Who am I
I help people become the most informed person in the room.
I am Sumith Jayawickrama — an AI strategist, the developer of the UDE System, and a lifelong learner. After thirty-five years running real operations, I now help people and businesses pair human judgement with AI so they can decide better, faster.
- AI Strategist
- Developer of the UDE System
- Lifelong Learner
Why AI matters now
AI isn't a fad. It's a new core skill.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a basic requirement for employees and businesses alike. The people who don't learn how to use these tools risk being quietly left behind by the ones who do.
My work is simple to describe: I help people build their own second brain — combining human judgement with AI systems so they can recall more, reason faster, and walk into any room as the best-informed person in it.
From humble beginnings to AI leadership
I started by doing every job imaginable.
Cleaning floors. Testing products in laboratories. Running factories. Managing teams. Each of those jobs taught me how every part of a business actually fits together — and each one left me wanting to keep learning.
Over the years that curiosity turned into leadership. I have led several companies: T.K. Fastner Lanka (Pvt) Ltd right after graduation, then Dilmah Tea, Global Sea Foods, Alokozay in Dubai, and Basilur Tea. Along the way I gained hands-on experience and training in eight countries.
- Singapore
- Taiwan
- Japan
- USA
- UK
- Italy
- China
- Germany
During this journey I developed the Unified Decision Engine (UDE) System. It brings together data from spreadsheets, manual records and enterprise systems, and links it with modern AI tools — so people at every level can make clear, timely decisions. This practical approach to AI was recognised by CEO Magazine Sri Lanka, which featured me as one of the region's leading AI practitioners.
How I think
Four convictions I keep returning to.
-
01
AI is a core skill, not a fad.
It is becoming as basic to working life as email or a spreadsheet once was. The people and businesses who don't learn to use it will quietly fall behind the ones who do.
-
02
Build a second brain.
Pair human judgement with AI systems and you stop competing on memory. You become the most informed person in the room — not because you know more, but because you can recall and reason faster.
-
03
Operations is the honest teacher.
Cleaning floors, testing in labs, running factories, managing teams — those years taught me how every part of a business fits together, and why information either flows or it doesn't.
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04
Anyone can learn this.
You do not need a technical background to use AI well. You need the right framing and a system that fits how you already work. That is the whole point of the UDE.
The career
Five chapters, one continuous question.
Can the right person see the right information at the right time, and act on it? I have asked that same question on a shop floor in 1986 and inside an AI system in 2026. The tools changed. The question never did.
- 2011 — Director, Operations · Basilur Tea Colombo, Sri Lanka
Operations across blending, packing, and export — ERP, ISO and Kaizen running on the floor, not in a binder.
- 2009 — 2010 General Manager · Alokozay (AGC) Dubai, UAE
FMCG distribution at scale across the GCC. A masterclass in how messy real demand actually is.
- 2006 — 2009 General Manager · Global Sea Foods Sri Lanka
Stood up Southeast Asia's largest cold-room plant — refrigeration, automation, controls, end-to-end.
- 1993 — 2006 Senior Manager · Dilmah Tea Sri Lanka
Thirteen years inside one of the most disciplined operations in the country. Built the ERP rollout, the ISO systems, the Kaizen floor.
- 1986 — 1993 General Manager · T.K. Fastner Lanka Sri Lanka
First role out of university. Manufacturing, machining, fasteners — where I learned to read a shop floor.
Recognition
A leading AI practitioner
CEO Magazine Sri Lanka.
The recognition I value most, because it is about the work I am doing now — not a title I once held. Earlier, the European Business Assembly named me Best General Manager (Oxford, 2016); useful mostly for the standing it gave me to keep writing.
Education
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
The rest of the curriculum has been thirty-five years of cost sheets, audits, ERP rollouts, factory floors, and — lately — large language models.
Making AI simple and useful
Anyone can learn to use AI well.
I believe anyone can learn to use AI effectively, even if they don't have a technical background. What people need isn't more jargon — it's the right framing, and a system that fits the way they already work.
That is what I try to give them. The UDE System takes the messy reality of most organisations — spreadsheets, paper records, half-used software — and turns it into something a person can actually think with. No PhD required. Just a clearer way to decide.
If you would like to talk
A short note gets a faster reply.
Most of the conversations I enjoy start with one specific question — a real decision someone is wrestling with, not a general enquiry about AI. If that is you, write.