates where modern infrastructure runs alongside legacy systems that still carry much of the traffic, so delivery depends as much on modernisation and interoperability as on new build.

Beyond the operator, this same infrastructure determines whether AI reaches people at all. It powers Digital Public Infrastructure now moving from concept to rollout across South Africa, and enables inclusive services in identity, payments, education, and health. The investment that proves AI's value to an organisation is the same investment that delivers it to society. SATNAC invites original research advancing both ends of this arc.