Enabling Sri Lankan businesses to compete in digital age

Sri Lanka’s economy is at a critical juncture, where digital transformation is no longer a luxury but a necessity. From mid-sized enterprises to large corporations and technology-driven start-ups, companies are adopting Salesforce solutions to streamline operations, boost customer engagement, and unlock new growth opportunities. The platform’s ability to integrate customer data across multiple channels — from call centres and websites to mobile apps and social media — eliminates data silos and ensures that decision-makers have real-time insights to act on.

From mid-sized enterprises to large corporations and innovative start-ups, Sri Lanka is beginning to embrace tools such as cloud computing, data analytics, and AI to fuel growth. What sets successful companies apart is not just their adoption of technology, but their ability to integrate it seamlessly across functions — eliminating silos, empowering employees with real-time insights, and delivering consistent, personalised experiences to customers.

Digital transformation as a national imperative

For Sri Lanka, digitalisation is not just about business efficiency, it’s about long-term economic resilience. A strong digital backbone enables greater financial inclusion, supports thriving export industries, and helps build more responsive public services.

Consider banking, retail, and telecommunications: sectors at the heart of Sri Lanka’s economy. By leveraging digital platforms, banks can streamline onboarding, retailers can personalise shopping journeys, and telecom providers can anticipate churn before it happens. These are not distant possibilities; they are tangible steps toward building a more competitive and future-ready economy.

Tailoring global capabilities to local needs

One of the biggest opportunities for Sri Lanka lies in its ability to adapt global digital innovations to the local context. This requires strong local expertise, cultural understanding, and implementation partnerships that ensure technology delivers real, measurable outcomes.

Whether it’s redesigning customer journeys, integrating back-end operations, or automating compliance-heavy processes, localisation is what translates innovation into impact. Sri Lankan enterprises need solutions that not only scale but also respect the country’s unique business and cultural environment.

Salesforce maintains that technology alone doesn’t transform businesses; it’s the combination of powerful tools and local expertise that creates a lasting impact. By working hand-in-hand with Sri Lankan partners, Salesforce ensures that its solutions are not only implemented effectively but also aligned with strategic business goals. This partnership is crucial in a region where understanding local market dynamics and customer expectations is paramount.

AI: From buzzword to business differentiator

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving from hype to reality. For Sri Lankan businesses, the next frontier lies in embedding AI into decision-making to deliver predictive, personalised, and ethical outcomes.

AI can help a retailer recommend products in real time, a telco predict and reduce churn, or a hospital personalise patient care. But beyond efficiency gains, AI also raises important questions about trust, transparency, and ethics. For Sri Lanka to truly benefit, AI adoption must be guided by principles that ensure technology augments, not replaces human decision-making.

Building a future-ready workforce

Technology transformation cannot succeed without a skilled workforce. For Sri Lanka, investing in digital skills and lifelong learning is critical to unlocking the full potential of its young, ambitious population. Training platforms, industry–academia partnerships, and community-led skilling initiatives are helping professionals across industries gain expertise in AI, data, and cloud.

By cultivating a digitally fluent workforce, Sri Lanka can strengthen its competitive edge, attract investment, and ensure inclusive participation in the global digital economy.

Harnessing AI for predictive, personalised, and ethical decision-making

As AI adoption accelerates worldwide, Sri Lankan companies are seeking ways to embed AI into their decision-making processes without compromising trust, security, or ethics. Salesforce’s Einstein AI is leading the way in this regard, enabling businesses to make predictive, personalised, and more efficient decisions. From recommending the next best action for a sales rep to anticipating customer service needs before they arise, Einstein AI is transforming how companies interact with their customers.

The integration of AI also helps companies proactively identify opportunities and mitigate risks. For example, a telecommunications provider can use predictive analytics to detect churn risks and take pre-emptive actions to retain customers. A retailer can tailor offers in real time to individual customers based on their browsing and purchase history, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Salesforce insists that AI must be transparent, ethical, and designed to augment, not replace, human decision-making. By combining global innovation with local market insight, Salesforce helps Sri Lankan businesses not just adapt to change but lead it. This commitment positions them for sustained success in the digital economy, ensuring that technology serves both business growth and the greater good.

Salesforce’s commitment to Sri Lanka

Over the past three years, Salesforce has been steadily investing in Sri Lanka to strengthen its internal teams, partner ecosystem, and empower customers. The company nurtures its vibrant Salesforce Sri Lankan Ohana community through flagship trailblazer events like Yarl Dreamin. 

With marquee customers such as the John Keells Group already driving transformation on the Salesforce platform, the company is deepening its focus across high-performing industries including banking, hospitality, telecom, retail, and manufacturing. 

By collaborating with local government associations and leveraging strong consulting partnerships, Salesforce aims to further support Sri Lanka’s digital economy ambitions while empowering businesses and communities across the island.

Looking ahead: The future of digital transformation in Sri Lanka

As Sri Lanka continues to navigate the complexities of the digital economy, digital transformation will be the cornerstone of its future growth. Success will depend not only on adopting the latest technologies but also on ensuring they are applied responsibly, inclusively, and with local relevance. From powering e-commerce and digital payments to advancing healthcare through telemedicine and reimagining education with personalised, data-driven learning, the opportunities are immense. What matters most is building an ecosystem where global innovation meets local ambition — one that fosters trust, empowers people, and drives sustainable progress. With the right mix of technology, talent, and partnerships, Sri Lanka has the potential to emerge as a digital leader in the region and set a powerful example of how technology can transform both business and society.

(The writer is the Executive Vice President and Managing Director, for Salesforce in South Asia. Arun is responsible for driving the company’s growth and expanding its presence in India and ASEAN. He is at the forefront of helping customers and partners navigate their AI-driven digital transformation journeys, ensuring their success, delivering measurable outcomes, and building future-ready enterprises.)