Sri Lanka’s National AI Expo and Conference 2026 sets vision for digital economy

• Target $15 billion digital economy by 2030, with AI expected to contribute 12% of total value
• SLT Mobitel upgrading data centres to be AI ready and laid 70,000 km of fibre optic cable, reaching nearly 60% of secondary schools, aiming for full coverage by year end
• SLT Mobitel to launch 8–10 AI products during the week

By Safna Malik 

Sri Lanka AI Week 2026, pioneered by the Digital Economy Ministry, GovTech Sri Lanka and SLT Mobitel, officially opened with the second National AI Expo and Conference on 29–30 September at the Monarch Imperial under the theme AI Amplified. The event brought together more than 60 speakers from 16 countries and representatives from government, industry, startups and academia to showcase products, debate policy and accelerate AI adoption across Sri Lanka.

Delivering the welcome address, SLT Group Chairman Dr. Mothilal de Silva outlined the country’s progression from AI exploration to large‑scale execution, infrastructure development and deployment of localised small language models. He noted that since 2025 the global AI landscape has shifted from research breakthroughs to ecosystem building, industrial integration and regulatory frameworks. He highlighted the rise of agentic AI, systems that can perceive, plan and act with minimal human oversight, and the democratisation of capability through open source small language models. Models from China such as Alibaba’s Qwen and DeepSeek now underpin nearly 30% of global AI usage, with India following suit. He argued that the future will favour smart, task‑specific and efficient models rather than parameter size alone.

Explaining the change in theme to AI Amplified, de Silva said, “We have moved from curiosity to execution, and from promise to production.” He warned of critical infrastructure gaps, including insufficient GPU capacity, limited computational scale and a shortage of hyperscale data centres. To address these, the government has allocated billions of rupees for AI and digital infrastructure and is in talks with global hyperscalers, while SLT Mobitel is upgrading its data centres to be AI ready. On connectivity, SLT Mobitel has laid 70,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable, reaching nearly 60%  of secondary schools and aiming to connect all by year end. He also cited global investment of more than 

$ 750 billion by US tech firms in AI infrastructure, urging Sri Lanka to pivot from “bigger is better” to “small is beautiful.”

De Silva set out priorities such as affordable, context awareness AI for local languages and budgets, including Sinhala and Tamil models for public services, offline agricultural tools for farmers, diagnostic triage for rural healthcare and personalised learning systems. SLT Mobitel plans to launch 8 to 10 AI products during the week and is evaluating open source models for local suitability. He outlined the program: day one focused on strategy, governance, ethics and the roadmap toward a $ 15 billion digital economy by 2030, with AI expected to contribute 12% ; day two centred on industry applications, a startup showcase and the National AI Awards.

Speaking at the event, Digital Economy Ministry Secretary Waruna  Sri Dhanapala delivered the keynote address on behalf of Deputy Minister Eng. Eranga Weeraratne at the National AI Expo, calling for Sri Lanka to move from being a consumer of artificial intelligence to a global creator and producer of AI driven solutions.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya on National AI Strategy and Economic Impact – Building Sri Lanka’s Digital Economy. He called for Sri Lanka to move from consumer to creator of AI solutions, stressing that AI must be embedded in national planning and education reform to build systems rather than operate them. He urged collaboration across government, industry, academia and startups to position Sri Lanka as a regional technology centre.

The keynote was followed by a panel discussion titled From Policy to Platforms: Building the Public‑Private Operating Model for Sri Lanka’s AI Economy, featuring Digital Economy Ministry Secretary Waruna Sri Dhanapala, SLT-Mobitel Chief Business Officer – Enterprise Business Lakmal Jayasinghe, SLT Group Chairman Dr. Mothilal de Silva, GovTech Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Shevan Goonetilleke and moderator MyRepublic Digital Chief Technology Officer Tony Kalcina. Together, these sessions highlighted the central message of Sri Lanka AI Week 2026: aligning policy, infrastructure and talent to ensure AI delivers tangible benefits for every citizen and to establish the nation as an AI hub in South Asia. 

 - Pix by Lasantha Kumara