From left: Zivi CEO Kujtim Salihu, Rootcode Founder and CEO Alagan Mahalingam and Rootcode Partner and COO Mangala Perera at the 10th anniversary event
By Nishel Fernando
Rootcode, a Sri Lankan-owned global software product engineering firm, is aiming to expand its business tenfold over the next decade, following its first ten years of growth, particularly in European and North American markets.
The company, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last week at its Colombo headquarters, has set its sights on becoming a 1,000-employee firm in the next decade, said Rootcode Founder and CEO Alagan Mahalingam.
“Most IT companies in Sri Lanka have foreign backing, but we have remained 100 percdent Sri Lankan-owned. Over the past 10 years, we’ve grown into a strong player in Europe and North America,” Mahalingam told journalists on the sidelines of the anniversary event.
“For the past two years, we maintained a team of 100 due to the global financial situation, but we’re now ready to scale up.”
Over the past decade, Rootcode has broadened its services across Europe, partnering with high-profile organisations such as the United Nations and Kendrion, a leading Dutch manufacturer of electromagnetic systems. The company now supports over 100 digital products, serving more than 30 industries globally, including agritech, healthcare, esports, e-commerce and e-governance.
One of Rootcode’s major achievements was securing a public tender from the Estonian government to develop an AI model training and deployment platform for key government services. Mahalingam noted that Rootcode was the first non-European company to win such a sensitive contract.
“This project helps direct citizens’ inquiries to the appropriate services. We competed with major European firms to win this tender, and I believe our proposal stood out,” Mahalingam said.
The platform is expected to be adopted by several Estonian institutions, including the Police and Border Guard Board and the Ministry of Education and Research.
Rootcode’s artificial intelligence division, established in 2021, has become a key driver of growth. The firm sees increasing demand for AI solutions from companies looking to integrate AI into their operations, Mahalingam added.
In addition to its AI division, Rootcode launched Rootcode Studio, a unit dedicated to enhancing digital products through superior user experience design.
Mahalingam said 95 percent of Rootcode’s workforce will remain in Sri Lanka, citing the country’s talent pool and strong IT ecosystem. Currently, the company employs 104 staff in Colombo and has 12 consultants in Europe and North America.
Looking ahead, Mahalingam believes that Sri Lanka’s tech industry could become a significant contributor to the country’s export economy in the coming years.
