In a world being reshaped by artificial intelligence, a new class of companies, known as Frontier Firms, is setting the pace for innovation and redefining what it means to be competitive. These organizations scale quickly, integrate AI deeply across functions, and operate on a new blueprint of hybrid human-agent collaboration. As AI agents evolve from mere tools into autonomous teammates, every employee is becoming an “agent boss,” managing digital colleagues that augment their decision-making, creativity, and productivity.
Sujan Suresh, Chief Executive of ZILLIONe, explains how the company is at the forefront of this transformation. Known for enabling organizations to digitally mature through ERP, CRM, cybersecurity, AI, and data platforms, ZILLIONe is helping businesses of all sizes evolve into future-ready enterprises.
How are frontier firms setting the pace for innovation and redefining industry standards in the digital age?
Frontier Firms are fundamentally different because they no longer rely solely on human capability: they extend it through AI. At ZILLIONe, our goal is to handle the operational and back-end work for our clients, including finance, HR, IT operations, and reporting, so that they can focus on what truly matters: delivering value to their own customers. By streamlining their internal processes and providing scalable digital tools, we help them stay agile and competitive in a rapidly changing market.
What role does AI play in transforming business processes, customer experiences, and decision-making?
AI is now central to every function. In operations, it means predictive automation. In customer service, it’s 24/7 conversational agents. In decision-making, AI supports leaders with real-time insights, simulations, and what-if analyses. At ZILLIONe, we’ve embedded AI into ERP, CRM, and analytics platforms so clients can automate the routine, personalize the customer experience, and make smarter decisions faster. We’ve seen companies increase forecasting accuracy by 30% and reduce service turnaround times by over 40%.
In what ways are digital firms outperforming their traditional counterparts—and how can businesses make the leap?
Digital firms are faster, more adaptable, and more scalable. They don’t need to grow linearly with headcount. One of our clients, a regional distributor, used AI to automate financial reconciliations, reducing manual effort by 70% while improving accuracy. Across functions, AI delivers tangible value: in sales, it predicts buyer behaviour and generates personalized pitches; in customer service, it enables 24/7 support through virtual agents; in HR, it automates recruitment and employee engagement tracking; and in finance, it streamlines reporting and audits. Making the leap involves both mindset and capability: organizations must embrace cloud infrastructure, modern business applications, and AI-first thinking. That’s where ZILLIONe comes in. We guide this leap with advisory, implementation, and ongoing enablement.
What challenges do organizations face when striving to become digitally mature or AI-driven, and how can they overcome them?
The biggest barriers are cultural inertia, fragmented tech ecosystems, and the lack of AI literacy. One of the most persistent blockers we encounter is resistance to change and learning from employees, especially when roles and workflows begin to shift. However, this challenge can be overcome if firms proactively reallocate employees to tasks that require human judgement, empathy, and strategic thinking, areas where AI cannot replace human value. At ZILLIONe, we address these challenges through change management programmes, integrated platforms, and skilling initiatives. We help leaders move beyond experimentation to institutional adoption, aligning AI with business goals, not just IT strategies.
How is ZILLIONe empowering businesses to become future-ready through the fusion of AI, digital tools, and strategic insights?
We take a holistic view, combining AI, data analytics, business applications, and cybersecurity under a unified transformation strategy. We offer Microsoft’s solutions, which come equipped with powerful features like Copilot for Dynamics and Business Central. These tools enable clients to move seamlessly from insight to action. Our approach is rooted in outcomes, whether that’s cost optimization, new revenue streams, or better customer loyalty. It’s not just about implementing tech, it’s about reshaping how businesses operate.
How do you see human-agent teams becoming the norm, and what are the implications for business roles?
This is the most exciting shift. We’re already using AI agents within ZILLIONe for internal research, summarizing meetings, and auto-generating insights. We’re experimenting with agent-to-human ratios and seeing a future where one employee manages a fleet of digital assistants. Roles will evolve, and junior staff will manage agents from day one. Leaders will focus more on strategic orchestration than tactical oversight. To thrive in this future, every business needs to train its people to be agent bosses.
Any final thoughts?
As 2025 ushers in the era of the Frontier Firm, businesses across Sri Lanka and South Asia stand at a crossroads. With AI, the question is no longer if transformation will happen, but who will lead it. Our vision is clear: to be the strategic partner that enables this transformation, empowering businesses to be faster, smarter, and future-ready.
Traditionally, there has been a hesitation to adopt advanced technology in South Asia, largely due to the affordability and abundance of entry-level labour. Many businesses found it more cost-effective to rely on manual processes rather than invest in automation. However, the arrival of AI agents changes the equation entirely. Now, every organization, regardless of size, can access scalable digital labour to enhance productivity and innovation. For those willing to embrace this shift early, the competitive advantage is significant: faster time to market, higher margins, and a more future-ready workforce.
We’re genuinely optimistic about what this means for our market, particularly as the IT industry has experienced a significant loss of experienced talent over the past five years. Despite these challenges, we’ve recognized the emerging shift and embraced the technologies now available to upskill our workforce and reengineer our processes, ensuring we’re well-positioned to meet current demands and future opportunities.