Founded in 2019, Lexicon Tech is on a phenomenal growth trajectory. With a growing clientele in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Singapore and West Asia, the company ended its second financial year with $1 million in revenues. As the company looks to expand its reach across Asia and Africa, Lexicon’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Priyantha Cooray and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) Harsha Jayadarshana discuss how they, together with the management team, are driving growth by building end-to-end systems integration solutions and creating delightful experiences for clients.

Can you take us through Lexicon’s suite of technology offerings? Can you also give us examples of how some of these innovative products are solving market needs?

Priyantha Cooray: In a nutshell, we provide end-to-end systems integrations solutions like no one else can. We cover the full range of Oracle solutions, from applications to databases and the cloud. We also cultivated binding relationships with some of the leading technology principals in the world on a range of robotic process automation and artificial intelligence solutions. Lexicon developed a suite of micro-services that any business can deploy on top of their existing systems, and these have become quite popular among our clientele.

We are constantly paying attention to market needs; it is the core of our innovation and product development operations. Businesses are concerned about navigating the unfolding and volatile pandemic-related crisis; they want to improve efficiencies and unlock growth opportunities. That is where we come in. If I were to showcase one of the many innovative Lexicon solutions, it would be the micro-services. We recently developed a contactless collaboration platform for a client that enabled inter-enterprise transactions to happen faster, seamlessly, and securely across the enterprise. At the moment, our innovations team is building an e-commerce platform that can be given to customers as software as a service (SaaS).

In the SI business, maintaining strong relationships with partners and principals is crucial. What is the secret to Lexicon’s success in this regard?

Priyantha Cooray: Several stages lead to successful outcomes. First, we have approached every partnership with technology principals deliberately and purposefully. We have only selected the best in their respective domains and how best they serve unique client needs.

Second, we have perfected the art of matching principals and their products for specific solutions. In other words, we critically evaluate a principal’s technology offerings against a client’s needs and requirements for optimal results and better returns on investment.

Third, we constantly invest in our people, upskilling teams to be on par with the developments of the principals and commit considerable resources to R&D to make sure we keep up with the latest technology. All these come together nicely to deliver growth for Lexicon.

How do you see your purpose within Lexicon? How do you interrelate with other key leadership positions in the company?

Priyantha Cooray: Covid-19 has made the CTO more of a public-facing and assuring leader. For C-suites of the company including myself, our purpose is to keep the fires of innovation and enterprise burning so that our clients, principal partners, and everyone in the company can continue to grow. The leadership team is proactive in communications with all stakeholders and vigorously engaging them to dispel uncertainties, bring clarity of vision, and strengthen the belief that together, everyone at Lexicon drives success for clients, business partners and ourselves.

Globally, there has been an increase in companies creating CXO positions over the last few years; toymaker Hasbro is a case in point. Can you explain why this is happening and why Lexicon is doing the same?

Harsha Jayadarshana: The ongoing pandemic has accelerated digital transformations everywhere as businesses scramble to reach their customers online to sell goods or services. Competition is intense in the digital sphere, so customer acquisition and retention depend on the experiences around buying and consuming a product or service, as much as creating demand for those products and services themselves. With markets and consumer expectations in constant flux, businesses are increasingly turning to chief experience officers, or CXOs, to maintain good interactions between a brand and its customer base. An effective CXO can generate repeat customers and long term loyalty to the brand. A CXO is primarily concerned about making customers happy, and a happy customer will keep returning and would often not mind spending more because they have confidence in a brand.

Lexicon created a C-suite CXO role after deciding to become a customer-focused technology company instead of a product-focused one. Our mission is to give customers complete solutions to best suit their needs, and we also aspire to deliver consistent experiences. That is my focus, giving the Lexicon brand a unique identity and voice that resonates with clients. I focus on making the company more agile, efficient, and productive because most customers look for more than a good product. They want fast delivery, superior customer care and better returns on their spending. All of these will influence their decision to retain our services or invest in our other offerings.

What are some of the transformational outcomes you hope to achieve, and how will you do it?

Harsha Jayadarshana: Most system integrations either fail or do not achieve the desired expectations because system integrators overlook one critical step. They fail to understand a client’s needs and expectations and don’t map out the scope of work with expected outcomes before embarking on an SI project.

My job is to ensure that this does not happen and that every project runs smoothly, including the timely delivery of a product that exceeds everyone’s expectations: solutions that satisfy customers and our teams can be proud of creating. Employee experiences matter as much as customer experiences, and my role as CXO encompasses both of these critical ingredients to success. Lexicon is on an expansion mode, and as we embark on that journey, we need to focus on those experiences. My goal is to ensure the happiness of everyone across the company and our clients are happy as we expand and to avoid frustrations and teething problems as we grow. In a way, I do something similar to a systems integrator at Lexicon. I connect the people across our company and our clients and their customers, building bridges towards a shared vision and a higher purpose: fulfilment.