Recognition from Pakistan's business community and government for what we built at Datics AI and for my work as an entrepreneur, and the councils, boards and panels I was asked to join.
Datics AI was named Best LCCI Software House in the category for software exporters and artificial intelligence, one of five software houses honoured. I received the award from the President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad.
LCCI's Achievement Awards honour the high achievers of Pakistan's business community. I received the Dynamic Entrepreneur Award in the IT sector for the growth of Datics AI in its first three years: one of 19 recipients chosen from 197 applications. The recipients met the President of Pakistan at Aiwan-e-Sadr the next day.
First place in the Economy track with Vendito, a platform that helped small businesses hit by lockdowns sell online, and third place in the Crisis Response track with an IoT platform for tracking UV-C disinfection. I led our teams through the 48 hours.
Excellence Award for Tech Entrepreneur of The Year at Growth Summit'23, where I was also a speaker.
Named among the 100 Tech Heroes of Pakistan, presented on stage by PITB.
Certificate of Appreciation in the name of the President of Pakistan at the Punjab 3.0 launch of Web 3.0, PITB, Lahore.
Government councils, boards and industry committees I have been asked to join.
I joined the IT Export Working Group of the Council, set up by the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office, and sent the Working Group my recommendations.
A committee set up by the Chief Minister's Office, Punjab, with PITB as its secretariat, on bringing Web 3.0 into the province.
One of seven members of the Member Engagement Committee of P@SHA, the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITeS.
The Government of the Punjab appointed me to the board that governs TEVTA's Centers of Excellence, a workforce readiness project financed by the Asian Development Bank. As its information technology member, I review the IT curriculum, the ICT skills mapping and the equipment the centers buy.
When I sit on a judging panel, the main thing I look at is impact: how much easier this will make life for the people it serves, and how many people it can reach. It is the same reason we started Datics, to use new technology to make people's lives easier. After that I ask what real problem it solves, whether there is something that works and not only a slide, and whether the team knows its core strengths and builds on them.
I have scored early-stage ventures on four panels for the Punjab Information Technology Board and SEE Pakistan, from the Bahawalpur and Multan launchpads to the international round of the World Startup Championship, and my scores counted toward which ventures moved forward.
Judge for the Elevator Pitch Round of the Launchpad, Cohort 2, which selected the startups admitted to the incubator. Ten startups were admitted.
Judge for the Launchpad of the National Expansion Plan of National Incubation Centers, Rawalpindi, Cohort 5.
SEE Pakistan announced me as a judge for the championship. I was an evaluator for its international Online Pitch Round, which covered 60 startups from five countries: I scored four assigned startups, and my scores counted toward deciding which went forward to the final round.
Judge for the Pitch Deck (Final) Round of the Launchpad, Cohort 5. Twenty finalists pitched and ten startups were selected.
Beyond judging, the Punjab Information Technology Board thanked me for LaunchPad sessions guiding its incubated startups.
Panelist at the Computer Science Department's meetup at FAST Lahore on the gap between graduates' skills and industry needs, with FAST's Rector and industry leaders.
Training young people for jobs in tech has its own section: TechLift and NAVTTC.
Umair Majeed