Sysco LABS Secures Double Victory at Presidential Export Awards 2024/25

Recognised as 'ICT Exporter of the Year' for the fourth consecutive year alongside 'Innovative Export Service of the Year' for SAGE

Rohana Kumara – Vice President, Engineering at Sysco LABS accepts the award for “Exporter of the Year – ICT Sector”. 

Thushera Kawdawatta – Managing Director at Sysco LABS accepts the special award for “Most Innovative Service Export of the Year”.

Sysco LABS has been honoured with the award for Exporter of the Year in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) category for the fourth consecutive year, strengthening its position as a leader in Sri Lanka's ICT services export industry. In a landmark achievement, the company also received the coveted 'Innovative Export Service of the Year' award for SAGE (The Sysco Agentic Ecosystem), an enterprise-grade AI platform developed entirely in Colombo.

Organised by the Export Development Board (EDB), the awards ceremony took place at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) on 11^th December, where Her Excellency, the Prime Minster of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka presented the honours alongside key Cabinet Ministers. As the nation's most prestigious recognition for exporters, these awards celebrate exceptional contributions to Sri Lanka's economic growth and global competitiveness.

This year’s ‘ICT Exporter of the Year’ award reinforces how Sysco LABS continues to set new standards for Sri Lanka’s technology sector. The company’s work spans advanced AI and machine learning, innovative enterprise solutions, and a deep commitment to sustainability, community engagement, and inclusive workplace practices.

Speaking about the achievement, Thushera Kawdawatta, Managing Director, Sysco LABS Sri Lanka said, "Winning 'ICT Exporter of the Year' for the fourth consecutive year is a powerful validation of our economic impact—generating substantial foreign revenue while creating significant high-value employment opportunities for Sri Lanka’s top talent. The ‘Most Innovative Export Service of the Year’ award for SAGE, our AI agentic platform, further underscores our world-class ingenuity and demonstrates how we—as part of Sysco, the world’s #1 foodservice enterprise—deliver exceptional value through creativity and innovation. These accolades reflect the passion, commitment, and professionalism of our Sysco LABS team, whose continuous efforts bring immense pride to our nation.”

Operating as Sysco’s benchmarked Global Innovation Centre (GIC), Sysco LABS plays a pivotal role in developing and maintaining the mission-critical digital systems that power the world’s largest foodservice company.

About Sysco LABS:

Sysco LABS is the Global In-House Center of Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY), the world’s largest foodservice company. Sysco ranks 56th in the Fortune 500 list and is the global leader in the trillion-dollar foodservice industry.

Sysco employs over 75,000 associates, has 337 smart distribution facilities worldwide and over 14,000 IoT-enabled trucks serving 730,000 customer locations. For fiscal year 2025 that ended June 29, 2025, the company generated sales of more than $81.4 billion. 

Sysco LABS Sri Lanka delivers the technology that powers Sysco’s end-to-end operations.   

Sysco LABS’ enterprise technology is present in the end-to-end foodservice journey, enabling the sourcing of food products, merchandising, storage and warehouse operations, order placement and pricing algorithms, the delivery of food and supplies to Sysco’s global network and the in-restaurant dining experience of the end-customer.