AI strategy key for local start-up competitiveness

• AI is going to be bigger than internet, says former Virtusa COO 
• It is projected to create 170mn new jobs globally by 2030

Sri Lanka’s top tech industry veterans asserted the critical need for the start-ups to lead with artificial intelligence (AI) in their messaging, regardless of their business model, to stay competitive and align with the global and regional leaders in their respective fields.

The start-ups must leave no room for doubt when pitching to the potential clients about their integration of AI into their solutions, according to former Virtusa Corporation Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific Keith Modder.

Modder shared these insights during a fireside chat titled ‘Dream Big, Start Small, Act Now’, hosted by TiE Colombo, a chapter of Silicon Valley-founded TiE Global, also known as The Indus Entrepreneurs. 

The event, held recently at Elegance Workspaces, Cinnamon Life, featured Stax Inc. Managing Director and former Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies Chairman Ruwindhu Peiris, as the co-speaker.

“Take AI seriously because this is going to be bigger than the internet. I truly believe it’s a game changer. Whether you’re as good as or as bad as the biggest company in your space, everyone is grappling with the same challenge. This is one of those moments in time where everyone has to figure it out,” Modder asserted.

He urged the start-ups to proactively address AI in their messaging, ensuring that the potential clients never feel the need to question their AI capabilities.

“Do not let that be a question your potential client has. Lead with AI in your message. Adopting AI isn’t hard and it doesn’t have to be costly. There’s no excuse to say, ‘I don’t know about AI.’

Whatever your business model is, make sure AI is given for your clients. They should never have to ask if you’re using AI or what your thoughts are on AI in your product or service,” he elaborated.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, AI is projected to create 170 million new jobs globally by 2030. 

Both Modder and Peiris highlighted how AI has levelled the playing field in the job market by removing most barriers related to technical knowledge and experience.

“It’s no longer about going into the marketplace and saying, ‘We need someone with five years of experience, a full-stack Java.net platform, eight years in this and so on.’ Today, we’re looking for applicants fresh out of university, who know how to use AI tools and can communicate effectively with them, to achieve the desired results. It’s not about your years of experience or depth of knowledge in a specific field.

It’s about how well you can interact with the machine and get it to do what you want. This creates completely a level playing field. Someone with two years of experience could be sitting next to someone with 10 years of experience, doing the same job. It’s going to change everything,” Modder explained.

Peiris added that language skills, particularly in English, will play a crucial role in these emerging opportunities.

“It depends on what you ask the machine. It will give you the answer. If your English isn’t great, then sorry—it’s going to go the other way,” he noted.

Reflecting on Virtusa’s transformation into a multi-billion-dollar company, Modder credited benchmarking against the global industry leaders as a critical factor in competing with international giants for clients.

“However small you are, you have to ensure you’re running your company like a Fortune 500 firm—not in terms of size, scale or real estate but in terms of standards. At Virtusa, we benchmarked ourselves against Infosys, which was worth around US $ 500-600 billion at the time, even though we were much smaller. That mindset was crucial,” he shared. He advised the local entrepreneurs to identify a publicly listed global company in their industry vertical, stay updated on its developments and use it as a benchmark for their own growth.

To fully capitalise on the democratised access to AI and other emerging technologies, both speakers stressed the importance of the start-ups gaining clarity on their national direction and aligning their strategies accordingly.

Source: Daily Mirror