CIMA Business Leaders Summit to highlight investing in talent and adopting thriving digital business

At the upcoming CIMA Business Leaders Summit on 23 and 24 August, discussions on how organisations can breakdown silos for value creation and how companies can adapt in the face of disruption will take centre place. These presentations will be delivered by Prof. Mahendra K. Chouhan, Member Global Council – International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), UK; Vice Chairman – Global Advisory Board, Asian Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability; Chairman – Mahendra & Young Knowledge Foundation; and Rasika Karunatilake, Vice President and General Manager, CakeLabs

Prof. Chouhan’s discussion will provide a framework to enable employers to invest more strategically in their talent; investors to recognise human capital as a fundamental element of business strategy; and employees to benefit from better opportunities and greater fulfilment at work. Prof. Chouhan is an author, board advisor and management educator. He is an authority on Corporate Governance and Sustainability, and Business Strategy. Mahendra is co-founder of Asian Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability, a think tank in the governance space.  He is also Chairman of Mahendra & Young Knowledge Foundation in India.

In a case study titled ‘Disrupt or be Disrupted’, Rasika will move the spotlight to CakeLabs – a company that is customer-focused, innovated boldly, adapted rapidly, delivered more for less and exploited market opportunities.  This discussion aims to provide participants with insights in how to invest in and operate a digitally thriving business model. 

Rasika has 18 years of experience in the IT industry and is currently Vice President and General Manager at CAKE LABS. He was instrumental in launching the CakeLabs operation in Sri Lanka and growing it to a high calibre engineering organisation over the last several years. He has played key roles in Delivery, Operations, HR, IT, Finance, Marketing, Administration and Facilities as the company entered a new wave of growth.    

CIMA’s flagship event, the Business Leaders Summit this year is themed ‘Joining the Dots’, and will address how businesses can adapt in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment.  In addition to focusing on how employers can invest more in the people factor in their organisations, this conference will also explore how traditional business models can respond to changing customer loyalties, disruptive innovation and how businesses can embed integrated thinking in their practices.  For more information of this year’s event, please contact the CIMA office in Colombo at 0112503880 and/or [email protected].