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AP II T S RI LANKA N EW SLETTER VOLUME 5 | ISSUE 1
APRIL 2018

Sabri Aminuddin Nirmal Kumarasiri

Sabri was part of the 2nd Business Nirmal has just completed his first
batch at APIIT, and he graduated year as Director, Operations at
with a BA (Hons) Business Sysco LABS, formerly known as
Administration degree in 2005. Cake LABS. The company’s core
Soon after, he began his formal product is a cloud-based Point of
working career as a Merchandiser Sales (POS) systems named
at MAS Intimates, where he found CAKE, specifically designed for
his passion for supply chains. He use in restaurants. Their principal
then moved to Chennai, India, client base includes over 3000
where he studied for his MBA in merchants across the USA, who
Financial Management while are actively running their
working at the Indian Office of FlexTronics, which is the 3rd largest complete POS solution. In addition, this system is also being used
global electronics manufacturing service in the world. During this time, by approximately 65 Sri Lankan clients. Nirmal is in charge of all
casual meetings with Sri Lankan friends in Chennai opened up a components of this complete customer support centric operation.
pathway which led him to join Expo Freight, a global logistics service He has 6 teams that report to him, which includes a group of
provider that is part of Expolanka Holdings PLC. He joined in 2009 as software engineers. Much of the company’s operations are based
an Assistant Manager, and sped up the corporate ranks displaying on the Cloud, the management of which is also another of Nirmal’s
efficiency and effectiveness in handling all aspects of the customer responsibilities.
accounts that he was in charge of. His job role dictated that he Nirmal graduated from APIIT with a BSc (Hons) Business Information
oversees every part of the supply chain, including soliciting new Technology degree from Staffordshire University in 2007. He
customers, managing forecasts and budgets, collaborating directly completed the first two years of this course, and, armed with a higher
with clients and troubleshooting. His work was specifically related to diploma which is awarded at the end of the 2nd year, joined
the North American Trade Lane, which is a main revenue stream for Millennium IT (MIT) in 2003 as a Quality Assurance Engineer. He read
the company. His customer base was primarily in the USA and for the 3rd and final year of his BSc on a part time basis. He says his
Canada, and his work involved frequent travel to meet his clients on degree has, going beyond a mere qualification in Business
site. In 2013, Sabri moved from Chennai to New Delhi. He continued Information Technology, provided a well-rounded education. “It was
to be part of Expo Freight, serving as the Trade Lane Head for India more than learning to be an engineer. This course taught me how to
until December 2016, at which point he joined CaribEx Worldwide and think like a programmer, with logic and reason, and the fundamentals
relocated to Colombo along with his family.
of not only programming, but also project management, business
Today, Sabri is the Director for Global Solutions at CaribEx, where he is processes, accounting, financial management and business
responsible for overseeing all operations and development in the Indian communication”, says Nirmal. The concepts that lead to a sound work
subcontinent. ethic formed an integral part of his course right throughout the 3 ½
years he spent as an undergraduate.
His ability to integrate and function effortlessly in a multicultural work
atmosphere stemmed from the mix of students and staff who he spent his Within 1 year of joining MIT, he was a Team Lead for one of the QA
3 undergraduate years with at APIIT. Significant emphasis on teamwork teams at MIT, and soon was promoted to Manager of Global Systems
while studying taught him how to deal with different personalities and how Support. By the time he left the company in 2014, Nirmal was the
to find solutions when problems arose. Qualities such as tolerance, open Head of the Global System Supports Division.
mindedness, acceptance and humility were all firmly established in his
personality thanks to the sheer diversity that was present at APIIT. He then joined a family venture called Wet Water Resort, which was
badly in need of improvement. This is a 3-star property with 19 rooms,
Sabri recalls fondly of the many extracurricular activities that he was able 2 banquet halls and bar and is located in the outskirts of Colombo.
to be part of while studying. He captained the APIIT cricket team and was Once again, seeking to get back to his own profession of IT, he joined
an active member of the Student Activity Club (SAC). From Hope Rocks, Sysco Labs in December 2016, after having made the resort a viable
a concert that raised funds for cancer patients, to being part of one of the business venture which his family continues to own and operate.
earliest responder teams in the country in the immediate aftermath of the
2004 Tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka, APIIT impressed upon the Nirmal credits his formal higher education with bringing out an
importance of being part of a larger community, and being supportive all-round personality in him. Along with an all-round IT education, soft
towards it whenever the need arose. skills such as negotiating, strategizing and problem solving were all
honed during his tenure at APIIT. He also played rugby and cricket for
Sabri left APIIT in 2005 with much more than a degree under his belt. He APIIT and was also the institute’s network administrator for a short time.
values the influence that APIIT had upon his personality a great deal, as The many opportunities he had of working outside of pure academic
he continues to learn and grow in his career. pursuits instilled notions that he uses today in his day to day work.

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