Jehan personifies what Katalyst Labs is all about – energy, passion, talent and spirit. After a 20 year stint as President of P@SHA and 6 1/2 years as Founder & CEO of The Nest I/O, this is the culmination of a dream for Jehan. She is so passionate about the cause and idea behind Katalyst Labs that the energy immediately grips you the minute you walk in!

Having been an entrepreneur herself, with a strong belief in the need for growing the ecosystem and the number of Women Leaders, Jehan is forever ready to mentor and guide all those who step inside Katalyst Labs. Drop by anytime, and she will always greet you with a warm, huge smile from behind her MacBook! Jehan is also an Independent Director on the Board of the Central Depository Council, the Punjab IT Board, IDEAS, and the Boards of several Universities. She is also on the Gender Advisory Council of the World Bank and a Member of the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on IT & Telecom. More recently she has been appointed as a Member of the Tik Tok APAC Safety Advisory Council.

Asad J. Malik is the founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Augmented Reality gaming company JADU. The company has raised $40M+ from investors like General Catalyst and Bain Capital to pioneer consumer use cases for mobile AR. He will be coming back to Pakistan for the first time in 6 years to attend +92Disrupt and visit his family.

Asad started his career in technology as a teenager growing up in Khewra, the small town known for its salt mines. He moved to the US in 2015 on a scholarship to Bennington College where he started creating narrative experiences on AR headsets like the Microsoft Hololens & Magic Leap. His breakout project, Terminal 3, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018 followed by A Jester’s Tale at the Sundance 2019. His work has been lauded for opening up new possibilities for the medium, earning critical acclaim in publications such as the New York Times, The Guardian and Fast Company.

He has collaborated with icons like Serena Williams, Michael Bay, Snoop Dogg, Lewis Hamiliton and Grimes, raising the profile of AR as an emerging entertainment format. Asad was named one of Variety’s 10 Innovators to Watch, Rolling Stone’s Future 25 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30. He also serves as a Board Member of the American Pakistan Foundation.

The founder of BusCaro, Maha Shahzad is an industry leader with 13 years of experience building and growing startups from the ground up. Under her leadership, BusCaro has already scaled to 3 cities and managed to secure 8.5 million bookings with positive unit economics and 99% client retention.

Aatif Awan is the founder and Managing Partner of Indus Valley Capital, a Pakistan-focused early stage VC fund. He has led the first investment rounds for many new startups in Pakistan, such as Atoms, Airlift, Bazaar, and AimFit. He also serves as a Board Director for these companies at present. Aatif is also a member of First Round Capital’s Angel Track and OnDeck’s Angel Fellowship.

Previously, Aatif was VP Growth & International at LinkedIn and built the team that grew the network by half a billion members. He also led the product integrations between LinkedIn and Microsoft in an acquisition valued at USD 26 Billion.

Misbah Naqvi is Co-Founder and General Partner at i2i Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, focused on high-growth tech startups addressing big opportunities in Pakistan, and the country’s first female-founded VC fund. i2i Ventures has 14 companies in its portfolio, across fintech, e-commerce, logistics, B2B SaaS and edtech, focused on investing in strong founders with a bold vision.
Misbah has over two decades of global experience in finance, spanning venture investing, corporate finance, entrepreneurship, impact investing, fintech and development in Pakistan and the US.
She is a Certified Director by the Corporate Governance Leadership Skills Program of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance. She is a Board Member at Invest2Innovate, (i2i Ventures sister company and a startup ecosystem support organization), Edkasa (Pvt) Ltd, CreditBook Financial Services, and Oraan Tech Pvt Ltd. She was previously on the board of U Microfinance Bank, a leading microfinance institution in Pakistan.
Misbah is a Trustee on the Board of AAS, a non-profit supporting children and adults suffering from addiction and is on the Board of Advisors for NOWPDP, a leading disability inclusion organization in Pakistan.
Misbah has co-authored the Corporate Governance Toolkit for Startups on behalf of the Venture Capital Association of Pakistan, designed for Pakistani startup founders as they navigate the complexities of governance.
She is a Kauffman Fellow and has an MBA from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Karachi.

Zayd Enam is the founder of Enam & Co, backed by OpenAI, a16z, Andy Bechtolsheim and others.

Zayd was recently the CEO and Co-founder of Cresta, the leading solution for real-time intelligence for contact centers. Cresta is backed by a16z, Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, JP Morgan, as well as Zoom, Genesys, and Five9. Prior to founding Cresta, Enam pursued his PhD study at the Stanford AI lab, where his thesis formed the foundation for Cresta. He graduated with high honors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley, where he was a Haas Scholar. 

Zayd has been featured on the Forbes Enterprise Technology list and is a winner of the Asia Pacific ICT award. Cresta’s work has been published in the National Bureau of Economic Research and in Bloomberg under “Generative AI Boosts Worker Productivity by 14% in First Real-World Study”. Under his leadership, Cresta was named in the Top 50 AI Companies by Forbes and was recognized as an Intelligent Applications Top 40 Company by Goldman Sachs and Madrona.

Dr. Ayesha K. Khan is the Regional Managing Director for Pakistan at Acumen – a global impact investment fund based in New York. In addition to leading Acumen’s work in the region, Dr. Khan is also raising Pakistan’s first climate focused private equity fund, that will invest in growth stage agribusinesses building the future of climate resilient food systems in Pakistan. Dr. Khan has a strong background in business strategy, climate finance and international business, with a career that has spanned across North America, Asia and the Middle East. In addition to her leadership of Acumen, Dr Khan also sits on the Board of Directors of Fauji Fertilizer – the largest agriculture sector company in the country, Bank Alfalah, a leading commercial bank, BS Packaging, the largest renewable packaging facility in the country and NRSP Bank, a farmer focused microfinance bank in Pakistan. In 2023, Dr. Khan was also selected by the GLF Forum (Germany) as one of 16 Women Restoring the Earth. Dr Khan has previously worked as the head of strategy at HBL – the largest bank in Pakistan and was the first person to hold this position at the bank. She has also worked in New York as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company, where she focused on the financial sector, and at the UNDP, where she was a consultant with the Millennium Development Project. Dr. Khan holds a doctorate from Harvard Business School, where she focused on understanding how to build successful businesses in emerging markets. She was the first Pakistani to get a doctorate from Harvard Business School. She has authored various case studies on international business strategy and published several articles focused on emerging markets for different publications – including the Harvard Business Review. Dr. Khan also holds a Masters in International Development (MPAID) from the Harvard Kennedy School; she completed her undergraduate degree in Economics from Princeton University.

Faisal Aftab is a Pakistani-American, and a notable and respected figure in Pakistan’s thriving tech industry, boasting an impressive 25-year career as an executive, entrepreneur, and venture investor. He is also a Shark in the Pakistan edition of the television show Shark Tank, and is a graduate of Oxford University. 

His investment philosophy is centered on technological shifts that are driven by the complex interplay of global macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, as well as the transformative potential of cutting-edge emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. Faisal was an early investor in both Bitcoin and Ethereum, recognizing their potential as digital commodities ahead of many others.

Faisal has established two leading venture capital firms in Pakistan and has a proven track record of successful investments. His portfolio companies have raised over $500m in debt & equity funding. As the Founder, CEO, and General Partner of Zayn VC, he is well-positioned to continue driving Pakistan’s tech sector forward, fostering innovation, and attracting both local and international investors.

Some of Faisal’s notable investments include Haball, NayaPay, PostEX, Krave Mart, Abhi Finance, AdalFi, KTrade, Laam.pk, Bookme.pk, Roomy.pk, EduFi, Bazaar-tech, SnappRetail, GrocerApp, Truck It In, Savyour, Bagallery, Trellis Housing Finance, Tazah, Zaraye, and Colabs.

Zara Basharat is the Head of Public Policy Programs and Partnerships for the Middle East, Türkiye, Africa, Pakistan and South Asia at TikTok. She leads the programs portfolio focusing on building strategic partnerships, with the goal of addressing some of the most critical and pressing issues in our regions by leveraging the scale and impact of technology, which range from improving access to education, digital safety, election integrity, financial literacy, employability and climate change.

She works closely on building alliances with the government across academia and the nonprofit sector. Zara has a background in Media, Strategy, Communications, Social Impact and Sustainability. Prior to joining TikTok, Zara served as Director Communications and Digital Sustainability at Jazz (part of the VEON Group). She has also led Communications and Sustainability portfolios at PepsiCo, Nestle, World Bank and the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC). Zara has an MBA Program from London Business School. Prior to that, she studied Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Zara is a Boehm Media Fellow as part of the Opportunity Collaboration Global Network of Leaders, The Women’s Impact Alliance Fellow and an IVLP: Developing Future Women Leaders alumnus run by the U.S State Department.

Rehan is currently the CEO of Securiti, a leader in Unified Data Controls for security, privacy, compliance and governance. Previously, he was President and CEO of Elastica, a cloud-security company that merged with Bluecoat before being purchased by Symantec in 2016 for $4.7B, where it became the fastest-growing division of the security behemoth for seven straight quarters.
Rehan’s first company, 4G wireless infrastructure firm WiChorus, was acquired by Tellabs for $200M. His background also includes work at Aperto Networks, Sun Microsystems and Siemens.
Rehan was named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for 2010 and is a venture advisor for Mayfield. He holds an AMP from Harvard Business School, an MSEE from Purdue University and BE EE from NED University, and has over 25 patents granted or pending.

With over 25 years as a serial entrepreneur, Arif Lakhani has focused on delivering mass-market products. He is the founder of Qist Bazaar, a BNPL platform dedicated to serving the underserved. Arif is also the co-founder and General Partner of K3 Diversity Ventures, a sector-agnostic venture capital fund empowering diverse innovators. Previously, he co-founded Electro Computer Warehouse, the largest off-lease computer export company in Canada.

Arif is deeply passionate about scaling high-performance organizations and serving the masses. His latest venture, Qist Bazaar, is designed to help everyday Pakistanis in an equitable, sustainable way, aiming to have a direct impact on the lives of 170 million unbanked individuals.

Kalsoom is the Co-founder & General Partner at i2i Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund for Pakistan, and the country’s first female-founded VC fund, which opened its doors in 2019. i2i Ventures has invested in TelloTalk, Edkasa, CreditBook, Abhi, Oraan, Tazah, Truck it In, EZBike, Metric, Rider, DealCart, Safepay, Swag Kicks and more. Kalsoom is also the Founder of Invest2Innovate, i2i Ventures’ sister entity, which she launched in 2011 to support and unleash the potential of young entrepreneurs in growth markets like Pakistan. 

She has trained young entrepreneurs, changemakers, and civil society leaders in countries like Kosovo, Nepal, Cambodia, Ireland, Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, and has spoken at numerous venues, including the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. State Department, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, and SXSW. In 2022, she was selected for the RoW100, Rest of World’s inaugural list of 100 Global Tech Changemakers.

Rabeel Warraich is the founder and CEO of Sarmayacar, Pakistan’s pioneering venture capital firm. He holds a degree in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rabeel began his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and then moved into private wealth management with Convergent Wealth Advisors, providing financial counsel to high-net-worth clients and optimizing their portfolios. He later served as Vice President of Private Equity at GIC Investment Management, where he oversaw Singapore’s foreign reserves. Rabeel is also the first Kauffman Fellow focused on Pakistan.

In 2018, Rabeel founded Sarmayacar, an early-stage venture capital firm with a $25 million fund anchored by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support Pakistan’s startup ecosystem. Through this fund, Sarmayacar has backed a diverse portfolio of promising Pakistani startups, including Abhi, Bykea, and SimPaisa, helping accelerate the growth of local entrepreneurship. Recently, Rabeel launched Sarmayacar’s second fund, Climaventures, which is Pakistan’s first climate-tech-focused fund. With a $15 million anchor commitment from the Green Climate Fund, Climaventures supports startups dedicated to climate resilience and sustainability solutions to address Pakistan’s pressing climate challenges.

In addition to his work at Sarmayacar, Rabeel teaches a weekly course on Venture Capital & Finance at the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, where he provides practical insights and mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs and future investors.

Maheen Rahman brings over 20 years of experience in investment banking, research, and asset management. She is currently the CEO of InfraZamin Pakistan, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (UK) company, where she played a key role in establishing operations and developing a project pipeline. Under her leadership, InfraZamin has executed award-winning transactions that have gained both local and global recognition by providing credit guarantees to de-risk projects and enable access to finance for underserved sectors.

Previously, Maheen was the CEO of Alfalah GHP Investment Management, one of Pakistan’s largest asset management companies. She has held leadership positions across the financial sector, including CEO of IGI Funds, Head of Research at BMA Capital, and roles at ABN AMRO and Merrill Lynch.

Maheen was featured on Fortune’s “40 Under 40 Women to Watch” list in 2015. She holds board directorships at notable organizations, including the Securities and Exchange Policy Board, GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan, Khaadi, Systems Limited, and the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan. She is also Advisor to Katalyst Labs, and former Director of Special Technology Zones Authority, among other influential roles.

Her career has spanned multiple geographies, contributing to her expertise and reputation as a leader in Pakistan’s financial landscape.

Ammar Hanafi is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Moment Ventures. Moment is focused on early stage investments in teams targeting the future of work and industries. Ammar’s active portfolio includes AltoIRA, Aviz Networks, Katanemo, Rafay Systems, Rune Labs, and Turing Labs. 

Ammar holds a BS in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University and an MBA from Stanford University. Prior to founding Moment, Ammar was at Alloy Ventures where he led investments in Mavenir Systems, Inc. (IPO), Agari Data (acquired) and Cortina Systems, Inc. (acquired) among others. Ammar previously served as VP of Corporate Development at Cisco Systems where he led over 50 acquisitions and $750 million in venture capital investments.

Naureen is a serial entrepreneur and digital lending specialist with over 13 years of experience in digital finance, risk management, and microfinance. She is the founder of Tez Financial Services, Pakistan’s first fintech company to secure an NBFC (Non-Bank Financial Company) license, and CheckIn Solutions. Under her leadership, Tez pioneered consumer lending for unbanked and underbanked communities and became Pakistan’s first fintech to reach an M&A milestone in 2022, when it was acquired by Zood. As CEO of Zood’s Pakistan office, Naureen oversees local operations and global projects for the group.

In addition to her entrepreneurial roles, Naureen serves on various company boards and has been instrumental in shaping financial inclusion policies, working alongside regulators and multilateral organizations. Her experience includes credit assessment at PACRA, with a focus on microfinance and NBFCs, and as Head of Finance and Planning at Shopistan, an e-commerce services provider. She has also contributed to initiatives on women’s empowerment and reproductive health through her involvement with The Pakistan Society for Planned Parenthood.

Naureen’s work has been internationally recognized, with features in Forbes, Reuters, the Women in Fintech Powerlist, and other publications highlighting her as a global leader in financial innovation and inclusion. With studies in Inclusive Finance at Harvard Business School and a CFA affiliation, she brings a deep understanding of finance and a commitment to expanding access to essential financial services.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO of The Talent Games, an award-winning company specializing in gamified assessments for talent recruitment and development. With deep expertise in gamification, AI, employer branding, and talent management, Paul is passionate about transforming the assessment landscape by making the candidate experience more engaging and insightful. He has over four decades of experience helping organizations attract, assess, and retain top talent through innovative and tech-driven approaches.

As a recognized thought leader, Paul’s work focuses on harnessing the power of technology to discover top talent with gamified talent solutions, while creating a world-class employer brand and building effective talent management strategies.

Halima Iqbal is the founder and CEO of Oraan, Pakistan’s first women-led fintech transforming financial access for underserved communities. With experience in investment banking and consulting, Halima is reshaping how Pakistan’s households manage their finances by digitizing traditional savings models like ROSCAs. Her mission is to foster financial inclusion and create an empowering, gender-equitable financial ecosystem in Pakistan, positioning Oraan at the forefront of change in the region.

Aasim Wajid joined Bank Alfalah as the Group Head, Strategy in June 2013. Prior to this, he served in various senior and leading positions with institutions like United Bank Limited, Associated Industries Garments Pakistan Pvt. Limited, Ernst & Young LLP (London), Deloitte & Touche LLP (London), RSM RobsonRhodes LLP, Chartered Accountants (London) and Blick Rothenberg, Chartered Accountants (London). He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the London School of Economics.

Azima Dhanjee is the Co-Founder & CEO of ConnectHear, a social enterprise dedicated to sign language accessibility in Pakistan. Raised by deaf parents, Azima is a Child of Deaf Adult (CODA) and a proud advocate for the deaf community. She holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration (Class of 2020) and has been recognized as a Pride of Pakistan by ISPR.

ConnectHear, founded with two friends, has developed the country’s first sign language recognition A.I. Azima is a Diana Award recipient and has been featured in Forbes and other publications. Under her leadership, ConnectHear has won several accolades, including the TiE Women Global Competition and the Young Innovators Award by the World Summit Award.

Azima has presented on Social Entrepreneurship, Disability Rights, and Leadership at various national and international forums. She has also represented Pakistan in Kenya, Senegal, and the United States as a Cultural Exchange Ambassador. Committed to advancing social entrepreneurship, she continues to explore innovative ways to support differently-abled individuals through ConnectHear.

Nameer Khan, Chairman of MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) and Founder of Fils, the region’s premier sustainability-focused fintech is celebrated as MENA’s Future Fintech Leader by the UAE Central Bank. His guidance has ranked MFTA among the top 4 global fintech entities. An astute investor and board member for leading tech companies, Nameer is a driving force in sustainable fintech. He also enriches the Edinburgh Business School’s Advisory Board with his expertise.

Ayesha Saleem is a Principal at Lakson Venture Capital, one of the earliest VC funds in Pakistan. She is also a special advisor to the ESG Foundation UK and on the board of the Pakistan LSE Alumni Association. LVC has made investments in startups including BookMe, Bagallery, Roomy and Krave Mart amongst others. Ayesha has previously partnered with the PSX to implement UNSDGs and create awareness of ESG in listed companies. 

Shershah is the CEO and founder of KalPay, an impact-focused digital financing fintech. He started his first company at 18, and founded KalPay at 22 while studying at LUMS. Shershah is also a faculty member at LUMS CES and at the NIC Lahore and Quetta, and a mentor at the Founders Institute. Recognized in Forbes 30 under 30, he has led KalPay in key partnerships and product innovations.

Sheema is the Head of Product Design at Spursol, currently leading the design strategy and execution for two upcoming B2B software products. Previously, she led design at a B2C Edtech startup, contributing to its growth from the ground up to over 3 million users. With a background in Communication Design, she brings a thoughtful balance between creativity and strategy, working to bring together user experience, business goals and brand communication.

Asif Jafri is a tech entrepreneur with a passion for alleviating poverty through digital and financial inclusion. As the founder and CEO of Kistpay—a platform tackling socio-economic gaps through smartphone financing—Asif is an alum of IoBM and the Founder Institute in Silicon Valley. His career spans key roles at American Express Bank, Asian Capital Management, Union Bank, Unilever, and Telenor, alongside co-founding E.ocean, a leading cloud communication platform, and going on to establish Momentum, a startup ecosystem, marking his path in Fintech.

Asif is listed as a proud signatory of the UN Women Empowerment Program and won a competition by the Islamic Development Bank Group for pitching his solution to revolutionize the digital and financial landscape. Under his visionary leadership, Kistpay has been featured in a World Bank report and mentioned in the GSMA Mobile Economy Asia Pacific report for its efforts in closing the digital divide. It has also twice earned a Top 10 Finalist position in the UNDP’s SDG Digital GameChangers Award (2023 & 2024), collaborated with GSMA for the Global Smartphone Affordability Coalition, is recognized as an ITU Partner2Connect Digital Coalition member, and achieved many other international milestones. He has successfully scaled operations to target emerging markets in Bangladesh, Mexico, Thailand, and Africa. He has also partnered with UNDP for D4SD—Digital Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Arab States.

Zehra Aneek is a leader with +20 years of experience in sustainability, ESG, sustainable finance, cleantech, and corporate governance. Currently, she is Director of Sustainability and Climate Change at EY Pakistan. Previously, she held senior roles at K-Electric Limited, British American Tobacco, KFC Pakistan, and Chevron.

She is a member of the International Society for Sustainability Professionals (ISSP-USA), the Energy Expert Platform (GWNET), and an associate member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). Zehra is also a member of WePower (World Bank) and serves on the regional advisory board of Climate Launchpad.

As Chairperson of LEAN-IN Pakistan’s ‘Energy Circle,’ she mentors Women in Social Enterprise and Girl2023. Zehra is on the Board of Trustees at Concern for Children and the advisory board of ROSHNI, a nonprofit supporting child safety. She has pioneered women empowerment projects focused on underprivileged women and regularly speaks at national and global forums on women empowerment, climate, energy, and ESG. She also serves on the jury for various global environmental and social initiatives.

Muzaffar Manghi is co-founder for Farmdar and AgromAI in Brazil. 

He brings +22 years of marketing, sales and advertising experience for blue chip companies, and in his role at Farmdar, Muzaffar leads business strategy, development and commercial. 

Arhum Ishtiaq is a product, data, and AI expert with 6+ years of experience in building, scaling and consulting startups across South Asia and South America to boost their commercial, technological and social impact globally. His primary motivation is to enable scalable and sustainable social development through technology. He cofounded Pakistan’s first and largest Deaf-focused assistive-tech startup, ConnectHear, where he has developed and deployed cutting-edge AI-powered assistive solutions benefitting hundreds of thousands across the world. He’s one of Pakistan’s first ever winners of The Diana Award, hailed as a Young Innovator by the World Summit Awards, recognized as Pride of Pakistan by DG ISPR and covered across many publications like Forbes and BBC for his work.

Adoniah Carmeline is a seasoned UX designer and researcher with extensive experience in the banking and fintech sectors. Currently focusing on understanding digital banking behavior and crafting user-centric experiences, she brings a wealth of expertise in leveraging design and research methodologies to solve complex challenges in the financial services industry.

Her work centers on exploring user preferences across diverse segments, with a strong emphasis on promoting financial inclusion. Adoniah is passionate about creating intuitive and inclusive digital solutions that empower underserved communities to access and engage with financial services seamlessly. Having contributed to launching intuitive digital banking initiatives, she is dedicated to bridging the gap between technology and humans, fostering more accessible and user-friendly financial services in Pakistan.

Umair Khan is Founding Partner at Mentors Fund, Visiting Professor (teaching Entrepreneurship) at UC Berkeley, Founder & Chairman of Folio3, a global software services company, and co-owner of Zareen’s Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Previously, Umair also co-founded Clickmarks, a mobile software company. He started his career at Intel Corporation.  He is co-founder of OPEN Silicon Valley. He received his BS and MS from MIT.

Majida Malik, Head of Growth at Spursol, is currently leading the launch for an upcoming B2B Customer Experience product. Previously, she has had +5 years of experience in the fintech industry as a founding team member at Oraan, where she led multiple functions, from customer experience to growth.

With a background in the Development Sector, she has strong grassroots-level experience across rural and urban sectors, identifying customer challenges, ideating and launching solutions.

With +17 years in the tech industry in Pakistan, Imran has been a pioneer in the cloud space by launching the first enterprise cloud in Pakistan in 2011. Imran now heads Raptr Games, which launched Pakistan’s first E-Sports platform, and is launching the first full service fintech, specifically for gamers in Pakistan.

Darakhshan Sheikh Vohra is a seasoned lawyer with a proven track record in the legal services industry for +25 years. Skilled in Corporate, Finance & Banking Law, and strategic operational consultancy, she has provided legal and corporate advisory services to businesses and organisations, with a passion for mentoring entrepreneurs and start-ups. She has been an entrepreneur herself, having led a fintech startup specialising in supply chain finance, and being an alumni winner of SC Women in Tech.

Omair Ansari is the CEO and Co-Founder of ABHI (YC S21), an embedded finance platform expanding across the MENAP region. With over a decade of experience in frontier markets, he specializes in equity, derivatives, impact investing, and fintech. Before ABHI, he held key roles at Morgan Stanley, Vostok Emerging Finance, and Renaissance Capital. 

Ansari’s career spans South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, giving him a deep insight into diverse markets. His education in finance and political science from McMaster University, as well as living in over 9 countries has shaped his global outlook. As a leader, Ansari is committed to driving innovation in the embedded finance space.

Omer Zabit is a Principal with Shorooq Partners. He was at Careem for +5 years in various commercial roles, with his last role being their global head of food delivery business. Prior to joining Careem, he spent more than 4 years in product & strategy roles in mobile money back in Pakistan with Jazzcash (±14M MAU) & Easypaisa (±8M MAU). He earned his MBA from the prestigious Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan and his Bachelor of Engineering from National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan. In his free time he likes to play racquet sports and unwind with his loved ones.

Mr. Abu Bakar has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). With 24 years of global experience, including 15 years in C-suite roles, Mr. Abu Bakar brings extensive knowledge and leadership to drive PSEB’s mission of fostering growth and innovation within Pakistan’s IT sector.

Most recently, Mr. Abu Bakar served as Chief Information and Digital Officer at Summit Medical Group and CityMD, where he led technology strategy, governance, and implementation. Under his leadership, Summit Health achieved significant growth, expanding from $300 million to $3 billion in revenue before being sold to Walgreens/VillageMD for $8.9 billion in Q1 2023. Following this success, he embarked on an entrepreneurial journey, leveraging his expertise to invest in and mentor the tech industry.

Previously, Mr. Abu Bakar held CIO roles at notable companies such as Chobani, Barneys New York, and Vineyard Vines. He also served as an Operating Partner at Visible Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm in Boston, and as President of OPEN Global, a leading organization of Pakistani entrepreneurs with 15 chapters across four continents, promoting entrepreneurship and international cooperation. A frequent speaker at industry conferences, he brings a robust educational background and a career spanning multiple industries, making him well-positioned to lead PSEB’s mission of elevating Pakistan’s global tech presence and advancing the country’s IT sector.

Naeem is the co-founder of the fintech startup, Neem and has invested, built and scaled tech businesses globally. He has served as the Minister of Investment for Pakistan, CEO of Acumen Fund Pakistan and Wateen Telecom (Pub) Ltd., and CSO of Jazz where he was part of the founding team that scaled the businesses to 32 million customers. During his time in Silicon Valley with Intel Capital, Naeem invested and managed over 22 venture capital investments.
He is an influential thought leader and speaker at events such as TEDx, Stanford GSB, Harvard, Wilson Center. He is currently on the Global Advisory Council of Acumen (USA) and boards of eight tech companies. He is an MBA from INSEAD and certified yoga and advanced meditation teacher.

Aleena Nadeem is the CEO & Founder of EduFi Private Limited, Pakistan’s first student-led fintech, launched in November 2021 in Pakistan. EduFi aims to provide student financing solutions to the masses. The vision of EduFi is to financially assist as many middle class citizens of Pakistan as possible in gaining higher education. EduFi has so far raised +6.1 million USD to date, which is the largest pre-seed round to have ever been raised by a Pakistani startup.

Aleena completed her high school from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where she also attained the regional distinction in Economics. She completed her bachelors from the Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology in 2016. Post MIT, Aleena started her career working at Goldman Sachs London in the credit division after which she worked as the fintech lead at Ventura Capital London, a late stage private equity fund. She left as the youngest and first female principal partner at Ventura, raising +50 million USD as part of the series-G raise for PayTM in India, 20 million USD as part of Railsbank’s A+ round, and over $60 million USD as part of Upgrade’s series-D round. 

Aleena is also a director in her family’s office based out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She serves as an active member of PEN (Progressive Education Network) which is a not-for-profit charity run by her family office which educates +700,000 children for free every year.

Hashim Syed brings with him a unique blend of BigTech expertise and entrepreneurial spirit. He is the AI Growth GTM (Go-To-Market) Lead at Google for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Ranked in the Top 4% of all Googlers globally, he builds and delivers the strategy that bridges the gap between cutting-edge AI and real-world business challenges. His focus is on empowering Business Leaders to maximize growth. 

He began his career at Meta, co-founding the UK’s 1st Venture Capital Fast Growth Program. Later, at Microsoft, he was the youngest Account Executive, leading high-value sales with global Financial Services institutions & FinTechs.

Hashim was also a founding member of a successful UK Health & Fitness App (exited), Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Antler (early stage venture accelerator) and continues to be involved in the ecosystem today across UK, EMEA, Pakistan supporting entrepreneurs and startups. Hashim is also a Podcaster & TedX speaker on ‘Unlocking your inner leader’.

Hashim is driven by his hunger for creating impact, gratitude for the opportunities, and a hustle to maximize his potential.

Faisal Mahmood heads the Digital Public Infrastructure team at Karandaaz Pakistan, bringing +23 years of expertise in technology and banking. He specializes in the development of digital infrastructures with a core focus on the instant payments ecosystem. 

As a key member of the team behind the conceptualization and deployment of Raast, Faisal is now dedicated to fostering its adoption and creating citizen-centric services around it. He is also now instrumental in advancing the Pakistan Digital Stack initiative, with a focus on enabling automated payment solutions for everyday customer transactions.

Fahad Tanveer is the CEO and Co-Founder of Edkasa, Pakistan’s leading edtech platform revolutionizing high school education through hyper-localized content, interactive quizzes, and competitive learning on the Edkasa app. A graduate of LUMS and Harvard University, Fahad is a passionate educator with extensive experience in Pakistan and the United States.

His career spans leadership roles in management, marketing, and sales at global giants such as P&G, ICI, Telenor, and Nestlé, bringing a unique blend of commercial acumen and educational innovation to his mission of enabling student success.

Mashall Khattak is the co-founder of BYT3M3 and KAT Global, companies that focus on creative computing solutions such as Video Games, AR, VR and Computer Vision. She has taught at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture as well as Habib University and has published research papers with the University of Oxford.

Monis Rahman is an innovative Pakistani entrepreneur recognized for his significant contributions to the country’s digital economy. In 2006, he founded Rozee, an online job platform that transitioned newspaper job listings from offline to online. More recently under his leadership, Rozee once again disrupted traditional recruitment with the launch of rozeegpt.ai, a pioneering AI-first SaaS recruitment platform.

In 2017, Monis co-founded SimSim, Pakistan’s first smartphone mobile wallet, in collaboration with FINCA Microfinance Bank. Monis has extensive experience working with regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan under various fintech licensing regimes. Through Dukan, he developed digital payment platforms and data-led supply chain lending solutions for undocumented merchants and SMEs in emerging markets.

His work has been recognized by numerous publications including Forbes, which named him among the “Ten Big Hitting Asian Businessmen Under 50” in 2011. Additionally, he holds multiple U.S. patents for innovations in areas including microprocessor branch prediction and image security.

An entrepreneur, co-founder and the CEO of COLABS, Omar Shah has been working on redefining workspaces in Pakistan through COLABS, since 2019. COLABS today is an entrepreneurial hub of innovation and technology, and has built a platform that continues to empower Pakistan’s startup ecosystem and the next big change-makers.

A graduate of SOAS University in London, Omar has a decade of experience working in investing across private equity and venture capital at Abraaj and Berenberg across London, Mexico, Turkey and Pakistan.

Zeeshan is a business executive with leadership and management experience across Europe, Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. He has had an impressive track record of successfully formulating/delivering commercial strategy, leading/transforming operations across large organizations, and scaling high growth businesses.

Formerly the Country General Manager for Careem (Uber subsidiary) Pakistan, Zeeshan played a pivotal role in building strong teams and growing the business into a multi-million-dollar ride hailing, food delivery, and payments’ business and created over 800,000 jobs across Pakistan. He also successfully steered the organization through major disruptions that came as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zeeshan was acknowledged as one of the top performing CEOs of Pakistan by the CEO100 Forum. engagements across Europe, US, and MENA regions. Prior to joining Careem, Zeeshan worked as a Strategy & Operations consultant with Deloitte in their Middle East office and delivered consulting projects.

Mohammad Raafi Hossain is an entrepreneur with a diverse background in strategic roles across governments, multilaterals and corporates. Throughout his career, he delivered end-to-end projects in emerging technologies, economic development, climate change, renewable energy, healthcare, agriculture and education. Before founding Fasset, Raafi served as Advisor to the UAE Prime Minister’s Office. In this role, he seeded and facilitated several innovative initiatives that led to the adoption of emerging technologies across several sectors. He is also the founder of Finocracy, a think-and-do tank with a mission to democratize access to financial opportunities for the next billion people. Finocracy is a partner of the United Nations, the Global Fund, and the Islamic Development Bank among others. Previously, Raafi worked for the United Nations in the MENA region focusing on agriculture, climate change and sustainable development. He also led the development of Narwi – an award-winning platform that connects ethical microfinance institutions with aspiring entrepreneurs and crowdfunded capital. Narwi created 5,000 new businesses and 15,000 jobs across 6 MENA countries through support from a global community of over 100,000 individuals. Raafi has an academic background in Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development from the University of California Berkeley and Harvard University.

Habibullah Khan is the leading experience designer and corporate storyteller in the region. He has worked for diverse multinationals from Levis, to Cisco and is founder of Penumbra, a global digital product & customer experience studio with clients across five continents. Penumbra excels in designing and marketing disruptive platforms & apps, and using research and human centered design to solve complex problems like building intuitive citizen services, financial inclusion, growth and emotionally connecting with specific demographics.

Habibullah is also the co-founder of RAPTR Games, a global e-sports solution company, and Chief Product Officer of Metaplayer, an AI Music startup. Habibullah Khan has worked with multibillion dollar companies, startups, and nonprofits on projects funded by USAID, UN, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has branded and designed products with FinTech, HealthTech, AI, ecommerce, and B2B technology companies around the world. He has been quoted as a digital expert in many publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, Campaign, CIO etc. Habibullah is a regular speaker in technology circles and specializes in leadership thinking content around design, product marketing and innovation. He has presented on many diverse forums, and is also a mentor to startups at National Incubation Center (NIC) Karachi.

Jawwad Farid is a serial founder with 4 ventures, 5 books and one cross border exit to his
name. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Columbia Business School and FAST NUCES alumni.

Within the startup community his interest lies at the intersection of education, financial services, impact investments and teaching. He ran the financial modeling boot camp at Nest I/O, Katalyst Labs and was APICTA pitch mentor for Team Pakistan for 13 years. His own ventures specialized in compliance risk tech engines for financial services and teaching rocket science to ordinary mortals.

Jawwad taught at the SP Jain Global School of Management in Dubai and Singapore, at IBA and Habib University in Karachi. He currently splits his time between risk and actuarial consulting for insurance clients at Alchemy Technologies, and as a Professor of Practice at IBA, Karachi.

Jawwad is the author of Models at Work (Palgrave Macmillan), Option Greeks Primer (Palgrave Macmillan), Portfolio Optimization Models, Founder Puzzles and Reboot.

Maha is the CEO of Zero-Point Partners, an advisory & consulting firm focused on enabling the transition to a sustainable economy. She has +15 years of experience in environmental management, environmental, social & governance (ESG) strategy, and climate finance. Maha advises clients on greenhouse gas emissions accounting, decarbonization, corporate sustainability strategy and disclosure.

She is a faculty member of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance and has designed and conducted ESG capacity-building workshops for Board members and executive leadership teams. Previously, Maha was the Country Advisor Pakistan to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation providing strategic support for their climate change, poverty alleviation, nutrition, health and financial inclusion portfolio. She also advises financial institutions and corporations on accessing climate finance including Green Climate Fund accreditation and carbon credits. Prior to this, Maha worked for Engro Corporation on diverse environmental and social impact initiatives.

Maha has written extensively about climate & sustainability and co-authored a paper on Energy Security in Pakistan and another on Green Finance in Pakistan for the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). She serves on the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network- Pakistan. She also serves on the Board of the Global Youth Leadership Council, an international non-profit that engages youth in climate action. Maha has a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Environment and a BSE in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Princeton University.

Shehryar Hydri is the Managing Director at Endeavor Pakistan. He has over two decades of diverse experience in Pakistan’s technology sector. He has co-founded and been a key team member of pioneering startups such as Trango Interactive, a game development and animation studio that delivered projects for top global brands such as LucasArts, SEGA, Discovery Channel, Lexus and Nike.

He was also a founding member and director of the board at Convo, a ground-breaking enterprise SaaS that preceded Slack, and was one of the first Pakistani startups to raise $15 million from investors such Adobe and Morgenthaler Ventures.

In addition to running product and services teams, he has been a part of IT policy formulation at the national level as the head of P@SHA, the sole trade association of Pakistan’s IT sector.

Before joining Endeavor, Shehryar was the Managing Partner at Deosai Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing primarily in Pakistan.

Omer is the Founder & CEO of PostEx, Pakistan’s largest e-commerce service provider, offering easy access to capital with embedded logistics.

Previously, Omer has worked in finance & sales at different leading financial institutions and has also been a professional football player, representing the Pakistan National Football team for 2 years.

Shaheryar Popalzai is the Co-Founder and Head of Marketing at PureSquare’s Pureversity –  a security awareness training company.

Previous to his role at PureSquare, he was leading Marketing & Communications at PureVPN. His career as a journalist had spanned over a decade before he returned to his roots in digital security. 

Amtul Baweja is an actor, comedian, entrepreneur, host, and content creator. Alongside building a community of 50k+ followers on her own platform, she also creates content with her husband on her second platform, Patangeer. She is also the Co-Founder of Patangeer Productions, a boutique creative agency and production house, where she functions behind the camera as a director and producer. Most recently, Amtul has also starred in a short film ‘Murder Tongue’ that won multiple international awards at various global film festivals, as well as ‘Solatia’, which is one of the 14 short films selected at the Red Sea Film festival. Amtul has also acted in ‘Churails’, and is also a part of South-Asia’s first all-female comedy troupe, ‘Khawatoons’. Apart from this, Amtul also runs an e-commerce business for her own clothing line, ‘PRCH’.

Amir Mirza is an Associate Professor of Practice at Habib University’s Communication & Design (CND) Program. In a little over 2 decades of his teaching career, he has taught at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture (IVS), Karachi University (KU)’s Visual Studies and Psychology departments, the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi and SZABIST. His multiple degrees in Design, Psychology and Art Education creates a unique mix supporting his teaching and professional work.

Hassaan Bin Shaheen is a comedian, and rapper based in Pakistan. As a comedian he has performed all over Pakistan while having done shows in the UK and Pakistan. He currently hosts his monthly open mic by the name of Fitna, Fasaad aur Muhabbat and works actively on the stand-up circuit, hosting shows, performing stand up and musical comedy. He also works as a Project Manager at Finsweet and has expertise in web development, low code SaaS product management and design.

Chairperson at Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA), Ali is a well-known preventing/countering violent extremism (P/CVE) expert, peace-building specialist, public speaker, and social entrepreneur working in the development arena of Pakistan since 2009. He specializes in the development and execution of community development projects responding to indigenous needs. With his academic background in Peace and Conflict Studies, Ali has worked in +80 districts of Pakistan, engaging thousands of social leaders, religious communities, political leaders, and diverse stakeholders. He has developed various national-level campaigns and projects for the promotion of peace and tolerance including PACT for Tolerance (in collaboration with NAtional CounterTerrorism Authority – NACTA), Pakistan’s first residential fellowship program on P/CVE called Salamti Fellowship Program, ACTIVE KP, Karachi Interfaith Network, Project AAGHAZ and Tafheem for Madrassah students and many others. He is also the founder and lead of a transnational peace-building campaign called “Peace Without Borders”. Ali also heads Meta’s Search Redirect Initiative for Pakistan called, “Rahber” and provides expertise for TikTok’s Digital Hifazat Program for Pakistan. 

Ali is an alumnus with 15+ international fellowships and certifications on peace, inclusivity, and CVE including Peace+ Fellowship by Erasmus (Netherlands), International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Community Conflict Resolution – United States, Georgetown Young Leaders Summit (GYLS), Doha, Qatar, Global Peace on the Move by World Peace Initiative, Thailand, Commonwealth Youth Parliament, UK, Pakistan Young Leaders Conference, UK and many others.