The enterprise software landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, with the gravity of customer demand pulling relentlessly toward cloud-native, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery models, a trend that is profoundly reshaping the identity and access management (IAM) sector. For established players like One Identity, this evolution represents both a critical challenge and a significant opportunity. Navigating this transition successfully requires more than just a technological roadmap; it demands a leader with the vision and technical acumen to steer the entire engineering organization toward a new paradigm. In a strategic move designed to meet this challenge head-on, One Identity has appointed Gihan Munasinghe as its new Chief Technology Officer. This appointment is not merely a personnel change but a clear signal of the company’s commitment to accelerating its transformation, placing a seasoned leader at the helm to redefine its long-term technology strategy and drive the innovation necessary to compete in a SaaS-first world. Munasinghe’s mandate is extensive, encompassing leadership of the global engineering organization and oversight of the entire technology roadmap to align with modern market expectations.
A Strategic Pivot to Cloud-Native Solutions
The decision to appoint a new CTO is deeply rooted in the evolving demands of the identity security market, where customers are increasingly shunning complex, on-premises solutions in favor of fully managed, cloud-based alternatives. This industry-wide trend is driven by a desire for enhanced reliability, robust security, and simplified consumption models that reduce the operational burden on internal IT teams. Munasinghe’s primary responsibility will be to spearhead and accelerate One Identity’s journey toward this SaaS-centric future. His role is pivotal in ensuring that the company’s product portfolio not only keeps pace with but anticipates customer needs. This involves a fundamental re-evaluation of product development and delivery mechanisms to build platforms that are inherently scalable, secure, and customer-focused. By prioritizing a SaaS-first approach, One Identity aims to deliver the seamless, high-performance security solutions that modern enterprises require to navigate their complex operational and security landscapes, positioning the company for sustained growth and relevance.
At the core of this transformation is the need for deep, customer-centric innovation across One Identity’s entire product suite. As CTO, Munasinghe is tasked with leading the global engineering organization to deliver on this promise, fostering a culture that prioritizes both technical excellence and a profound understanding of user needs. This means moving beyond legacy systems and architectures to build next-generation platforms that are not only powerful but also intuitive and adaptable. The goal is to create a cohesive ecosystem of security solutions that can scale effortlessly to meet the demands of large, complex enterprises while providing the agility required by smaller, dynamic organizations. His leadership will be instrumental in modernizing the company’s technological foundations and ensuring that every product release reinforces its commitment to delivering superior quality, reliability, and security. Ultimately, this strategic alignment of engineering efforts with market dynamics is essential for One Identity to solidify its position as a leader in the next generation of identity security.
Leadership for a New Era
To lead such a critical transformation, One Identity required a leader with a specific and proven set of skills, which it found in Gihan Munasinghe. With over 15 years of senior technology leadership experience within the enterprise software sector, he brings a formidable track record of success. His career is distinguished by his ability to scale global engineering teams, transforming them into high-performance units capable of tackling complex technological challenges. Furthermore, his expertise in modernizing legacy systems is particularly relevant to One Identity’s current objectives, as it requires a delicate balance between supporting existing customers and pioneering new, cloud-native solutions. Munasinghe’s reputation for fostering operational excellence and a culture of continuous improvement is seen as a crucial asset. This background ensures that he not only possesses the technical depth to guide the company’s architectural evolution but also the leadership qualities needed to inspire and mobilize a global team toward a unified, forward-looking vision for the future of identity security.
The consensus within One Identity, from the executive suite to the new CTO himself, was that the identity security industry had reached an inflection point where decisive action was imperative. CEO Praerit Garg emphasized that Munasinghe’s deep technical knowledge and unwavering customer-first mindset were precisely the attributes needed to evolve the company’s core platforms for a new era. This sentiment was echoed by Munasinghe, who articulated a clear vision for his role. He stated his objective was twofold: to fortify the trusted products that customers relied on today while simultaneously delivering the future innovation, quality, and scale their businesses would demand tomorrow. The appointment therefore signaled more than just a change in leadership; it represented a strategic alignment of One Identity’s product development and delivery with the undeniable market shift toward SaaS. This decisive move positioned the company to proactively address future identity security challenges and reaffirm its commitment to its customer base.
