Buying and managing enterprise network services has barely changed in decades--carrier portals, spreadsheets, blind renewals, and invoices that never match the contract. Lightyear is building an AI software platform that modernizes the enterprise telecom lifecycle, automating and optimizing for you everything that carriers make difficult. The platform serves as a telecom operating system designed to digitize the full lifecycle of a service, from procurement and installation to inventory management and expense auditing. By replacing manual workflows with a centralized system of action, Lightyear enables enterprises to configure complex requests, such as internet circuits or high-capacity waves, in a matter of seconds, leveraging location intelligence to identify the best on-net vendors and market-aligned pricing.

The platform significantly simplifies the transition from procurement to active service through dedicated install project management software. This system acts as a "squeaky wheel" to keep carriers on schedule, providing detailed visibility into job steps, estimated completion dates, and escalation paths. Once a service is live, it is automatically cataloged in the Network Inventory Manager, which tracks over 30 unique data points per circuit, including SLAs, static IPs, and physical KMZ route maps. This digital system of record not only visualizes the entire network on a map but also automates lifecycle workflows such as MACD (Move, Add, Change, Disconnect) ticketing and proactive shopping, ensuring that services do not lapse into expensive month-to-month rates or auto-renew without oversight.

The final pillar of the platform is an AI-native expense management engine that uses Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to audit complex telecom invoices. This tool itemizes every charge, distinguishing contracted service costs from government surcharges and taxes, and automatically flags billing variances such as inactive services still being billed or unexpected fee increases. When discrepancies are found, Lightyear's team can resolve disputes directly with carriers, providing finance teams with clean, exportable data and the option for a single consolidated monthly bill. Integrated messaging and a global calendar of deadlines further bridge the gap between network engineering and procurement, turning telecom management into a streamlined, automated operation.

Presented by Dennis Thankachan, CEO and Co-Founder, and Ryan Schrack, CTO. Recorded live at Networking Field Day 40 in San Jose on April 8, 2026. Watch the entire presentation at https://techfieldday.com/appearance/introducing-lightyear-at-networking-field-day-40/ or visit https://TechFieldDay.com/event/nfd40 or https://lightyear.ai/ for more information.