• Rootcode partner and COO Mangala Perera on the past, present, and future of the tech industry

Celebrating a 25-year long journey in the tech industry, Mangala Perera’s narrative unfolds like a tapestry woven with innovation, resilience, and unwavering dedication. From his humble beginnings at IFS to his current role as partner and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Rootcode, his journey is a testament to the transformative power of passion and perseverance in shaping the future of technology.

The Daily Morning had an insightful chat with Perera on his journey in tech, aspirations, and what so many years of experience can bring to the industry. He shared his thoughts on how to utilise experience in a way that disrupts the tech space and how the field will be vastly improving in the years to come, with constant changes and shocking innovations.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

You have spent a remarkable 25-year journey in the tech industry. Could you share some insights into your experience and current role at Rootcode?

Absolutely, it’s been quite a journey. Actually, it has been over 25 years since I started in 1998 as the tech industry was gaining momentum. I began my IT career at IFS, fresh out of university and climbed the ranks to Vice President (Software Operations), leading the IFS research and development (R&D) operations in Sri Lanka.

Three years ago, I made the decision to shift to Rootcode as partner and COO. Here, my role goes beyond overseeing and managing the day-to-day operational work. I work closely with Alagan Mahalingam, our chief executive officer (CEO), to strategise and grow our organisation. I also focus on nurturing the Rootcode culture, coaching the leadership team, and eventually ensuring our customers and Rootcoders receive outstanding experiences with Rootcode.

I spend most of my time coaching leaders at Rootcode. The leadership layer will play a crucial role when you develop the organisation. It’s about placing the right individuals in the right roles and allowing them to lead. We support our leaders by providing a platform for them to develop their unique leadership styles through coaching rather than direct mentoring.

What initially sparked your interest in the tech industry and how did your educational background contribute to your career path?

My tech journey began quite unexpectedly. After finishing my A-Levels in 1991, I worked as an underwriting clerk at an insurance company while waiting for university entrance. My job involved a lot of data entry using an AS400 mainframe system – you know, just entering data into a terminal. Then, I spotted an unused personal computer tucked away in a corner. Curiosity got the better of me and I started learning programming with it.

During this time, the company needed to handle a process that was not supported by the system we used and required a lot of manual work. My boss offered me overtime to handle the job manually on Saturdays. Seeing an opportunity, I asked permission to write an in-house system instead. With his approval, I worked on weekends for a few months and built a system that was good enough to use.

This experience helped me find my passion for IT. When I eventually went to university, I chose computer science alongside statistics and maths and did a computer science honours degree.

Could you delve into some of the pivotal moments in your career, particularly highlighting your achievements and transformative projects, including your role at Rootcode?

When IFS started the offshore operation in Sri Lanka in 1998, Sri Lanka was not known as a tech destination. Initially, our primary challenge was to prove our work ethic and engineering skills to the rest of the world. We were a bunch of fresh graduates at that time. I was initially in a distributed team that developed one of the key frameworks used by the company. My first key achievement was becoming the architect of that framework in three years. Rather than a personal career achievement, I see it as one of the examples of proving our work ethic and engineering skills and giving IFS confidence about their decision to pick Sri Lanka as their engineering destination.

I was blessed to be part of IFS’s journey since 1998, starting with a few dozen employees and growing to a couple of thousands. During this journey, I was on the management team since 2001 and joined the senior leadership team in 2008. One of the significant transformations that I contributed to was laying a solid foundation to build an international organisation with 2,000+ employees.

When the IT industry started to pick up in Sri Lanka, we realised that developing the right talent pool to meet the talent demand was a game changer. Looking back, I am so proud of what we achieved as an industry from some initiatives I led and contributed to building the right talents. I served as a general council member at Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM). We executed many initiatives with industry professionals and academia to make our undergraduates industry-ready when they come out of the universities. In some initiatives, we even created the curriculum and had it delivered by industry experts.

Three years ago, I took the leap from my corporate vice president role to join Rootcode as a partner and COO. Back then, Rootcode was a startup. Now, we are a scale-up with over 100 employees. After 23 years with IFS, I wanted to play my second inning, and Rootcode is the best place for that.

At Rootcode, we live by our mission to help businesses succeed by building great tech. I am so proud to have been part of our journey over the last few years. We helped our customers step up their game in many industries, such as agri-tech, fitness, health care, e-sports, and manufacturing. Our significant achievements during this short period are our customers’ success stories and testimonials on how our tech partnership helped them succeed.

Finally, Rootcode Foundation. Our corporate social responsibility (CSR) project aims to teach tech in underprivileged schools. In this programme, we adopt a school every year and visit the school on the weekends to teach IT. We donate a computer lab, conduct teacher training, and provide scholarships. More importantly, we stay with them for a year to ensure they can self-sustain when we leave.

When we started this programme, we thought that we were over-ambitious. However, we have completed our mission with one school and adopted the second school this year. I am so proud of our Rootcode Foundation volunteers, who want to be the change we want to see in the world.

As partner and COO of Rootcode, how have you contributed to the company’s growth, and what are your future plans for its expansion and development?

It’s crucial to be ready before opportunities arise, as I’ve seen many organisations miss out simply because they weren’t prepared. Since joining Rootcode, I’ve focused heavily on developing our organisation and equipping our team for the next big leap. That enabled us to grow by getting challenging projects and delivering them by even exceeding customer expectations. From the early days with just a handful of people to now boasting a team of over 100, our growth has been significant and organic.

Everyone loves Rootcode culture. A key aspect of my role has been retaining our culture during growth and beyond. Our high-performing culture is built upon three core values: excellence, collaboration, and integrity. These values are not just words; they are embedded in everything from our feedback mechanism to our daily interactions.

On top of three core values, we have five beliefs. First, we live our values – they’re integral to our operations. Second, we maintain a high-performance standard, not tolerating anything less. Third, our team ethos is strong – we succeed together. Fourth, we embrace and celebrate diversity, encouraging everyone to be themselves, provided they share our core values. Finally, we never compromise on integrity, ensuring trust remains a cornerstone of our operations.

As for expansion, we focus on maintaining our momentum and increasing our impact. We’re making strong inroads in Europe and North America by diversifying into sectors like health care, fitness, manufacturing, e-sports, and agri-tech. We’ve also recently partnered with the Estonian government to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform for their services, which is a testament to our growing capabilities, especially with Rootcode AI. Looking ahead, our AI division is heading for significant growth, opening up even more opportunities across various industries.

In essence, our expansion is about deepening our impact and enhancing the industries we serve.

How do you maintain a balance between your professional and personal life, especially with your passion for long-distance running? Any guiding principles or philosophies you adhere to?

My belief is simple: we are extremely lucky to be humans, and we should maximise our potential, no matter our beliefs about life’s origin, be it God, evolution, or even a simulation. We have to play multiple roles to maximise our impact during our lifetime.

Apart from my professional life, I wear many hats: I’m a father to two, a husband, an active member of a few forums and societies, and a social animal with friends in various circles. Also, I work 9-10 hours on a typical workday. Then, run three times a week to cover 20-25 km every week.

Running is more than a hobby for me. My philosophy is: “Life is what you made it, and fitness is how you live it. Every beat counts.”

I don’t believe in balanced days – every day brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. Instead, I strive for balanced weeks or months. I want to see myself as a good juggler who knows how many balls to manage and ensures that I don’t drop important balls.

What are your perspectives on the future of the tech industry and what challenges and opportunities do you foresee?

I’m optimistic about the tech industry’s future and how it will impact different industries and, eventually, our lives. Advancements in AI and machine learning have the potential to significantly enhance almost every industry, from healthcare and finance to agri-tech. These technologies are revolutionising how we use data, aiding decision-makers in making more informed choices. 5G and the eventual transition to 6G and beyond promise to massively expand bandwidth, and I see a future filled with smarter cities and advancements in Internet of Things (IoT).

As technology becomes more integral to our lives and AI makes some decisions on our behalf or at least influences our decisions, cybersecurity and ethical use of technology will become critical. Ensuring the security of our digital infrastructure and maintaining privacy and ethical standards will be critical challenges in the future. 

Innovation is crucial in the tech industry. How do you foster a culture of innovation and creativity within a company, ensuring that the company stays ahead of the curve?

At Rootcode, we live by the principle that our mission is to help businesses succeed through great technology. This mindset is fundamental when engaging with customers, whether enhancing existing products or building a new product. It’s not just about meeting customer requests – it’s about exceeding them and being true tech partners.

We emphasise the difference between creativity and innovation to our teams, especially the leadership. Creativity is great, but it’s innovation that brings true business value. To innovate effectively, you need a deep understanding of how customers use your products. Without this, you can’t identify what will genuinely add value. We always circle back to see if our creative ideas can enhance business value for our customers. This approach ensures that whatever we conceive can truly benefit the clients and isn’t just creative fluff.

We also promote out-of-the-box thinking among our developers, giving them the freedom to brainstorm and propose new ideas. We discuss these ideas openly and even have incubator projects to explore them further. Additionally, Rootcode has a dedicated innovation arm focused on new product development. 

In summary, our approach at Rootcode involves understanding the real-world application of our tech, promoting a culture where innovation intersects with customer value, and maintaining a space where new ideas can be discussed within and beyond customer projects.

What advice would you give to young professionals aspiring to excel in the tech industry? And what are your personal goals for the coming years?

For young professionals, here’s a piece of advice I often give, which has served me well from my early days: “Forget about your job title.” I learned it early in my career and have been sharing it ever since.

If you are an intern, as long as you don’t see yourself as just an intern, neither will anyone else. The idea is to see beyond your current role and embrace every opportunity that comes your way, especially the challenging ones that nobody else wants to tackle. This isn’t just about ambition; it’s about self-confidence.

In this industry, titles come when you’ve earned them through your actions. To earn the title, you have to level up your game. And even when you climb the ladder to a C-level position, maintaining that title-free mindset keeps you humble, grounded, and open to learning from others.

As for my personal goals, I see a tremendous potential in our country’s tech sector that I want to help realise. I aim to contribute as much as possible to harness this potential within the industry and at Rootcode. We’re positioned to play a significant role in this growth, and I’m committed to ensuring we meet these ambitious objectives.