We recently had the privilege of interviewing Lahiru Kannangara, Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) of Soika Labs. With more than 15 years of experience, Lahiru has been offering expert services spanning from Business Development, IT to digital transformation across sectors.
Soika Labs is pioneering the future of artificial intelligence with the world’s first complete AI Agent ecosystem, revolutionizing how businesses, governments, and enterprises leverage AI. This empowers them to build and connect AI agents that autonomously drive productivity, collaboration, and innovation. Aligned with his vision to help clients overcome challenges and seize opportunities, Lahiru Kannangara leverages his expertise at Soika Labs to make powerful AI accessible to governments and businesses alike.
Spark Behind the Journey
We started the interview by asking, “What inspired you to join Soika Labs as CBDO, and how has leading this revolutionary AI company surprised you in terms of market response?”
Lahiru shared, “After spending over 15 years helping various organizations across various sectors, I was really drawn to Soika’s vision of democratizing AI and growing the ultimate global agentic network. What caught my attention wasn’t just the technology, but the mission to make powerful AI accessible to businesses without requiring them to send their sensitive data to external clouds.
The market response has been phenomenal and honestly exceeded my expectations. We’re seeing demand from sectors I hadn’t initially anticipated – from small government departments in emerging markets to Fortune 500 companies that are finally ready to bring AI in-house. The ‘aha moment’ for most clients comes when they realize they can have ChatGPT-level capabilities running entirely on their premises, with their data never leaving their building, which enables best-in-class business process automations.”
Standing Apart from the Competition
To stay ahead of the curve, innovative and creative solutions are inevitable. Intrigued to learn more, we asked Lahiru Kannangara, “What makes Soika Labs’ approach to AI workstations fundamentally different from cloud-based AI solutions, and why is this critical for enterprises today?”
“The fundamental difference is sovereignty – both data sovereignty and operational sovereignty. While everyone else is pushing you to send your data to their servers, we’re bringing the server to your data. Our AI workstations are like having your own private ChatGPT that never talks to the outside world unless you want it to.
Think about it – a bank would never want its customer transaction analysis happening on someone else’s servers, or a government would not want its sensitive documents processed in a foreign data center. With Soika, you get enterprise-grade AI that runs entirely on your premises. You own the hardware, you control the data, and you decide what stays private. In today’s world of increasing cyber threats and data regulations, this isn’t just nice to have – it’s becoming essential,” explained Lahiru.
Potential for Business Automation
We asked Lahiru Kannangara to explain how Soika’s ‘Agent-to-Agent’ networking platform is creating new possibilities for business automation and inter-company collaboration.
He mentioned, “This is where things get really exciting. Imagine your company’s AI procurement agent automatically negotiating with a supplier’s AI sales agent to get you the
best deal – all happening in seconds while you focus on more important things at work. That’s the reality we’re building with Soika Mockingjay.
Our Agent-to-Agent platform allows businesses to create specialized AI agents for different functions – sales, procurement, customer service, you name it. These agents can then collaborate not just within your organization, but with agents from other companies. It’s like having a super-efficient business network where AI agents handle routine discussions, negotiations, process automations, and even complex deal structures autonomously.
We’re seeing early adopters use this for everything from automated supplier negotiations to real-time customer service collaboration between partner companies. It’s transforming how businesses interact with each other.”
Navigating through Challenging Phases
We further asked, “How do you approach solving complex business challenges when entering new markets with cutting-edge technology that many don’t yet understand?”
“My approach is pretty straightforward – I listen first, educate second, and demonstrate third. Coming from a background where I’ve worked with global companies, I’ve learned that every market has its unique challenges and cultural nuances.
When we enter a new market, I spend time understanding what keeps local business leaders awake at night. It can be data security, operational efficiency, or regulatory compliance. Then we show them how our technology specifically addresses those pain points. But here’s the key – we don’t just talk about it, we demonstrate it. Nothing beats seeing your own data being processed by an AI that’s sitting right there in your office.
I also believe in building local partnerships globally with people who understand their market better than I ever could. My role is to provide the vision and the tools; their role is to make it relevant to local needs,” Lahiru added.
Meeting AI Needs of Today
With data privacy becoming a critical concern globally, we requested Lahiru Kannangara to share how Soika’s on-premise AI infrastructure addresses the sovereign AI needs of governments and enterprises.
“Data privacy isn’t just a concern anymore – it’s becoming a competitive advantage and a compliance requirement. Governments, banking and finance, and healthcare, especially, are waking up to the fact that sending their data to foreign cloud providers might not align with their sovereignty goals.
Our on-premise infrastructure means your data never leaves your building unless you explicitly decide to share it. For governments and large enterprises, this means they can leverage cutting-edge AI without worrying about data leakage or foreign surveillance.
We’re already working with several governments and enterprises where they need AI capabilities but cannot compromise on data sovereignty. Our solution gives them the best of both worlds – advanced AI capabilities with complete control over their information assets,” he shared.
Triumphs at Soika
We were interested to learn more about Soika’s achievements over the years. So, we asked, “What specific industries are seeing the most transformative results from implementing Soika’s AI workstations, and can you share some success stories?”
Lahiru mentioned, “We’re seeing incredible traction in several main sectors. First, Government departments using AI Automations for supporting smart city initiatives, financial services – banks are using our workstations for risk analysis and customer insights without exposing sensitive financial data. Healthcare is another big one. Medical institutions are using our AI for diagnostic assistance and research without patient data ever leaving their premises.
But surprisingly, various other companies are using our AI for predictive maintenance and quality control. One automotive parts manufacturer kept a close eye and predicted major equipment failures in the first month alone, saving them hundreds of thousands in downtime costs.
What’s exciting is seeing smaller companies get access to enterprise-level AI capabilities that were previously only available to tech giants.”
Lahiru Kannangara as a Leader of the Industry
We even asked, “If you could describe your leadership approach to building global distribution networks in one word, what would it be and why?”
Lahiru reflected, “Partnership. I genuinely believe that the best business relationships are built on mutual success rather than one-sided transactions. When I’m building distribution networks, I’m not just looking for people to sell our products – I’m looking for partners who see the same vision we do and want to grow with us.
My experience bootstrapping many companies taught me that sustainable growth comes from empowering others to succeed. When our distribution partners succeed, we succeed. When their customers win, everyone wins. It’s about creating an ecosystem where everyone’s incentives are aligned toward delivering real value.”
Envisioning the Future
As we look toward 2025, we are interested to learn Lahiru Kannangara’s vision on emerging opportunities in the AI infrastructure market and how Soika is positioned to capture the growing demand for private, enterprise AI solutions.
“2025 is going to be the year of ‘AI reality check.’ Companies that jumped into cloud AI solutions are starting to realize the limitations – the costs, the privacy concerns, the lack of control. We’re perfectly positioned for this shift because we’ve been building sovereign AI solutions from day one.
I see huge opportunities in edge AI – bringing intelligence closer to where the work actually happens. Our workstations can be deployed anywhere, from corporate offices to remote mining operations to government facilities in regions with limited internet connectivity. The other big opportunity is the agent economy. As businesses become more comfortable with AI agents handling routine tasks, the demand for secure, private agent-to-agent networks will explode. We’re already seeing early signs of this with our Mockingjay platform,” Lahiru responded.
Upcoming Exciting Additions at Soika
Soika Agentic Network is already proven and out there serving various enterprises and governments. So, we further asked Lahiru Kannangara, “What’s new we can expect from Soika Labs in the coming months?”
“Well, I can give you a little spoiler – we’re about to revolutionize mobile AI with the upcoming launch of Soika AI Pro Laptops this month. Think of it as bringing the power of our AI workstations into a portable format that professionals can take anywhere.
But beyond hardware, we’re also expanding our agent marketplace where businesses can discover and deploy specialized AI agents.
We’re also working on some exciting partnerships that will make our technology accessible to smaller businesses and startups who want enterprise-grade AI without the enterprise-grade price tag. The goal is to democratize AI access while maintaining the privacy and control that make us unique.
The next few months are going to be really exciting for anyone who believes that AI should serve businesses, not the other way around,” Lahiru concluded.
Follow Lahiru Kannangara on LinkedIn.
Find Soika Labs on LinkedIn and visit their website https://agent.soika.ai/
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