As HUTCH Sri Lanka accelerates its transformation from a telecommunications provider to a technology-driven digital services company, CEO Saumitra Gupta shares how strategic investments, organisational agility, customer-centric innovation, and sustainability are driving growth while helping shape Sri Lanka’s digital future.
The telecommunications industry is undergoing a profound transformation as connectivity providers evolve into digital enablers that power economies, businesses, and communities. In Sri Lanka, HUTCH has emerged as one of the sector’s most compelling turnaround stories, recording significant growth while redefining its role in the country’s digital future.
At the helm of this transformation Mr. Saumitra Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of HUTCH Sri Lanka has successfully launched new operations led large-scale business transformations and driven sustainable growth in highly competitive markets.
In this exclusive interview with Global CEO Magazine, Mr. Gupta discusses the strategic decisions behind HUTCH’s remarkable growth, the company’s journey from a traditional telecommunications provider to a technology-driven digital services organisation, and his vision for building a more connected, innovative, and digitally inclusive Sri Lanka.
HUTCH has been recording remarkable growth in recent years. What have been the key strategic decisions behind this growth?
HUTCH Sri Lanka’s turnaround growth has been reflected by a structural change in strategy. It was the result of a deliberate transformation of our business model, a disciplined restructuring of our cost base, and a business that is focused on building sustainable value rather than pursuing short-term gains.
We made critical and much-needed decisions to modernise our network, redesign our operating model, and redefine customer value and those decisions are now translating into sustainable growth and market momentum.
Our breakthrough has been driven by three fundamental strategic shifts: Network Transformation, Cost Restructuring, and Customer Value Creation.
Firstly, we transformed our network with focused investments in spectrum utilisation, network modernisation, and infrastructure expansion. This enabled us to significantly improve coverage, strengthen service reliability, and elevate the overall data experience across the country. Today, our network reaches over 95% of Sri Lanka’s population, positioning HUTCH as a truly national digital connectivity provider.
Secondly, we fundamentally restructured our operating model to create a far more efficient and scalable cost structure. We transitioned away from traditional dependency-heavy models by strategically investing in our own international internet to visit landing station connected through our own undersea cable infrastructure. This shift gave us greater operational control, reduced long-term costs, and ensured that our operating expenses no longer grew in direct proportion to network expansion or traffic growth.
At the same time, we built greater organisational agility by fostering a faster, flatter, and more empowered decision-making culture. This allowed us to respond quickly to evolving customer needs, capture emerging growth opportunities, and execute with greater speed and precision.
Thirdly, we redefined customer value. Our transformed cost structure enabled us to offer stronger economic value by default, while continuing to deliver superior customer experiences. But value today goes beyond pricing. We focused on relevance, designing products and services that align more closely with modern consumer lifestyles, digital behaviours, and everyday convenience.
Our goal has been to create solutions that not only connect customers, but also simplify life, provide peace of mind, and deliver meaningful everyday value. This combination of strategic network investments, structural cost transformation, and customer-centric innovation has been the foundation of HUTCH Sri Lanka’s sustained growth trajectory.
HUTCH has placed strong emphasis on cross-functional collaboration rather than individual performance. How has this cultural shift driven innovation and strengthened organisational resilience?
Telecommunication today is far too complex, yet pivotal to every business, individual and government. It is such a diverse field where innovation at scale is needed to cultivate digital economies and empower the people.
That cannot come from departments working in silos, but rather through working by intersections. At HUTCH, our team workflows are now designed that way, and our performance recognition systems have also shifted primarily towards cross-functional team-based achievements.
By shifting to this cross-functional emphasis approach, we’ve essentially re-wired how ideas are born and executed in the company. A product is no longer just a marketing initiative. It is co-created.
This has done two things. First, it has accelerated our innovation cycles allowing us to bring high impact products to market faster. Second, the organisation is made more resilient as there is no single point of dependency.
When teams understand each other’s challenges and goals, they respond to disruption and uncertainty proactively and collectively. In a volatile environment like Sri Lanka, such resilience is a competitive advantage.
You often describe HUTCH’s journey as moving from a telco to a tech-co. What does this transformation mean for your customers and the broader digital ecosystem in Sri Lanka?
At HUTCH Sri Lanka, our evolution from a telco to a tech-co is fundamentally about a redefined scope of services we offer to the country. That is moving beyond connectivity to delivering related and integrated digital services that enable individuals, businesses and governments to get ahead in the evolving digital world.
This cascades from three essential aspects for customers. First, reliable and seamless connectivity – the foundational layer.
Second, building digital platforms in fintech, cloud, cybersecurity, bespoke enterprise, edutech, martech, convenience and lifestyle services that sit on top of that connectivity.
Third, the use of big data and AI to personalise experiences which make services smarter and more intuitive for customers.
For the broader ecosystem, it means we are no longer just a telecommunications provider, but a one-stop digital services partner that equips people to live their best life, and enables businesses and governments to thrive.
HUTCH is uniquely positioned for this juncture of Sri Lanka’s journey. As a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, which operates globally in more than 50 countries across multiple industries, with telecoms in 11 of those countries, we have premier global partnerships that make introducing world-class digital services to the Sri Lankan market possible. We also work with local tech enterprises to create specialised local offerings for business and government institutions blending our global thinking.
In a rapidly developing country like Sri Lanka, where digital shift is critical, we are creating an ecosystem where innovation can be scaled, lives can be enriched and country is advanced to realize its broader digital economy ambitions.
With high intensity of competition in the telecom sector, how is HUTCH differentiating itself to delivering superior customer experience and value?
In a highly competitive telecom landscape, differentiation is not about making things sound complex. It is about presenting complex things simply with purpose and clarity. At HUTCH Sri Lanka, our philosophy is anchored in delivering relevance through simplicity.
We have consciously chosen to build a “no-frills” experience, allowing us to focus on what truly matters: solving real customer problems.
Transparency to customers is a cornerstone of this strategy. In an industry where customers often face ambiguity, we aim to be straightforward in our pricing, propositions, and communication, building long-term trust which is what makes our presence unique. Ultimately, superior customer experience is not a one-time achievement but a persistent effort and commitment.
HUTCH introduced Sri Lanka’s first sustainability-centric retail outlets. How do you balance commercial objectives with environmental responsibility?
We are leading innovation in Sri Lanka by redefining what responsible business growth should look like for the future. At HUTCH, we believe sustainability is no longer a parallel initiative; it is becoming a core driver of competitiveness, resilience, and long-term business success. That is why we are positioning ourselves as a leading organisation in embedding ESG principles into the way we operate, invest, and grow.
Our first-of-its-kind sustainability-centric retail outlets are a reflection of this broader strategic vision.
We do not see environmental responsibility and commercial performance as competing priorities. In fact, we believe the businesses that will lead tomorrow are the ones making bold sustainability decisions today. As global markets evolve and consumer awareness grows, brands that actively future-proof themselves through sustainable practices will earn greater trust, relevance, and long-term loyalty.
At HUTCH, our approach is guided by the 3Ps framework -People, Planet, and Profit. This ensures every business decision creates value not only financially, but also socially and environmentally. While some sustainability initiatives require higher upfront investments, we evaluate them through a long-term strategic lens, recognising that sustainable operating models ultimately drive stronger resilience, efficiency, and future growth.
Our sustainability-centric retail outlets are only one part of a much larger ESG journey we are advancing across the organisation. We have already accelerated the adoption of eSIM technology to reduce dependence on plastic SIM cards, transitioned towards recycled and sustainable packaging, expanded renewable energy initiatives, engaged in large-scale reforestation and environmental sanitation projects, and actively promoted circular economy practices across our operations.
For us, sustainability is not about compliance or optics. It is about building a future-ready organisation that can create lasting value for customers, communities, the environment, and the country as a whole.
Given your extensive international experience across multiple regions, what global insights have you brought into HUTCH Sri Lanka’s growth strategy?
One of the biggest lessons globally is that scale alone does not guarantee success, focus does.
From mature markets, we’ve adopted data-driven decision-making and customer lifecycle management. From emerging markets, we’ve embraced agility, cost discipline, and innovation under constraints.
Another key insight is the importance of ecosystems. Telcos that thrive are those that collaborate with technology partners, content providers, and fintech players, rather than operate in isolation.
We’ve also brought a strong emphasis on digital transformation, not just in customer-facing services but in internal operations, automation, analytics, and AI-driven efficiencies.
These global learnings have been carefully adapted to the Sri Lankan context, rather than simply replicated.
Looking ahead, what is your vision for HUTCH over the next five years, and what role do you see the company playing in building a digitally inclusive Sri Lanka?
The vision for HUTCH Sri Lanka is to evolve as the leading digital enabler of the country. One that not only connects people, but one that empowers them with opportunities to participate meaningfully in the digital economy and improve quality of life.
Over the next five years, our focus will be on diversifying connectivity to ensure seamless access across urban, rural, and hybrid environments. This means extending reliable, high-quality networks to address the underserved and unconnected communities. Our ambition is simple: connect every Sri Lankan.
Connectivity alone is however not enough. We are building a portfolio of digital services that enables the country to elevate and grow. That is a stream of practical, relatable forward-thinking solutions that are not just buzz words, but ones that will contribute to the country’s goal of achieving a USD 15 billion digital economy by 2030.
HUTCH shall play a pivotal role in building Sri Lanka’s digital landscape, bringing technology, connections, solutions and digital inclusion to the edge of our network, where no one is left behind, and everyone has the tools to succeed.
