# Sanjiva Weerawarana

> Sanjiva Weerawarana is a Sri Lankan computer scientist, open-source contributor and WSO2 co-founder who served as CEO until May 31, 2026. His work spans IBM web-services technology, Apache projects, the Ballerina programming language, and foundations focused on software, public data and education.

- **Role:** Founder and Chairman at Lanka Software Foundation
- **Organizations:** Lanka Software Foundation, Lanka Data Foundation, Avinya Foundation, WSO2 (co-founder; former CEO), Apache Software Foundation, IBM Research (former employer), National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka
- **From:** Colombo, Sri Lanka
- **Nationality:** Sri Lankan
- **Education:** BS, Applied Mathematics / Computer Science, Kent State University, MS, Applied Mathematics / Computer Science, Kent State University, PhD, Computer Science, Purdue University
- **Known for:** Co-founded WSO2, acquired by EQT in 2024 at a reported $600 million valuation., Co-authored web-services specifications including WSDL; listed as a WSDL 2.0 core-language editor., Created the Ballerina programming language with a WSO2 team; version 1.0 released in 2019.

## Career timeline

- **1988** — Earned bachelor’s degree at Kent State University.
- **1989** — Earned master’s degree at Kent State University; thesis on automatic Cray Fortran code generation.
- **1994** — Completed computer science PhD at Purdue University.
- **1997** — Joined IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in August.
- **2001** — Returned to Sri Lanka after 16 years in the United States.
- **2003** — Lanka Software Foundation registered as a nonprofit company.
- **2005** — Co-founded WSO2 with Paul Fremantle and Davanum Srinivas in August.
- **2016** — Ballerina language project began.
- **2017** — Ballerina preview in February; published My Life as an Uber Driver in May; first stepped down as WSO2 CEO later that year.
- **2019** — Ballerina 1.0 became generally available in September.
- **2020** — Returned to WSO2 as CEO.
- **2022** — Established Avinya Foundation.
- **2024** — EQT acquisition of WSO2 announced in May and completed in August.
- **2025** — Delivered TEDxColombo talk on Sri Lanka’s technology potential and WSO2Con Asia keynote on building a lasting company.
- **2026** — Finished as WSO2 CEO on May 31; identified three foundations as his next focus.

## Achievements

- Co-founded WSO2, acquired by EQT in 2024 at a reported $600 million valuation.
- Co-authored web-services specifications including WSDL; listed as a WSDL 2.0 core-language editor.
- Created the Ballerina programming language with a WSO2 team; version 1.0 released in 2019.
- Contributed to Apache SOAP, Axis and Axis2 and became an Apache Software Foundation member.
- Co-founded Lanka Software Foundation to support Sri Lankan participation in open-source development.
- Founder and chairman of Lanka Data Foundation and Avinya Foundation.
- Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — WSO2 announced his CEO departure on May 14; his final day was May 31. Devaka Randeniya was appointed acting CEO during the succession search.
- **2026-05** — Said he intended to devote more effort to his three foundations.
- **2026-02** — Published Announcing the Lanka Data Foundation, explaining software for connecting and inspecting Sri Lankan public records over time.

## Links

- Website: http://sanjiva.weerawarana.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjivaweerawarana/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/sanjiva
- GitHub: https://github.com/sanjiva

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sanjiva-weerawarana
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Last updated: 2026-10-23