Empowerment is essential to a high performing team. As a firm believer in the concept of loving what you do, Jit Warnakulasuriya is the chairman and driving force behind Just In Time Group. He believes in empowering people to realize their true potential through taking on areas outside their comfort zone and always encouraging them to think outside the box, without getting caught up in the usual norms of business jargon to limit one’s belief.
Jit is a stalwart personality in the IT field in Sri Lanka with over 30 years’ experience. Even after 30 years in the industry, he is yet extremely energetic and full of vigor and always armed with a ‘Can Do’ attitude. As a leader his mantra of ‘loving what you do’ is something he has always passed down to his team and others. A visionary he was used to changing every 4-5 years now changes every 6 months to a year based on the need of the circumstances and knows how to adopt technology to any application.
He believes that the higher you go in an organization the more you must rely on the diverse talents and skill sets of your team. He wakes up every day, being inspired to do all that he needs to and break down everything into simple building blocks to achieve his goals. This is his belief that he instils through his leadership, which has worked well so far.
A Visionary Entrepreneur
Jit Warnakulasuriya started his career at the young age of 17 straight after high school and worked under two prominent business personalities in Sri Lanka at that time. One day, at the age of 19, one of his bosses asked him if he would like to start an IT company, and then there was no looking back. It was a pioneering initiative at that time. It was also excellent exposure to travel to many countries in Asia with one of his mentors to find a good product as a business model.
They started a small store selling P.C.s and related items in the year 1987 and took the company to one of the foremost companies introducing big names in the global IT industry to Sri Lanka like Sysco, Sun microsystems (now Oracle), Compaq (acquired by HP) etc. After 16 years there was a restructure of assets which led to him leaving the company without knowing the future adventure he was about to have.
Not long after, while returning from a vacation, he was reading an in-flight magazine which had an article on the Japanese concept of “Just In Time”. There it struck him that perhaps Just In Time is a good name for his own enterprise. The acronym of Just In Time (JIT) also went well with his first name. He was convinced of his name selection and here they have completed 25 years of pioneering success creating their own niche.
Jit’s role as an all-encompassing chairman is merely a designation. He is a hands-on person providing mentoring and guidance to the team. It is his attitude of ‘nothing is impossible’ that has molded him into what he is today. He is a strong believer in achieving the impossible and passes this on to his team on a daily basis.
Now that Jit is retired, he plays a very different role in his new journey as an entrepreneur and investor but he still continues to lead the leadership teams as and when they need him to. “My path now is different, where I am turning a niche focus to what I love the most – investing in new ideas, ventures and start ups, and uplifting the purpose that my creator has planned for me,” shares Jit.
Quarter Century of ICT Innovation
Jit started Just In Time Group (JIT) in a 100 square feet basement office with just 4 people and about Rs. 180,000 (Approx 2570 USD) capital, back in the mid 90’s marketing computers and laptops. Today, JIT is in the forefront of the ICT industry in Sri Lanka, with a team of over 500 skilled and trained staff, where they also stand as a diversified group, in ICT, IT consultancy and education.
Jit’s sole focus has always been on progress. Progress for the nation, for their employees, and for their customers to create a long lasting value through globally/locally renowned technology – to be second to none. Today, Jit can proudly say that they have been a
definite game changer; making a difference, building ecosystems and creating shared value by delivering essential, agile technology for their nation.
“Our success has always been our strength in relationships and our honesty – be it with our principals/customers, staff and suppliers,” shared Jit. At JIT, they place great emphasis on what they have maintained with these key stakeholders over the years, and to that end, most of their key clients are returning customers. They strongly believe in positioning true value to their customers so that their information and communication technology-based investments give them good returns over the years and less headaches.
When a customer trusts JIT and shares their vision and pain points, Jit and his team work on the solution as they have an advantage of having access to a wide array of technologies. Essentially, they consider themselves to be a long-term partner and not just a one-off solution seller for enterprises. They believe in engaging with a customer early and identifying their pain points, needs and expectations, and then offering them the right solution rather than trying to market what they have. This sort of customer centric approach is important, and helps them differentiate themselves as an effective solutions integrator.
JIT designs solutions for complex IT needs of their customers and they deliver them successfully with agility and flexibility. Thereafter, they continue to be there for the customer as their trusted and dependable support partner. They constantly upgrade their skills and technologies to stay relevant to serve the customers’ ever-changing needs. They evolve every 5 years to acquire new technology, ideas, thoughts and investments to start their validation.
Customer satisfaction surveys are sent out regularly and they learn from the feedback obtained to realign. The success of the investments is powered by loyal and competent staff, where over 50% of whom have been with the Group for over 10 years.
Advice for aspiring Leaders
Jit advises to never step into a confined box. Be different. Be positive. Have mentors. Learn from failures to succeed. Keep learning and never stop. He lives by the motto of ‘Stopping means dying’. He suggests being smart and picking your battles. “Finally, there is always a way to get what you want done – so try every way till you get what you want done right,” adds Jit.
While sharing his biggest learnings from his journey, Jit said “for me I would say, as part of the baby boomer generation is learning from the younger generations of Millennials, Gen X etc.” He added that a mix of all this is necessary which is one aspect of the Group’s success factors.
Looking Forward
Jit Warnakulasuriya is looking forward to helping JIT Group develop into a company that is evolving faster, embracing quicker, investing further, hiring and training young entrepreneurs to change their country’s vision to embrace digital technology and help their customer’s customer reap benefits to bring value to their stakeholders.
On the personal front, he sees himself spending more time watching the teams thrive and also engaged in his relationship of serving God.
