About
Who I am
I'm Ovina Peiris.
I lead the engineering and architecture function at an Australian omnichannel retailer with 50+ locations and a high-growth e-commerce operation.
My team of 20+ engineers - spanning NetSuite development, full-stack engineering, integration architecture, and technical analysis - builds and operates the technology platform that connects our stores, our website, and our data.
We run a composable commerce architecture: CommerceTools for e-commerce, NetSuite as the ERP source of truth, Celigo for integration orchestration, Next.js and Vercel for the frontend, and Google Cloud Platform for our data layer. Every component is API-connected, independently deployable, and designed to be replaced without rebuilding the whole system.
How I got here
The journey started in Colombo, Sri Lanka - capital markets technology first, then e-commerce consulting across APAC and EMEA with Sana Commerce. That role brought the move to Perth, Western Australia. New country, new timezone, new scale of ambition.
Perth was where things shifted. The search for a harder problem led to an Australian omnichannel retailer in the middle of a technology transformation. What started as a Senior Technical Business Analyst role turned into something bigger - within two years, the scope had grown into leading engineering and architecture across the entire platform. The title caught up to the work, not the other way around.
The background is a mix of technical and commercial: a BSc in Information Technology from the University of Moratuwa, an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and a CIMA qualification. The combination of engineering thinking and business fluency is deliberate - the best technology decisions happen at that intersection.
What I believe
Five principles that guide how I build:
1. Systems should be composed, not monolithic.
The best architectures are assembled from purpose-built components, not locked into a single vendor's vision.
2. AI should augment judgment, not replace it.
The value of AI in enterprise isn't automation for its own sake - it's giving smart people better information, faster.
3. Scale is designed, never accidental.
Systems that scale reliably are the ones that were architected for scale from the beginning - not patched into it later.
4. The best architecture is the one your team can operate.
Elegance means nothing if your team can't deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot it at 2am.
5. The title follows the work.
Don't wait for permission. Do the work of the role you want, and the title will follow.
What I'm working toward
I'm building toward a CTO role - not as a destination, but as the natural next step in how I think, build, and lead.
That means deepening my understanding of AI strategy at the enterprise level, growing my ability to communicate technology decisions to boards and executives, and building the systems that let engineering organisations scale beyond what one person can manage.
I write about that journey here at The Bold Architect.
Frequently asked questions
Ovina Peiris is based in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Ovina Peiris is the Head of Engineering & Architecture at Kitchen Warehouse Australia, where he leads a team of 20+ engineers building composable commerce and AI-augmented operations for an omnichannel retailer.
Ovina Peiris holds a BSc in Information Technology from the University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka), an MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and a CIMA qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).
Ovina Peiris works with NetSuite (ERP), CommerceTools (e-commerce), Celigo (integration), Next.js and Vercel (frontend), Google Cloud Platform and Azure (cloud), and AI tooling including Claude Code and MCP servers.