Q&A: Introduction to Kavan Weerasinghe, Director of Program Delivery at Makpar

With more than 20 years of government IT experience, which includes providing on-site support at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Department of Education, Kavan Weerasinghe recently joined Makpar as the Director of Program Delivery. In this role, he will be responsible for driving overall strategic growth for the company, as well as expanding opportunities at the IRS, and other agencies.

To officially introduce Kavan to Makpar’s ecosystem of government customers, partners and employees, we recently sat down with him to get his take on why he joined the company, and gain his perspective on overall government IT trends.

The following conversation has been edited for length.

Q: Please tell us about your background.

Kavan: My background comes from being a technologist who is focused on developing IT and data center architecting solutions. I also worked for a large government contractor for many years. In this role, I spent lots of time working in the IRS supporting a large IT modernization effort, and ensured that the development environments were inline with the production environments for the best possible outcomes. 

During this time, I was also in a position of being accountable to enterprise grade solutions, helping to develop the right solution with the right IT talent, all the while working closely with government customers and other trusted partners – with the goal of providing best of breed solutions that taxpayers can use easily and safely.

Q: Tell us about your role at Makpar.

Kavan: Over time, I realized that it’s not really about the technology, but the ability to collaborate with the right business and technology talent to simplify whatever solution we are going to deliver. With this in mind, I aim to help shape the overall strategic direction for Makpar, where we fully understand the challenge, and then deliver the best solution from there.

This will include fine-tuning our overall differentiators to help us standout from other 8(a) government contractors in the marketplace. From my early time at Makpar, I already really feel that the company offers many specialized solutions, and truly understands the customer.

Q: Let’s dive into this concept further.  Why did you choose to work at Makpar?

Kavan: Makpar clearly excels in many of the most cutting-edge areas of government IT.  It’s also a family-owned business that is very nimble, where creating success for customers also translates into success for its employees.

In addition, from my time working at the IRS, I see working at Makpar as an opportunity to help the company establish more relationships within the agency.

I also find that I am good at communicating with – and keeping in touch with – people, which has translated into a fairly large professional network at the IRS and other agencies. This approach has helped to expand my utility, which will hopefully benefit Makpar as it grows its overall business. 

Q: Where do you think IT modernization in government is headed?

Kavan: With Makpar being very nimble, the company is sharp enough to know that more can be done – and I look forward to being part of this narrative.

In terms of the future of IT modernization in government, Makpar is poised to play a big part in all of this. It’s critical to remember that the fundamental challenges of government have not really changed over the past ten years. For example, with cybersecurity being a significant topic, we should focus on the fundamentals for protecting government services.

Government is also seeking help from industry members who have real experienced-based knowledge and solutions. For example, the Makpar Innovation Lab helps to meet this need, and I believe that government is open to more cutting-edge thinking and solutions like what Makpar offers.

The opportunity ahead is really all about helping government and ultimately the public to better utilize tax dollars, as well as have innovation, and accountability drive this approach.

We would like to thank Kavan for taking the time to speak with us, and we officially welcome him to the Makpar team!