Sri Lanka’s leading global management consulting firm, STAX, announced the appointment of veteran consultant and renowned tech entrepreneur, Firaz Markar, as the head of its newly launched Digital Advisory Service where he is tasked with identifying and unleashing opportunities for disruptive digital growth among Sri Lankan corporates.
Commenting on this appointment, Stax Managing Director Dr. Kumudu Gunasekera said, “I am glad to announce the appointment of Firaz Makar as our new Head of Digital. Firaz possesses a proven track record of leading and executing several industry firsts within the Sri Lankan digital space, and I’m certain his expertise and innovativeness will be a huge value-add for our clients as they progress along their digital journey.”
Having first joined STAX in 2007, Firaz gained extensive expertise in supporting clients realize their objectives through insight-driven consulting solutions. During his 6 year stint at STAX, Firaz rose through the ranks to lead the research practice. Thereafter, he went on to co-found and successfully grow Carmudi— a Rocket Internet venture in Sri Lanka—and the Sri Lankan arm of iflix— the largest SVOD platform among developing markets.
With his return to STAX, Firaz will bring a decade’s worth of experience leading management consulting engagements and launching global digital businesses to advise clients on maximizing long-term value. Firaz holds a BSc. in Information Systems and Management from the University Of London International Programme, and is also well versed in financial accounting through CIMA accreditation.
Designed to offer unprecedented value for any corporate considering the establishment of their first digital business or for those already along their digital journey, Stax’s Digital Advisory Services was first launched for the Sri Lankan market earlier this year.
Commenting on current challenges and opportunities within the market, Firaz alluded to a growing sense of urgency among the country’s most progressive corporates to take a more structured approach to digital investments.
“Many corporates view today’s technological advancements as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the disruptive innovations enabled by the rising prominence of developments like omni-channel retail, big-data analytics and increasing prevalence of emergent communication and social media platforms, have generated bold new digital strategies capable of winning new market share. Yet at the same time, consumers, businesses, and supply chains, are changing and becoming more complex to manage. Our goal at Stax is to leverage our own technological expertise to ingest and analyze all of this data on behalf of our clients, and distill valuable insights into where and how they can invest to gain the best returns on their digital investments,” Makar explained.