Thilina Gunarathne

Thilina Gunarathne is a Managing Director in the KPMG Engineering team, specializing in guiding organizations through Cloud-enabled digital transformation.

With over 17 years of experience in distributed systems development and a focus on big data analytics and cloud computing technologies for the past 12 years, Thilina is dedicated to developing cutting-edge technical solutions.

He has a strong background in helping clients across various industries like financial services, healthcare, retail, telecom, and sports in developing large-scale solutions incorporating AI/ML, big data, IoT, and other cloud technologies.

Thilina currently leads the architecture & development of the KPMG global AI/NLP platform, with extensive experience in deploying solutions across multiple geographies and organizations.

Before his current role, he contributed significantly to the development and operationalization of cloud-based data & analytics solutions during his tenure at KPMG.

Thilina is an accomplished author, having published two books, numerous articles, and peer-reviewed research papers in the areas of Cloud and distributed computing, showcasing his expertise and thought leadership.

Recognized for his contributions to open-source projects, Thilina was elected as a Member of the Apache Software Foundation, highlighting his commitment to the tech community.

In addition to his corporate role, Thilina also shares his knowledge as an adjunct professor of business analytics at the College of Business, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

He holds a B. Sc. (Eng) in Computer Science & Engineering, a Ph.D. in Computer Science, and an MSc in Computer Science, all from Indiana University Bloomington.

Thilina has a diverse professional background, having held positions such as Senior Data Scientist at Link Analytics (Acquired by KPMG), Research Intern at IBM Almaden Research Center, and Senior Software Engineer and Development Lead at WSO2.

His academic journey includes roles as a Research Assistant/Fellow, Ph.D. Candidate, and Research Intern at prestigious institutions like Indiana University and Microsoft.

Thilina's expertise spans strategic planning, design, development, and deployment of secure cloud solutions, making him a valuable asset in the field of engineering and technology.