Welcome to Dr. Terrence Perera – New Qlik Educator Ambassador for 2025!

[ElizCayirli]

We are delighted to introduce one of our new Qlik Educator Ambassadors for 2025: Dr. Terrence Perera, Module Leader at the triple-accredited Management School of The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. With over 30 years of experience in the UK higher education sector, Terrence brings both deep academic insight and a practical vision for the future of business analytics education.

[ElizCayirli]

Originally trained in Mechanical Engineering, Terrence’s academic journey took a turn toward management early on. He completed his PhD in Operations Management at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and has since dedicated his teaching, research, and consultancy to computer simulation, operations management, supply chain management, and—most recently—business analytics.

Terrence currently leads two core modules at the University of Sheffield: The Intelligent Organisation (MBA) and Business Intelligence (BA). His mission is clear and forward-thinking: to equip management students with the analytics skills they need to thrive in today’s data-driven business world. “In today’s business world, managers cannot perform their roles effectively without understanding how to leverage data to make better decisions,” he emphasizes.

Terrence began using Qlik in his teaching in 2020, first incorporating it into the Business Intelligence module, and gradually expanding it into the MBA curriculum. He was inspired to start using Qlik after seeing a colleague use it and quickly recognized the intuitive nature of its dashboard creation process. “I was particularly drawn to Qlik’s logical sequence for creating dashboards. It makes it easy to explain the entire journey, from loading data to building a fully functional dashboard,” he explains.

In his undergraduate course, students participate in a series of hands-on workshops where they build dashboards and develop vital storytelling skills—an approach that not only deepens their learning but also sharpens their employability. "Students have definitely acknowledged that learning Qlik has enhanced their employability skills" Terrence notes.

Looking ahead to 2025, Terrence is excited to develop real-world scenarios in HR, supply chain, and customer analytics, aiming to enrich his classroom sessions with even more practical relevance. “I aim to develop specific scenarios for HR, supply chain, and customer analytics and integrate them into hands-on sessions. Additionally, I plan to expand the use of Qlik in the MBA module,” he shares.

As an Educator Ambassador, Terrence hopes to amplify Qlik’s presence in business schools and share his experiences internationally, especially in Southeast Asia. He believes management education is still playing catch-up when it comes to embedding analytics in mainstream curricula, but change is on the horizon. “I believe business/management schools have been slow to embed analytics into popular courses such as Business Management and MBA programmes. However, I expect this to change over time. I strongly believe analytics should be a core module in management education,” he asserts.

When he’s not championing analytics in the classroom, Terrence enjoys the peaceful beauty of Sheffield, nestled near the Peak District, where he loves going for walks. Originally from Sri Lanka, he keeps his heritage alive through a unique hobby: karaoke in Sinhala! A passionate songwriter, he has penned over 25 songs—one of which he has even recorded.

We’re thrilled to welcome Terrence Perera to the Educator Ambassador community this year. His passion for transforming management education through data and storytelling will undoubtedly inspire students and educators alike.

👉 For more information about our Ambassador Program, visit: qlik.com/us/company/academic-program/ambassadors
👉 For more information about our Academic Program, visit: qlik.com/academicprogram