He is currently the President and chief executive of artificial intelligence company Clootrack and has 18 years of marketing experience working for major multinational companies.

This includes spells with Lanka Sathosa, the largest retail chain in the country, Unilever and Sri Lanka Tourism.

The Harvard University alumni is the youngest person to be appointed to the Sri Lanka Export Development Board by the country's Government, and he was the country's Commissioner General at the World Expo in Milan.

Athukorala has also worked with the United Nations Office for Project Services as head of portfolio development for Sri Lanka and Maldives.

He has a black belt in karate and has twice been named as "best marketer" in Sri Lanka by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.