AI Leader · Professor of AI · Founder · Speaker

Turning AI into
real results,
responsibly.

For 15+ years I have taken AI from research into production: leading AI across 17 countries at 4Finance, building Zeta Global's European AI Centre of Excellence from zero, and co-founding Sensorminds. Today, as Professor of AI in Hamburg, I help leadership teams get AI out of pilots and into the business, as a fractional Chief AI Officer, advisor and speaker.

Work With Me Book Gayan to Speak →

15+ yrs

AI/ML research
& leadership

Countries
led

45+

Enterprise
clients

$20M

Annual savings
contributed

Signature keynote

Responsible AI that ships

Why most AI never leaves the pilot stage, and the leadership decisions that turn it into results people can trust.

5th UNI Conference, ColomboKeynote · 2026

Snowflake Data Cloud SummitKeynote · 2023

Executive roundtables, Zeta GlobalHost

Talks & Booking →

Background

IBM·Cisco·4Finance·Zeta Global

Professor of AI · SRH Hamburg

Co-Founder & CEO · Sensorminds

US Patent US12073438B2

How I work with leaders

Three ways to work together

Every engagement is led by me personally. No junior team, no slideware, just senior judgement from someone who has built and run AI in production.

01 · Advisory

Fractional Chief AI Officer

Senior AI leadership without the full-time hire. I join your leadership team for a few days a month, or step in as interim AI lead, to set direction and get AI into production.

Fractional or interim CAIO
AI Strategy Sprint (4–6 weeks)
Board & CEO advisory
Startup and investor advisory

Advisory & engagements →

02 · Workshops

AI Leadership Workshops

Practical sessions that give executives, boards and new AI leaders the frameworks to make confident AI decisions: where to invest, how to organise, and how to govern.

AI for senior leaders
Chief AI Officer readiness
AI for board directors
Responsible AI & governance

Workshop programmes →

03 · Speaking

Keynotes & Panels

Clear, experience-based talks for conferences, associations and leadership offsites, bringing industry, academic and founder perspectives to one stage.

Keynotes (30–60 min)
Panels & fireside chats
Executive roundtables
University & ecosystem events

Talks & booking →

Responsible AI and EU AI Act readiness are built into every engagement. Read about my governance approach

Leadership outcomes

What I have built

Across fintech, martech, cybersecurity, manufacturing and higher education.

4Finance · 17 countries

Scaling AI across 17 markets at once

Led AI strategy with 29 data scientists across 17 countries. Built the company's first ML credit-scoring platform, launched three AI-driven product lines (+7% revenue), and delivered GDPR 18 months early with zero issues.

Zeta Global · Europe & US

An AI Centre of Excellence, built from zero

Founded the European AI Centre of Excellence and grew it to 20+ professionals on three continents, serving 45+ Fortune 500 and 1000 accounts, with 200M daily predictions in production and a granted US patent.

Sensorminds · Founder

From leadership to building a company

Co-founded Sensorminds to bring AI to manufacturing quality: automated defect detection and precision measurement that flag production issues before they scale.

SRH University Hamburg

Growing an AI programme

As Program Director, grew the MSc Applied Data Science & AI from 12 to 30 students per intake in the first year, and works with the AI Startup Hub Hamburg connecting students with the regional tech ecosystem.

What clients and colleagues say

Trusted by people who were there.

★★★★★

Model Governance · Zeta Global

Gayan built the model auditing, human-in-the-loop decision frameworks and drift monitoring across our US and European operations years before the EU AI Act made them mandatory. That depth of production experience is exactly what separates a genuine compliance audit from a checklist exercise.

Pawan Pathak

Senior Manager · Zeta Global

★★★★★

GDPR · 17 Countries · 4Finance

Gayan led our GDPR implementation across all 17 country operations — technical controls, data processors and legal alignment. We completed it 18 months ahead of the enforcement deadline with zero compliance issues. The structured approach he brought then is exactly the methodology he applies to EU AI Act compliance today.

Jaroslav Holy

Technology Leader · 4Finance

★★★★★

Data Compliance · EU Customers · Manufacturing

We supply European customers and had no clear picture of our data collection and processing obligations under EU regulation. Gayan mapped our entire data flow, identified where we needed to act and gave us a compliance structure our board could present with confidence.

Tariq Miflal

CEO · Lumala

Startup ecosystem

Advisor to AI startups

I advise early-stage AI founders in Hamburg and beyond on product, technology, go-to-market and funding, and help teams strengthen grant and partnership applications.

Mariposa AIcoo AI Startup Hub Hamburg · Collaborator Sensorminds · Co-Founder

Startup & investor advisory →

About

Gayan de Silva, PhD

Professor of AI · SRH Hamburg Co-Founder & CEO · Sensorminds Fractional Chief AI Officer Keynote Speaker

15+ years in AI/ML, from PhD research and EU research projects to leading AI at Cisco, 4Finance and Zeta Global, after an early career at IBM. Today I teach Responsible AI, NLP and deep learning, build a startup, and help leaders turn AI into results.

US Patent US12073438B2

45+ enterprise clients · 17 countries

PhD · Machine Learning · 2012

Full background and experience →

Turning AI into
real results,
responsibly.

Three ways to work together

What I have built

Trusted by people who were there.

Advisor to AI startups

Insights & Analysis

Bring senior AI leadership
to your team or your stage.

Turning AI intoreal results,responsibly.

Three ways to work together

What I have built

Trusted by people who were there.

Advisor to AI startups

Insights & Analysis

Bring senior AI leadershipto your team or your stage.

Turning AI into
real results,
responsibly.

Bring senior AI leadership
to your team or your stage.