With over twenty-two years in diverse but equally competitive industries, Dhanesh R. Jayathilaka, Chief Executive Officer of Xiteb Pvt. Ltd., has groomed over eleven thousand marketing students and top decision-makers both locally and internationally.
Exerting a broader glimpse into his work-life journey, Dhanesh commenced his vocation by promoting dental goods at Unicel Pvt. Ltd. and handling products manufactured by well-established European organizations. Following that, he joined several companies in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare sector such as Ceyoka Pvt. Ltd which is the pharmaceutical arm of Nawaloka Group of companies. Thereafter, he took on the role of Marketing Manager at SLT Digital Services Pvt. Ltd., and upon encountering significant levels of experience in corporate sectors, Dhanesh later Co-Founded Xiteb Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2010.
Dhanesh’s educational background consists of a Postgraduate Diploma from the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and an MBA from the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. He also followed his Doctoral studies at the aforesaid University and subsequently received his Doctorate from EIU (European International University) of France.
He obtained the privilege to act as a consultant to the Parliamentary Staff, Caucus, and Sectoral Oversight Committees in the years 2018 to 2020 and he provided similar consultation to many government institutions and ministers as a part of the same project. Apart from that, Dhanesh has also been a part of the SDFL, an independent training arm in the Ministry of Skill Development and Vocal Training.
Some of his endless honorable achievements include being a member of BNI-USA, being the Founder President of BNI Elite Chapter in Sri Lanka, the Ambassador and Director Consultant to BNI-Sri Lanka and being a member of Asia Marketing Federation, CIM-UK and American Marketing Association. Having been appointed as the Secretary-General of Asia Marketing Federation Sri Lanka Association from 2007 to 2010, Dhanesh was also the secretary for SLIM from 2012 to 2013 and Vice President for the Council of Management at Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing from 2013 to 2015. In addition, as a resource person and guest speaker for many business and marketing programmes at universities, institutions and prestigious companies, he was also the consultant for Lanka Consulting Group and Regional Director at Human Behaviour Academy (UK) in 2015/16.
As the fourth largest export earner of the country, the ICT sector serves numerous industry verticals. Observing Sri Lanka’s IT industry performance as of late, Dhanesh says, “With so many players possessing multiple skillsets within the industry at present, the industry is on the verge of a boom, in my view”.
Showcasing cutting-edge innovations in the IT sector, the tech-savvy experts are behind the upheaval which powers international stock markets, telecommunication and transportation in Europe, including the UK. Acting as an offshore development centre for several Fortune 500 companies and joint venture companies based overseas. As a vision for 2022, the industry aims to become the country’s number one foreign exchange earner with five billion USD revenue, 200,000 direct jobs, and a thousand start-ups. “I think it’s possible that these targets can be achieved”, confirms Dhanesh.
He explains that companies spend millions on traditional media with the inability to see tangible results. Convincing the respective decision-makers to choose the suitable investment to get maximum digitized solutions is challenging. As a result, the digital readiness within the national organizations is yet to be revealed. ”In other words, the understanding, acceptance along with planned and available resources to drive the concept forward is still primitive”, he compiles.
Having implemented said transformation amongst many of his clients, Dhanesh remarks, “I think more and more corporates need to be made aware of the importance of digital transformation and its impact on branding and lead generation etc. Once they understand and believe in digital transformation i.e. digitalization and digitization, the most important step of the readiness process, the rest can be easily achieved”. Grasping the importance of changing mindsets to start a digital revolution, Dhanesh is gratified to share that Xiteb® has initiated online sessions to educate many organizations and institutions in collaboration with the companies that believe in and have successfully implemented such transformation.
Xiteb®, a multinational Web and Mobile Software solutions provider, is the first company in Sri Lanka approached by Harvard Medical School to discuss concerns and further benefits of digital transformation along with the gaps of implemented digital strategies, a project that Xiteb® ’s business analysts and managers successfully analyzed. In addition, many organizations, locally and internationally, approach Xiteb® to work together and discuss the importance of digital transformation.
When asked about Xiteb® ’s end-to-end value as a tech company, Dhanesh replies, “We always believe in carefully designed processes”. Focusing on being customer-centric, starting from a client’s briefing to the deployment phase, he also emphasizes the necessity of after-solutions services along with upselling and cross-selling. “To provide superior service to the clients, it is obvious that you should have a loyal and talented team”, Dhanesh unfolds. With team members that believe in having the right synergy, he talks about having thirty-eight steps that the different designated employees get involved in.“For instance, the bespoke software development and web or mobile app development process at Xiteb® is systematically defined and designed from creating a wireframe to the design concept and planning the solution development right through to deployment of the software. In addition, support will be provided to add new features and increase value”, he stated.
No doubt handling an organization comes with a variety of challenges. Dhanesh finds that the fact that you cannot change someone’s attitude to be the most difficult aspect to manage. He elaborated further that when interviewing for certain positions it is quite unsettling when you sense the volatile nature of young candidates.“The answer I believe lies in careful coaching – it is an art”, he responds. Talking further into the struggles of managing people, he discusses the stakeholders who impact the performance of any organization in any industry and the suppliers and clients. “It should be discussed that handling demanding clients with their squeezed budgets is equally challenging”.
Following the company’s tagline, which is ‘Online Solutions for Intellects’, Dhanesh voices the significance of targeting an elite set of clients who know what software solutions really mean. Considering handling unaware clients can be costly and time-consuming, Xiteb® strongly believes in concentrating on clients with a sound understanding of software solutions nationally and internationally. Simply, it is important to change the mindsets of people to start a revolution, and even in the digital revolution, it is the same.“Whether an ethos or philosophy guides our work, I would say it’s a mix of both whilst concentrating more about fundamental values of a given society”, he quotes.
Seeing how many companies pass ten-year milestones and shift permanently from web development to software solutions, one of Xiteb® ’s long-term strategic goals is to personally invite all decision-makers to work together as professionals and overcome upcoming issues to protect the industry. Dhanesh emphasises that Xiteb® centralizes customized ERPs for all upcoming organizations on behalf of ready-made or off-the-shelf solutions. “We concentrate on more solution-based market development strategies as the next step at Xiteb® ”, he stated.
Endeavouring to take the software solution industry to greater heights using bespoke software that is specifically designed for crucial business requirements, also known as tailor-made solutions, Dhanesh peers into every corner for opportunities to learn and grow. He ends his account with a memorable quote by him that has inspired him through his journey, “In Life, it’s not about what you know, it’s always about how you put what you know into practice.”