Agentic AI on a gallery floor
Now · Tellme AIA platform that puts the same point-and-discover experience into any museum, plus a self-service kiosk that sells access to it unattended.
FounderChief Technology OfficerAI Engineer
I build AI products, and companies around them.
I started a software company from a university boarding room, scaled it past 60 people, and exited it — while earning a PhD in AI at Queen's University Belfast, building algorithms that help hospitals decide when a patient is ready to go home. I still spend most of my week in production code: right now as CTO at Tellme AI, putting agentic AI into museums and public spaces, and as the author of From Model to Product.
15+
Years building
60+
Team built
1
Exit
Ph.D.
Queen's University Belfast
how i workon repeat
- ✓finda problem worth solving
- ✓shapean idea small enough to test
- ✓buildthe version that proves it
- ✓shipinto real hands, real conditions
- ✓scaleharden it, build the business
problemproductionthen again
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About
I never stopped being the engineer
Having built and scaled EchonLabs from the ground up to a team of 60+, and seen it through to an exit, I've learned that the most impactful work happens at the boundary between deep technical expertise and real-world business problems.
Most founders stop writing code somewhere around the second hire. I did not, and it is the reason I can tell you why the battery drain on a five-year-old Android decided our inference architecture, or why a museum kiosk has to know its own opening hours. The work runs from healthcare AI at Queen's University Belfast to agentic systems on gallery floors.
I believe that production is where ideas become real. Not in notebooks. Not in demos. In systems that handle real users, edge cases, and the unpredictable messiness of the world.
AI & Digital Transformation
Production ML and LLM systems, and the unglamorous work that decides whether they hold: inference that runs on the device, retrieval that respects jurisdiction, and pipelines that fail safely when the network does.
Building & Scaling Companies
From founding EchonLabs to building a team of 60+ and seeing it through to an exit - I specialise in driving product strategy, building high-performing engineering cultures, and navigating the chaos of growth.
Research & Innovation
My research bridges academia and industry - from healthcare AI and predictive modelling to NLP, computer vision, and retrieval-augmented generation for production systems.
Selected work
Three things I have actually built. The detail sits on the Journey page; the argument behind it is in From Model to Product.
A boarding room to an exit
2017–2025 · EchonLabsBootstrapped Sri Lanka's insurtech provider and stayed hands-on throughout — InsurEL, PropEL, Legify.ai, and digital platforms for LOLC and Janashakthi.
Algorithms for discharge decisions
2020–2024 · PhDNovel algorithms supporting AI-driven inpatient discharge decision-making, at Queen's University Belfast.
Now available
From Model to Product: Foundations for Practical AI Engineering
Most AI content stops at models. Real systems don't. This book is about everything that comes after - architecture, pipelines, deployment, and making AI work in production for real users.
Recognition
Awards & honours
2025 · Innovate UK
Innovate UK Agentic AI Pioneers Prize 2025
Recognised for pioneering agentic AI systems at Tellme AI
2019 · Computer Society of Sri Lanka
CSSL ICT Student of the Year
National recognition for outstanding achievement in ICT
2018 · Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance
Gold Award - APICTA 2018 (Tertiary)
Komposer project — Gold Award in the Tertiary category at the Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance Awards.
Writing
Recent articles
ExperienceStartup Journey
SF Tech Week 2026: Are San Francisco Founders Superhuman?
I spent three weeks in San Francisco for SF Tech Week and TechCrunch Disrupt to find out if founders there are different. The answer was encouraging.
25 October 2026 6 min
Startup JourneyArtificial Intelligence
Moats, Money and a US Presence: What SF Founders Taught Me
What SF Tech Week 2026 taught me about building a moat when frontier labs can copy you, raising pre-seed money, and why every founder said to go to the US.
25 October 2026 8 min
Tech NewsStartup Journey
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Lessons from Startup Battlefield
Intero Biosystems won Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, with Apate as runner-up. What their pitches taught me, plus my first Hollywood moment.
25 October 2026 5 min
Testimonials
What people are saying
“As CEO of Tellme, I work very closely with Dulan in his role as Chief Technology Officer. He has taken full ownership of our technical direction - designing and building core architecture across computer vision, AI systems, and the full product experience. What impresses me most is his ability to operate across the full stack while maintaining strong product focus, making pragmatic decisions that balance speed, quality, and scalability. His contribution has been central to our progress, including rolling out the product and securing funding. He's a genuinely exceptional technical leader.”
EB
Eamon Byrne
CEO & Founder, Tellme AI Limited
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