Workshop, November 2026

Leaders brought their real business problems and spent a day working through them with AI.

A full-day masterclass for senior and middle managers at a leading Sri Lankan conglomerate, co-facilitated by Amila with Asela Waidyalankara for The Leadership Lab by NEXT.

Amila Pathirana presenting to a room of leaders, microphone in hand, in front of a projected slide
AI and digital masterclass, November 2026

At a glance

Co-facilitated with Asela Waidyalankara. The two planned the agenda together and shared the facilitation across the day. Amila led the sessions on AI foundations and on prioritisation and commitments. Asela led the sessions on personal productivity and on organisational productivity and governance.

When
November 2026
Format
One full day, in person
Audience
About 25 senior and middle managers, drawn from different businesses across a leading Sri Lankan conglomerate
Organiser
The Leadership Lab by NEXT

The questions leaders brought

The leaders came with questions that went straight to the realities of running a business. How do we build a case for the board to invest in AI? How do we make technology work across different businesses and systems? Which AI tools should we use, and how do we use them together?

The day also covered the human factors that can hold change back, the effect of change on different stakeholders, and initiatives participants could take back to their teams.

How the day was built

The day was designed in four sessions, moving from a shared understanding of AI to a ranked shortlist of initiatives, with work in small table groups along the way.

  • 01

    AI foundations

    Led by Amila. A shared language for AI, and the habit of checking its answers.

  • 02

    Personal productivity

    Led by Asela. Productivity patterns leaders can test for themselves, and a list of real problems to work on.

  • 03

    Organisational productivity and governance

    Led by Asela. Draft initiatives, with the safeguards they need.

  • 04

    Prioritisation and commitments

    Led by Amila. A ranked shortlist, each item with an owner and a first action.

Amila Pathirana presenting in front of a projection screen, with a participant seen from behind at a round table in the foreground
Amila leading a session on AI and digital change.
A facilitator in a white shirt speaking with open hands in a workshop room, with a banner and a flipchart behind him
Co-facilitator Asela Waidyalankara with the room.
A pull-up banner for The Leadership Lab by NEXT, with its flask logo above a portrait of a woman in a grey blazer
The Leadership Lab by NEXT, who organised the day.

What participants took away

Takeaways participants named in the end-of-day feedback, paraphrased.

  • 01

    Different tools for different tasks

    Several participants named working with more than one AI tool, and choosing the right one for the job, as their main takeaway.

  • 02

    Guardrails and governance

    Others took away that AI needs proper security and guardrails, and that systems should be built with governance in mind.

  • 03

    The cost of standing still

    One participant named the cost of inaction as the lesson to take back.

What he took from it

What encouraged Amila was the willingness to spend a full day on hard questions. Leaders need the understanding to weigh opportunities, ask difficult questions and help their people through change.

NoteThe client is described rather than named, and the photographs are cropped or blurred to protect the people in the room. Takeaways come from the end-of-day feedback and are paraphrased.

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