PROFILE
LOW PROFILE, HIGH FREQUENCY
Upwardly mobile CEO Dr Hans Wijayasuriya reveals the forces
and ideals that shaped his destiny. Savithri Rodrigo reports.

he brain drain in Sri Lanka exacerbated over the last two decades largely due to a lack of opportunities resulting from political and economic instability. What, then, enticed a bright young man to whom the world was his oyster to return home? Even before he had completed his A Levels, Dialog Telekom’s Director/Chief Executive, Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, had seen opportunity and promise in this country. He incisively veered his studies towards a path that showed potential and growth, returning to Sri Lanka to subsequently lead a telecommunications provider that has, today, become a revolutionary pioneer.

Wijayasuriya keeps a low profile, is soft spoken and seems to be a man of few words. His team, however, finds him an approachable leader whose open mind and open-door policies have helped him extract some of their best ideas, which are then put to the test. He keeps his private life very private, not mixing business with pleasure. While he enthu-siastically talks of Dialog’s plans and achievements, he is somewhat tight-lipped about himself. “My parents taught me some simple values and those values had little to do with material things. They have taught me about honesty in all its dimensions and doing my best. They are probably proud of my achievements, but I believe they are more proud that I have lived by what they espoused as the true values and ideals of life.”

Born (and bred) in Colombo to Auditor General P. M. W. Wijayasuriya and his painter wife, Susila, Hans was an only child. He went to kindergarten at Bishop’s College, then on to S. Thomas’ Preparatory School and at the age of 12, moved to S. Thomas’ College. An A+ science-stream student with a keen interest in the arts, he was leader of the college debating team. However, most of his spare time was taken up by music. “I was exposed to the arts from about the age of three, when I started playing the violin and the piano. I recall my mother often taking me to concerts and recitals. I also learned to play the trumpet, practising for nearly four hours a day, which meant I had little time to pursue anything else. I did enjoy sports as well – rugby, badminton and occasionally, cricket – but nothing serious,” he recalls.

Although Wijayasuriya played with the Colombo Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra, he says: “Once I went to university, I had no time to devote so much time to music. I have always done my best at whatever I do – and found that I couldn’t do my best in music. So at that point, I packed it all up and never played again!”

Studying independently for his London A levels, Wijayasuriya completed them before his local examinations.

With his favourite subject being maths, he found engineering to be the most apt field to pursue. At 18, he gained admission to Cambridge. “Cambridge was an eye-opener and challenge, because after regularly scoring as in Sri Lanka, I was suddenly with hundreds of others who were equally good – even better – equally ambitious and equally competitive, academically. Cambridge is also unique. For instance, it had 35 Nobel Laureates on the faculty. It’s also a paradox, being steeped in tradition but contemporary in thought,” he recalls.

Faced with a tough curriculum but never one to give up, Wijayasuriya worked doubly hard… and in three years, he graduated and returned home.

His first job was at IBM. However, after only a year, he was awarded a scholarship to read for his PhD in digital mobile communications at the University Of Bristol. “My sole intention was to return and add value to Sri Lanka,” he affirms. “I wanted to choose an area of technology that was developing, so that someday I could contribute and be a part of that development – and mobile telephony caught my eye.” True to his word, Wijayasuriya – with a doctorate from Bristol University – returned to Sri Lanka in 1994 to keep his promise.

MTN Networks was then in its infancy, and Wijayasuriya – the third employee of the company – joined as Deputy Technical Director. “At that time, mobile telephones were perceived as the property of the rich. Dialog was at the bottom of the ladder and we seemed like a company going nowhere. But we saw the market as one with potential, and one that needed to be opened up and made accessible – not just to one or two thousand people, but to hundreds of thousands.”

In a move that was unprecedented in our corporate world, Wijayasuriya – at just 29 – was appointed CEO, and he began the uphill task of achieving a vision of being the market leader by 2000.

A wave of emotion passes over his face as he talks of the memorable night when his CEO at the time took him out to dinner to announce that he would be leaving the company.

“I felt a sense of loss, because here was a great boss who had steered the company well. I wondered who would succeed him and what the future for the company would be. And then, he announced that he would like me to be his successor. I felt a sharp contrast of emotion, because I had felt disappointment at his leaving… and the next moment, I felt immensely elated – but at the same time, extremely nervous! I was also very honoured that he had the confidence to allow me to head the company,” Wijayasuriya confesses.

And so Dialog changed the way mobile telephony was perceived in this country and went on to build on its motto: ‘The Future Today’. He elaborates: “We started thinking that there is much more to technology than meets the eye. We started introducing and pioneering new initiatives for the industry. We have a responsibility towards our two million-plus family, because they look to us to go beyond boundaries and introduce new technology.”

Wijayasuriya was once Chairman – Arthur C. Clarke Institute For Modern Technologies. He was named ‘Business Leader Of The Year’ at the CIMA Janashakthi Pinnacle Awards in 2003.

He also has the distinction of being included in the GSM 100 Role Of Honour – for his contribution to GSM in the Asian region by GSM Asia Pacific, the regional interest group of the GSM Association, representing 22 Asia Pacific member countries, a grouping he chaired a few years ago. A much-sought-after resource person at international conferences, he is widely published internationally on the subject of digital mobile communications. In addition to being a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute Of Electrical Engineers, UK and a PhD holder, he has an MBA from the University of Warwick in the UK.

Enjoying Sri Lankan food – with a penchant for the odd Pilawoos feed after a late night out – Wijayasuriya confesses to waking up relatively late but working very long hours and knocking off after midnight. “The demands of running a company this size are very challenging, leaving me with little free time. I enjoy my own company and I like to chill out at home. I also find the time to go out with friends. I have a group who are very close to me, dating back to my kindergarten days,” he discloses.

Never one to blow his own trumpet, Wijayasuriya is characteristically modest as he talks about the pioneering journey his company continues to make. “When we started, our team was young and had just the right amount of unbridled excitement and dynamism to make things happen. They joined a company that was almost a laughing stock at that time, and that is a test of loyalty in itself. What we have achieved today is a team effort. I am only the driver: it’s my team that drives the vision.”