Past Events

Naveed Ramzan

Naeem Iqbal

Project & Program Management | Speaker | Trainer | Strategist | Storyteller

Naeem Iqbal has a decent 21 years of experience in IT/ Technology Management/Contract & Project Management, Planning, Implementation and Roll-out etc. He has managed cross-cultural teams ranging from as low as 10 to as high as 500 members. He has spent more than 1450 hours of his life in delivering talks and training sessions. He has approx 3.9 Billion USD projects on his portfolio. Moreover, his experience includes engagements in Project management/implementation, Post Disaster Program Design, Implementation and Management, Social Safety net program management, Safety and Security projects execution (Smart City/Safe City Projects), Business Analysis, Training and Development, Coaching and Mentoring Start-ups.

Naeem Iqbal

Project & Program Management | Speaker | Trainer | Strategist | Storyteller

Naeem Iqbal has a decent 21 years of experience in IT/ Technology Management/Contract & Project Management, Planning, Implementation and Roll-out etc. He has managed cross-cultural teams ranging from as low as 10 to as high as 500 members. He has spent more than 1450 hours of his life in delivering talks and training sessions. He has approx 3.9 Billion USD projects on his portfolio. Moreover, his experience includes engagements in Project management/implementation, Post Disaster Program Design, Implementation and Management, Social Safety net program management, Safety and Security projects execution (Smart City/Safe City Projects), Business Analysis, Training and Development, Coaching and Mentoring Start-ups.

Mohsin Lodhi

Mehzad Sahar

Syed Junaid Ali Gilani

Senior Information Security Consultant & Instructor/Keynote Speaker

Syed Junaid Ali Gilani is a seasoned Information Security Professional, Keynote speaker and lecturer with 7+ years of experience in multidimensional organizations including PTCL, ZTE and Government of Pakistan. Currently he is serving Nayatel Pvt. Ltd. as Deputy Manager Network Security. In addition, he has experience in Security Governance, Risk Management, Policy Compliance and security awareness.

Fatima Mazhar

Junaid Iqbal

Hussein Kanji

Saima Khan

Founder of The Hampstead Kitchen

Saima Khan started as a private chef specializing in creating cuisines that focus on the enjoyment & sharing of fresh seasonal produce. Realizing there was a gap in the market She set up The Hampstead Kitchen. They focus on clients around the Hampstead and neighbouring areas but also travel to the rest of the UK, the US, Europe& the Middle East for our clients. Before starting Hampstead Kitchen she has served more than 16 banking & finance organisations.

Idris Kothari

Dr Raja Iqbal

Iqbal Mustafa Khan

Founder, Sabaq Foundation

Sal Khan

CEO, Khan Academy

Umair Shahid

Preseident, OPEN Islamabad

Umair is a Data Management Professional, focused on open source software, with over 14 years of experience and has served some of the highly competitive software markets globally. With his experience of managing teams for software product releases and lust for continuous improvement, he brings in lot of value to the OPEN team.

Adeel Shaffi

Co-Founder PriceOye

Adeel is the Co-Founder of PriceOye, a shopping intelligence company that facilitates consumers in 2nd and 3rd Tier cities shop online. Forbes Magazine listed him as a 30 under 30 member in March 2018.

Badar Khushnood

Fahad Tiwana

Hira Attique

Jehad Zafar

Junaid Akram

Komail Abbas Naqvi

Navera Waheed

CEO, Orbit

Navera believes that technology and innovation are two pillars on which the future is based. She is currently working on revolutionizing how the knowledge is transferred through the power of Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality has a proven effect in improving the process of knowledge transfer by increasing the focus of pupils by more than 80%.

Owais Anjum

CEO, eMumba

Owais is currently CEO of eMumba. He is a Silicon Valley trooper for a good number of years, is a Spartan armed with an MBA from San Jose State University, the oldest public institution on the West Coast of USA. He has led a subsidiary of a Silicon Valley Company in Pakistan and is now administering his own startup, eMumba. One of the biggest achievements of his startup is “Cricout – A Social Network for Cricket” available online and in the form of smartphone apps. Owais is an esteemed and distinguished member of the Islamabad entrepreneurial circle and volunteers his time for mentoring. He has also been an active member of OPEN Silicon Valley chapter in the past.

Rohma Labeeb

Accelerator and Partnerships Lead at Invest2Innovate (i2i)

Rohma Labeeb has been engaged in the social impact sector in Pakistan, Canada and the UK for over 4 years now. After graduating from the University of Toronto with Bachelors in Management, she had the opportunity to be a part of the marketing and business development of several new initiatives across the globe, including Artez Interactive and Margalla Logistics. Her passion for sustainability in social change has also led her to be in project design positions at the Human Development Foundation and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi. She has recently completed her Masters in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship from The London School of Economics, through which she has developed extensive international networks in the field of innovation and gained expertise in sustainability research and social delivery. As the lead of the i2i Accelerator, Rohma aims to bring a systematic change to the start-up ecosystem in Pakistan, encouraging sustainability, impact and expertise in every initiative.

Salman Wasay

Co-Founder Chaaye Khana & Couch Potato

Salman Wasay has more than 25 years of corporate experience. He was the former Chief Commercial Officer at Ufone and Director Marketing at Zong. He's now a full-time serial entrepreneur and currently the Founder & CEO at Couch Potato - Islamabad. Interestingly, the love for fine food & entrepreneurship had urged him to open some of the best restaurants in the twin cities.

Shabahat Ali Shah

Chief Executive Officer, National IT Board @ Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Govt of Pakistan.

Shabahat is a versatile and highly innovative leader with 20+ yr experience in Innovation Management, Business Development, Global Marketing & Product Management across a wide variety of technologies. He possesses extensive experience in leading large teams to expand the corporate footprint in EMEA, North and South America, and JAPAC regions. He holds progressive experience with industry-leading companies in developing sustainable business strategies. Shabahat is an MBA graduate from MIT and completed the Public Leadership and Corporate Strategy Program at Harvard. A self-motivated leader known for both technical and business acumen.

Shafiq Akbar

CEO, Graana

An overseas Pakistani, Cambridge alumnus and a successful entrepreneur. Mr. Shafiq Akbar returned to Pakistan after living in the UK for 15 years. As an accomplished investment advisor and real estate developer, he not only created more than 450 jobs for the Pakistani youth, but also established a conglomerate of 7 companies. Mr. Shafiq Akbar is the Chairman and Founding Chief Executive Officer of Graana and Imarat Group of companies. He brings considerable real estate development and international business experience to the group. He is also the Chairman of Agency 21 International.

Shehryar Hydri

Secretary General, P@SHA

Shehryar has two decades of diverse experience as a Tech Entrepreneur and Marketer, founding and scaling cross-functional teams that have delivered products and services for some of the top brands in the world. Prior to joining P@SHA, Shehryar was the Director, Marketing & Operations at Convo and a member of the Convo board. He also served on the Advisory Board of Ingrain.io (formerly Groopic) which was recently acquired by KeepTruckin. Shehryar also co-founded Trango Interactive, one of the pioneering game development and CGI studios of Pakistan. Trango was nominated in the Red Herring Asia 100 list within two years of its formation and delivered world-class content for some of the most well-known games and consumer brands in Europe and North America. He did his MBA from IBA Karachi.

Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi

Data Scientist | Content Engineer | Digital Media SME | Digital Influencer

With his inspiring videos that went viral to millions, Muzamil has become a celebrity in Islamabad. Muzamil will share his story of Lolz Studios whose videos with an over-aching aspect of doing good has inspired and reached millions. He is now the face for many popular brands and become an icon for young Islamabad entrepreneurs.

Syed Shahzad Sherazi

Co-Founder & COO, Clicky.pk

I am an engineer and tech entrepreneur passionate about e-commerce, fin-tech & ed-tech sectors in Pakistan. Co-founder of Pakistan's fast-growing fashion e-commerce marketplace Clicky.pk, enabling consumers in Pakistan to buy from a variety of small, medium and large brands and retailers from Pakistan and abroad. Before this, I have worked in the telecom sector and provided technical consultancy to various national and international telcos in Pakistan, Middle-east and Africa.

Taimur Rashid

General Manager, Customer Success - Azure Data & AI, Microsoft

Taimur Rashid is a cloud executive with 18+ years of experience in new market development and strategic business development, and a thought leader on the topics of digital and cultural innovation. Currently he is Head of Customer Success for Microsoft’s Azure Data & AI business. Previously, he served 10 years at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he was a founding member of the Worldwide Commercial Sales & Business Development organization. Taimur led strategic business development through 2018 when the business reached $25B in ARR, and secured some of the most innovative startups and enterprises (Airbnb, Dropbox, Grab, Uber, CapitalOne, GE, Netflix, HSBC) to run their businesses in the cloud.

Umar Qamar

Founder at Export Leftovers

Umar is considered a pioneer in the Pakistani eCommerce Industry. He started elo (Export Leftovers) as a 2 person operation in 2013 in a small meeting room in his father's factory in Faisalabad that currently employs 107 people & has grown to become one of the biggest & fastest growing eCommerce stores of the country. elo was also recently featured in the top 100 start ups of Pakistan. He has an M.A (Hons) from University of Edinburgh and an M.Sc in Marketing Strategy from Cass Business School, London. When he is not glued to the computer screen or making product videos, he spends his time trying out new food, reading, globetrotting & improving his Marathon time.

Waqar Azim

COO, Quixel

Waqar Azim is a Computer Science graduate of National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Islamabad. He moved to Sweden in 2009 to pursue a Masters degree in Interactive Media Design.

Ali Zaidi

Federal Minister Maritime Affairs

Ali Zaidi is one of the famous and leading Pakistani Politician who is the current Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, in office since 11 September 2018. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. His professional career includes being a successful entrepreneur and small business owner with vast experience of operating businesses in various sectors.Mr. Zaidi was Founding President of the Imran Khan Foundation US, an IRS tax-exempt 501 C-3 charity organization based in the US. He is currently a member of PTI’s Core Committee. Besides being a member of the Core Committee, also currently on the list of official Spokespersons of PTI. Furthermore, he served as International Coordinator from 2004 until 2008 and organized PTI chapters around the globe

Ashar Aziz

CEO | Founding CEO of SkyElectric

Ashar Aziz is the Founder, Executive Chairman of SkyElectric Inc. He is also the creator of the core energy intelligence and management technologies embedded in the SkyElectric Smart Energy System. In 2018, Mr Aziz received the most prestigious National award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his services in the IT Industry. Previously, Ashar founded FireEye, Inc., (NASDAQ: FEYE), a global cyber-security company, in 2004. He served as the CEO of FireEye from 2004 until November 2012 and also served as its Board Vice Chairman, CFO and CTO. Prior to FireEye, Ashar founded Terraspring, Inc., which was acquired by Sun Microsystems, Inc., in November 2002. Following the acquisition, he and served as Chief Technology Officer of the Sun N1 program until October 2003. Ashar graduated from MIT with a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Mr Aziz later received the University of California Regents fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley where he completed his MS in Electrical Engineering Computer Science.

Asma Khalil

Country Director Careem

Asma Khalil is one of the few leaders in the country having the experience of working in several key industries of the digital ecosystem. Asma currently a country Director at Careem, is the former COO of Daraz, a start-up mentor at the NIC, an e-commerce consultant, and has held several key roles in big corporations like Telenor, Jazz and Nestle. Asma has also worked as an advisor to the government and the ministry of IT and Telecom in shaping up the e-commerce and digital policy for Pakistan.\nDeveloping the first mobile banking (Easypaisa) strategy, running the first Telco/e-commerce partnership, leading the country's first Daraz Black Friday and driving the first digital Pakistan website are a few of the many achievements that Asma has to her credit.\nWe are glad to have her as part of our panel to share key insights on the challenges of digital ecosystem expansion in Pakistan and how well the government is supporting this mission. Asma Khalil is one of the few leaders in the country having the experience of working in several key industries of the digital ecosystem. Asma currently a country Director at Careem, is the former COO of Daraz, a start-up mentor at the NIC, an e-commerce consultant, and has held several key roles in big corporations like Telenor, Jazz and Nestle. Asma has also worked as an advisor to the government and the ministry of IT and Telecom in shaping up the e-commerce and digital policy for Pakistan. Developing the first mobile banking (Easypaisa) strategy, running the first Telco/e-commerce partnership, leading the country's first Daraz Black Friday and driving the first digital Pakistan website are a few of the many achievements that Asma has to her credit. We are glad to have her as part of our panel to share key insights on the challenges of digital ecosystem expansion in Pakistan and how well the government is supporting this mission.

Atif Rais Khan

Co-Founder & Chairman LMKR/LMKT

"Atif Rais Khan is Cofounder and Chairman of LMKR and LMKT; two distinct technology companies. An experienced CEO, Board Member, and entrepreneur with over 30 years of international business experience with private as well as government entities. Atif is also the majority shareholder and Chairman of StarTimes Communications Private Limited, a subsidiary of StarTimes Communications China - a global provider of direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting which was recently awarded a DTH license by PEMRA."

Dr. Arshad Ali

Dr. Vaqar Ahmed

Faisal Aftab

Maleeka Bokhari

Meenah Tariq

Melinda Good

Mohsin Termezy

Mudassar Hussain

Naeem Zamindar

Ex Chairman Pakistan Board of Investment

Naeem Zamindar is CEO of Zamindar Capital and Former Minister of state and chairman of Pakistan Board of Investment. Naeem has on his credit the setting up of Pakistan fund initiative as Acumen Pakistan chief executive officer. Previously, Naeem had served as Wateen Telecom CEO; Mobilink (now Jazz) CEO, and a senior investment manager at Intel Capital in Silicon Valley, where he was involved in over 20 investments in high tech firms. He is a professional certified by the State of Washington as a CPA and has an MBA from the prestigious INSEAD Business School. His vision is to promote and enable Pakistan as an attractive investment destination.

Owais Anjum

CEO, eMumba

Owais is currently CEO of eMumba. He is a Silicon Valley trooper for a good number of years, is a Spartan armed with an MBA from San Jose State University, the oldest public institution on the West Coast of USA. He has led a subsidiary of a Silicon Valley Company in Pakistan and is now administering his own startup, eMumba. One of the biggest achievements of his startup is “Cricout – A Social Network for Cricket” available online and in the form of smartphone apps. Owais is an esteemed and distinguished member of the Islamabad entrepreneurial circle and volunteers his time for mentoring. He has also been an active member of OPEN Silicon Valley chapter in the past.

Owais zaidi

Co-Founder CreditFix

Owais is the Co-founder and CEO of CreditFix, Pakistan’s first Digital Lending Company. CreditFix utilizes Machine Learning and Big Data and combines to enable low-income borrowers to borrow for big-ticket loans for starting or growing business. It is the only digital lending player in emerging market that is doing ticket sizes up to,000 completely digitally. Owais also founded The Hive, Pakistan’s most premium co-working space which is currently in growth mode and expanding across Pakistan. He actively evangelizes open source technology and believes in the power of collaboration through crowdsourcing and social networks. He has delivered lectures across South Asia and the Middle East on electronic payments and commerce, founding and managing startups and financial inclusion. He is passionate about value creation through the use of technology for business and social development.

Rabeel Warraich

CEO Sarmayacar

Rabeel Warraich is the Founder of Sarmayacar, a recently launched seed fund syndicate dedicated to Pakistani startups. He is currently vice president at private equity firm GIC Investment Management based in London. He specialized in Economics from the University of Oxford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has experience of working with Morgan Stanley, Convergent Wealth Advisors etc.

Sayyed Ahmad Masud

CEO | Co-Director of Change Mechanics | Founders Institute

Sayyed Ahmad Masud is CEO & Co-director of Change Mechanics | Founders Institute. He is an advertising & branding guy with over 3 decades in the industry who now helps build Start-ups and develop an innovation economy. He used to mentor and coach the new generation of Start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs. Previously he is not only the part of Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem but also had a wide network in Asia and Silicon Valley. He was also the part of The Indus Entrepreneurs and the Islamabad Director for the Global Tech Accelerator. He is also teaching Entrepreneurship at the Master’s level and also in the Advisory Committees of 3 leading Universities.

Shandana Gulzar Khan

Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Commerce

Shandana is Parliamentary Secretary at Ministry of Commerce. She is experienced Trade and investment Legal professional with a demonstrated history of working in the legal services industry.\nShe is Skilled in Negotiation, International Trade, International Economic Law, Policy Analysis, Strategic legal frameworks and Dispute Settlement. A strong, disciplined legal professional with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) focused on Corporate Governance; Economics of Law and Regulation; WTO and International Economic Laws from the University of Cambridge.

Syed Ahmed

Chairman | CEO of PASHA | DPL

Syed Ahmad is the Founder and CEO of DPL, a leading IT exports company based in Islamabad. He is also an industry leader. Currently, he is the Chairman of P@SHA, the only Govt licensed representative IT trade body in Pakistan. He is also the author of Digital Policy of PTI, which is part of PTI’s manifesto. At present, he is a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT & Telecom. Syed is currently serving various government entities such as Pakistan Software Export Board, KPIT Board and incubators such as NEST I/O and Comsats Cubator-1ne.

Adnan Shahid

Digital Transformation and Technology Executive

Adnan is a former corporate C-level executive, entrepreneur and now Chief Commercial Officer of the biggest telecommunications company of Pakistan.

Dr. Arshad Ali

Dr. Syed Ismail Shah

Mohsin Lodhi

Muhammad Nasrullah

Asad Umar

Senior Leader and Policy Head at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

Asad Umar is a Pakistani lawmaker and former CEO of Engro Corporation, which he turned into a world-renowned business group, he will share his experiences at Engro and also why Islamabad is a great place for entrepreneurs to be in!

Dilawar Syed

Dr. Farrukh Hassan

Iqbal Mustafa Khan

Founder, Sabaq Foundation

Irfan Wahab

Khurram Jamali

Mowadat Rana

Narjis Ali

CEO and President at Sure Secure Solutions

Narjis was instrumental in helping establish OPEN’s Islamabad chapter. She has over thirty years of technology and management experience and is highly skilled at Security Engineering and Security Requirements Management for large Government contracts.

Prof. Dr. Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani

Chairman, Pakistan Council for Science & Technology

Prof. Gilani is currently the Chairman, Pakistan Council for Science & Technology. He started his professional career as a Lecturer (Pharmacy), at the Bahaudin Zakariya University Multan, where he stayed till 1986 and later joined the Aga Khan University. Dr Gilani has earned 3 Patents, is a Member, Editorial Boards of 10 journals of international repute, is a co-editor of two WHO Books on Essential Medicine and published around 350 articles with cumulative IF around 700.

Shamoon Hashmi

Chairman, P@SHA | CEO, TPS Worldwide

Shahzad Shahid is the CEO of TPS Pakistan and the Middle East. Prior to his appointment to the position of CEO, Shahzad was serving in the capacity of CMO of TPS. Joining the company as a software engineer in 1999, Shahzad moved to the TPS business development team in 2004. His instinctive flair for business was a natural fit and saw Shahzad emerge as a distinctive leader with strategic, creative and financial acumen as well as strong business intellect. He has played an integral role in shaping the e-banking landscape in Pakistan through closely working with banks, telcos and financial institutions.

Hussam Khurram

Syed Faizan Raza

Design Researcher | Service Designer | HCD & Design Thinking Practitioner

As a design researcher at IDEATE Innovation, his responsibility revolves around carrying client projects through human-centred research in order to uncover actionable insights that can be used in designing effective interventions. Planning research from scratch, engaging with target audiences directly in the field, and conceptualizing solutions is a core part of his job.

Aneeqa Ishaq

Practitioner and Teacher of Design Thinking and User Experience

Aneeqa is a practitioner and teacher of Design Thinking and User Experience. She helps business redesign and digitizes their services, products and experiences which wow their customers. Since graduating from Stanford University five years ago, Aneeqa has exposed 1,000+ professionals to Design Thinking, led design-focused change movement at the leading Telco, Telenor, and designed well-praised products, solutions and programs for companies, clients and collaborators.