Kaushalya is growing her career across industries and businesses

Kaushalya Gunaratne recently moved from Uber Eats to her current role leading operations of Uber’s mobility business in Sri Lanka. At Uber Eats, Kaushalya led merchant operations–strengthening the merchant network, devising revenue growth strategies, and collaborating with global and regional teams to support local operations. Now, she’s taking those skills–and a keen eye for growth–to new challenges in a different line of business.

Kaushalya shares her thoughts on this transition: “It’s interesting to see how shifting gears can translate into immediate impact on the ground. I have just started my learning process and I’m so grateful to have the option of exploring roles across different businesses, to take the learnings from challenges in one area and apply them to something new.”

We sat down with Kaushalya to hear more about those learnings and the challenges ahead.

After spending 10 years at a Sri Lankan based apparel company and ending up in her comfort zone, Kaushalya was ready to learn new skills and change the world as part of a global company. 

“When I heard about the role at Uber, I thought it was a great opportunity for me to locally be a part of a global company. What attracted me was how Uber had disrupted the industry–being this large scale tech organization that totally reimagines the way the world moves.

Though the two industries are very different from one another, during my time in the apparel industry, I developed strong problem solving skills and strategic thinking and I also learnt how to be a great people manager, those are some skills that translated well at Uber. My values also aligned with the Uber values so that helped me settle in and hit the ground running faster. Learning all the Uber abbreviations was the toughest part!”

Launching Uber Ads in Sri Lanka and creating higher value proposition to our merchant partners and local brands, whilst generating revenue to strengthen the bottomline of the business was a highlight but what stands out most for Kaushalya was a partnership with UNITAR International University to offer 50 small-medium sized business owners a scholarship to study business and finance and empower them to grow their businesses.

“The problems we’re facing in one market today within one part of the business, are often very similar to what we have faced in another market or a different business at another time, so I was able to bring learnings from Uber Eats to my new role while also being able to reach out to my new peers across other markets to learn from them.

I also believe in asking as many questions as possible–it’s better to ask silly questions than make silly mistakes! So my team was my biggest learning support. I also joined a lot of meetings where I wasn’t actually required–I joined as a listener just to learn, ask questions and see work in motion.”

Kaushalya’s expanding Uber’s footprint in Sri Lanka, connecting people to places more efficiently while providing a magical experience that is both reliable and convenient. All while growing her team’s capability.

“We’re committed to being the best platform for drivers to support individuals earning potential and ultimately the country’s economy. We are working hard to drive sustainable products in the market to support the broader mobility ecosystem.

I strongly believe that an organization grows when the people grow. So we continue to invest in our people and help them grow together with the organization. We are a small but dynamic team so we make sure to engage with regional and global teams to understand best practices so we’re continuously learning as we manage our day-to-day operations. I like to enable my team to harness creativity and make calculated experiments at a smaller scale so we continue to learn and grow.”

During the financial crisis in Sri Lanka, access to essentials was extremely difficult and transportation was challenged due to fuel shortages. Kaushalya knew we had to find a way to better support our merchants. 

“The government fixed a maximum retail price for all essential items and retail margins on these products were super thin which made it extremely difficult for our merchants who struggled to have sufficient stock available to support demand due to working capital challenges and credit issues. In order to support the system, we immediately waived fees from all essential items to support both consumers and merchants. By waiving the merchant fee, we enabled our merchants to purchase products with cash as they had better cash flow instead of the regular practice of getting products on credit.”

Growing the scale of our business while keeping up customer experience is always a key challenge for any market and we have so much potential to unlock in Sri Lanka. Kaushalya is focusing on this while ensuring Uber remains relevant and accessible, and creating a brand that people love.

“We want to expand beyond our current geographies but we want to do this while ensuring not just a consistent experience for our users, but a magical experience for both riders and drivers, both on our platform and from a support perspective. 

We understand the importance of being relevant so we continue to expand our product offerings from Cars to Tuks and Moto and further categorize options to ensure the rider can make their selections based on their needs. We continue to push to be where people need us–at airports, major bus hubs and locations where riders need last mile options at a reasonable price.

We also want to create a brand that people love and that supports the community as we expand and grow our presence and in Sri Lanka transportation is a key driver for the economy. Studies have shown that access to safe and affordable transportation boosts female workforce participation and overall creates better efficiency in the system so we are focused on driving outcomes that benefit the industry and the economy as a whole.”

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