The AI-Impact Forum, held in Colombo on 31st March 2026, brought together some of the most consequential voices in technology, business, and public policy to address a question that is increasingly difficult to ignore: as artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, where does Sri Lanka stand, and where does it need to go?
The event was opened by Shanil Fernando, Chief Technology Officer of Cut+Dry and Co-Founder of Co Dev Labs, a firm he established alongside Mani Kulasooriya with the specific mandate of accelerating the adoption of emerging artificial intelligence technologies within Sri Lanka. Fernando framed the morning ahead around three themes that would recur throughout the programme: practical application, global context, and Sri Lanka’s positioning within a rapidly evolving technological order.
Reframing the Conversation on Jobs and Enablement
The keynote address was delivered by Jeff Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Windsurf, and it was notable for the directness with which it engaged the most anxious question surrounding artificial intelligence today — its effect on employment. Rather than offering reassurance through abstraction, Wang opened by posing the question directly to the audience: did they feel at risk? What followed was a reframing of the issue, shifting attention from whether jobs would disappear to how the nature of work itself is being transformed.
Wang identified the central challenge facing organisations not as a technological one, but as one of enablement. The tools, he argued, are advancing faster than the capacity of most organisations to deploy them meaningfully. “Our biggest bottleneck is enablement,” he observed, pointing to the distance between what artificial intelligence systems are technically capable of and how effectively teams are able to integrate them into their day-to-day operations. He noted that as systems become more computationally efficient, the constraints within the broader technology ecosystem are migrating from energy and infrastructure toward advanced chip manufacturing and processing capacity. He also signalled a near-term shift in standards of acceptance, suggesting that outputs do not need to be perfect when systems are increasingly capable of testing and refining their own results.
A Panel That Held the Tension Honestly
The panel discussion that followed brought together a range of perspectives that, taken together, resisted easy conclusions. Moderated by Ruwindhu Peiris, Partner in Client Delivery Network at STAX, the conversation featured Sanjiva Weerawarana, Founder and Chief Executive of WSO2; Mani Kulasooriya, Chief Executive of Cut+Dry; Dinesh Saparamadu, Chairman of hSenid Group; Dr. Harsha De Silva, Economist and Member of Parliament; and Jeff Wang.
Kulasooriya offered one of the session’s more concrete accounts of what artificial intelligence adoption looks like in practice, describing how Cut+Dry has embedded these tools directly into its operational workflows, decomposing complex business processes into structured data and using artificial intelligence to rebuild large-scale systems from the ground up. The implications, he suggested, extend far beyond technology teams. “Everyone needs to rethink their entire business model,” he said.
Weerawarana offered a counterpoint that grounded the discussion in economic reality. While acknowledging the power of the technology, he cautioned that adoption must be considered within context. In markets where digital infrastructure remains uneven, it is often more cost-effective to rely on skilled human engineers than to invest in artificial intelligence integration. He warned against an uncritical enthusiasm for acceleration, noting simply that “speed thrills, but kills.”
Dr. De Silva brought a national perspective that gave the conversation additional weight. He acknowledged recent government investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure while being candid about the country’s most pressing need: job creation. He cautioned that without deliberate management of how these technologies are introduced, adoption risks deepening existing inequalities rather than reducing them. He identified agriculture as a sector where well-directed artificial intelligence application could generate meaningful gains for Sri Lanka, while stressing that progress in that direction depends on first resolving more fundamental challenges around rural connectivity and access to technology.
The discussion also examined the evolving role of engineers and technical professionals. The panel converged on a view that as artificial intelligence systems become capable of generating code and solving well-defined problems independently, the value of human contribution shifts toward problem definition, domain expertise, and critical judgement. Saparamadu observed that organisations are already moving away from recruiting generalist talent in favour of individuals with deep knowledge in specific fields who are also capable of leveraging these tools effectively. Wang added that it is often the most experienced engineers who are making the heaviest use of artificial intelligence to extend their own productivity.
From Conversation to Demonstration
Sam Purtill of Cognition brought the session into sharper practical focus with a demonstration of how modern artificial intelligence systems are being applied in real development contexts. Drawing on more than two decades of professional experience, Purtill described how he had built a cricket trivia game the evening before the forum using Devin, illustrating the speed at which capable, functional outputs can now be produced. He also walked the audience through the underlying mechanics of how such systems operate, from the creation of isolated working environments to the parallel execution of multiple processes and the iterative refinement of outputs. The demonstration reinforced a broader point about the direction of travel: the work of software development is shifting from the act of writing code toward the orchestration of systems that can build, test, and improve solutions autonomously.
A Clear Message for Sri Lanka
The forum concluded with a forward-looking assessment of what Sri Lanka needs to prioritise in this period. The conversation centred on the importance of targeted innovation strategies, the cultivation of intellectual curiosity, and the creation of conditions in which entrepreneurship can flourish.
Across the morning, a consistent understanding emerged. Artificial intelligence is advancing globally at a pace that leaves little room for hesitation. The technology is not waiting for institutional readiness, and the opportunity it presents will not remain open indefinitely. For Sri Lanka, the forum’s message carried both urgency and optimism: the tools are accessible, the talent is present, and the conditions for meaningful progress exist. What remains is the will to act with the boldness the moment demands.