Optus CTO Sri Amirthalingam announced as keynote speaker for the Annual Australian Beyond 5G Summit 2026
We’re excited to welcome Sri Amirthalingam, Chief Technology Officer at Optus, as the keynote speaker for this year’s Australian Beyond 5G Connectivity Summit, taking place in Sydney on 27–28 October.
Sri is no stranger to Beyond 5G. He joined us in 2024 as a speaker and panellist, and we’re delighted to welcome him back this year to deliver:
Lucky by Design: What Australia Must Do to Succeed in the New World of Connectivity
As AI, 6G, satellites, sensing, edge computing, and new digital economic models reshape our connected world, Sri’s keynote will examine what these changes mean for Australia and the choices we need to make about the role we want to play in shaping the future.
Drawing inspiration from Donald Horne’s famous description of Australia as “the lucky country”, Sri will ask whether Australia will simply benefit from the technological changes taking place around us, or take an active role in shaping them.
His keynote will explore how connectivity is evolving from a communications capability into critical infrastructure for the digital economy, drawing on global technology trends, emerging business models and Australia’s unique strengths.
At the centre of the discussion will be the choices government, industry and innovators need to make for Australia to succeed in an increasingly connected world, not simply by getting lucky, but by becoming lucky by design.
About Sri Amirthalingam
Sri Amirthalingam is Chief Technology Officer at Optus, Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Board Member of SmartAID Australia.
He brings extensive telecommunications and technology leadership experience to this year’s Summit and previously contributed to Beyond 5G in 2024 as both a speaker and panellist.
Sri Amirthalingam presenting ‘Beyond 5G: An Industry Perspective’ at the Australian Beyond 5G Connectivity Summit 2024.
Annual Australian Beyond 5G Connectivity Summit 2026
Now in its fifth edition, the Australian Beyond 5G Connectivity Summit brings together leaders from industry, government and research to examine the technologies, challenges and opportunities shaping the future of connectivity in Australia.
Under the 2026 theme, AI-Native Networks for Australia’s 6G Future, this year’s two-day Summit will explore the future of AI-native connectivity, from intelligent network operations and resilience to AI-native RAN, edge intelligence, security, and integrated sensing and communications.
