ZILLIONe Hosts Exclusive Technology Forum - The Unfair Advantage

From Left to Right: Channa Manoharan (Country Managing Partner – Deloitte Sri Lanka and Maldives), Asela Perera (Group Chief Information Officer – Dialog Axiata PLC), Tharindra Kulasinghe (Chief Information Officer – Capital Alliance Holdings Limited), Anoja Basnayake (Director - Information Technology – A. Baur & Co. (Pvt.) Ltd.), Sandun Hapugoda (Country Manager – Mastercard), Enrico Lisk (Director - Data & AI - ZILLIONe)

On October 23rd, ZILLIONe brought together over 80 of Sri Lanka’s top business leaders for The Unfair Advantage, an invitation-only forum focused on uncovering where real advantage lies in a technology-driven world. CEOs, CIOs, strategists and digital transformation leaders gathered for an evening of strategic insight, expert keynotes and panel discussions that explored the future of leadership, AI, cloud and cyber resilience.

A Strategic Forum, Not a Showcase

The event emphasised dialogue over display. Sandun Hapugoda, Country Manager - Mastercard, set the tone with a keynote that challenged conventional ideas of transformation. Abdul Qadir, Partner Lead - Microsoft, South Asia, emphasised the strategic application of AI and cloud ecosystems as the next frontier of competition. Shabeer Shiyam, Chief Technical Strategy Officer - South Asian Technologies, shared insights on implementing zero-trust strategies to strengthen cyber resilience in modern organisations.

A Panel That Defined the Evening

The panel discussion at the event crystallized a central theme: in today’s digital economy, competitive advantage doesn’t come from the tools you adopt - it comes from how you integrate technology into strategy, culture and decision-making.

Led by thought leaders including Asela Perera (Group Chief Information Officer – Dialog Axiata PLC), Channa Manoharan (Country Managing Partner – Deloitte Sri Lanka and Maldives), Anoja Basnayake (Director - Information Technology – A. Baur & Co. (Pvt.) Ltd.), Tharindra Kulasinghe (Chief Information Officer – Capital Alliance Holdings Limited) and Sandun Hapugoda (Country Manager – Mastercard), the conversation centred on four strategic pillars of digital advantage:

• Weaponizing Data & AI: Turning data into actionable insights
• The Agile Digital Core: Flexibility through cloud and intelligent platforms
• Cyber-Resilience as a Brand Asset: Security and trust as visible commitments
• The Human Factor: Empowering skilled teams and fostering a culture of experimentation

Turning Insight into Advantage

For ZILLIONe, these conversations aren’t theoretical - they inform how organisations approach transformation in practice. By helping enterprises modernise infrastructure, embed analytics into decision-making and cultivate adaptive cultures, ZILLIONe enables businesses to translate digital strategies into tangible growth.

Strategic Takeaway

The lessons from The Unfair Advantage point to a broader principle: leadership in the digital era is defined less by tools and more by how strategically they are applied. Intelligence, agility and culture - when integrated into a coherent strategy - create the advantage that endures beyond any single innovation or platform.