TFD Report
KARACHI: “Pakistan stands on the threshold of a rare alternative. IT exports reached a file $3.8 billion in FY2025, the Uraan Pakistan imaginative and prescient units a $10 billion goal by 2029, and 73,000 CS/IT graduates be part of the workforce annually. With 64% of our inhabitants beneath 30 and a projected world scarcity of greater than 4 million expertise staff by 2030, each demand and expertise are firmly in place. What we’d like now could be a robust bridge between our lecture rooms and the worldwide market.” Senior IT affairs skilled and CEO of AKS iQ Shahzad Arif tells The Monetary Day by day.
Shahzad Arif is a seasoned expertise chief and the CEO of AKS iQ, with over 20 years of expertise in Pakistan’s IT and digital innovation panorama. He has performed a pivotal function in constructing high-performance expertise groups, delivering enterprise options, and advancing industry-academia collaboration to strengthen Pakistan’s world competitiveness in tech exports. Acknowledged for his strategic imaginative and prescient and coverage advocacy, Shahzad actively contributes to nationwide conversations on IT development, workforce improvement, and digital transformation, positioning AKS iQ on the forefront of innovation and impression.
AKS iQ is a Pakistan-based expertise options firm delivering high-impact digital companies to native and worldwide purchasers. AKS iQ makes a speciality of AI and machine studying software program improvement, cloud options, enterprise techniques, information analytics, and rising applied sciences, empowering companies to scale effectively in a quickly evolving digital economic system. Pushed by a dedication to innovation, high quality assurance, and workforce improvement, the corporate not solely delivers initiatives aligned with world requirements but additionally cultivates industry-ready expertise to gas the subsequent era of digital transformation. By strategic partnerships and a dedication to excellence, the corporate contributes to strengthening Pakistan’s IT export ecosystem and advancing the nation’s place within the world expertise market.
Shahzad Arif says “Immediately, the P@SHA Expertise Survey 2025 reviews that solely about 18% of IT graduates transfer immediately into {industry} roles, whereas the State Financial institution of Pakistan estimates simply 10% are totally industry-ready on day one. Corporations sometimes spend three to 6 months upskilling new hires. Reasonably than a setback, this represents a clearly outlined and solvable problem with immense upside. If we increase employability from 18% to even 50%, we’d unlock greater than 35,000 further industry-ready professionals annually, exactly the pipeline required to realize our $10 billion export ambition.”
He added “The excellent news is that confirmed options exist already. The College of Waterloo in Canada embeds six paid co-op phrases into each CS diploma and achieves 97% graduate employment. Germany’s twin training system locations 50-70% of coaching immediately within the office, with curricula co-designed by authorities, {industry}, and academia. Malaysia provides subsidies to employers who rent and prepare recent graduates. These are examined, scalable fashions able to be tailored for Pakistan.”
Drawing on 20 years within the IT {industry} and these world success tales, Shahzad Arif proposes six sensible reforms for federal authorities to speed up this transformation.
First, set up Curriculum Advisory Boards for each HEC-recognized CS/IT programme, with not less than 50% illustration from P@SHA member firms and main tech corporations. When {industry} co-owns curriculum design and updates happen yearly, graduates grasp abilities the market actually calls for.
Second, combine a compulsory one-semester paid {industry} internship into the four-year BS diploma. PSEB’s six-month internship programme has already validated the mannequin; embedding it inside diploma necessities and providing firms tax credit on stipends would scale it nationwide.
Third, embed globally acknowledged cloud certifications from AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud into diploma programmes by way of nationwide partnerships. Graduates getting into the job market with two {industry} certifications alongside their diploma turn out to be instantly aggressive for native and worldwide roles.
Fourth, launch an adjunct {industry} school initiative the place 20-30% of senior-level programs are taught or co-taught by working professionals. College students study greatest from specialists constructing actual merchandise and fixing real-world issues each day.
Fifth, align college accreditation with graduate employment outcomes. HEC’s Nationwide Ability Competency Check is a robust step ahead. Publishing six- and twelve-month employment charges for each programme would foster wholesome competitors amongst universities to ship market-ready expertise.
Sixth, and most significantly, embed skilled character improvement as a core curricular pillar. Technical excellence multiplies when paired with punctuality, accountability, resilience, and team-first management. Universities ought to introduce structured modules on ethics, office self-discipline, and collaborative accountability from semester one, bolstered by mentorship from senior {industry} leaders. Nations like Japan and Germany turned expertise powerhouses as a result of their techniques domesticate work ethic alongside technical ability. When our graduates mix each, they won’t merely fill jobs, they may lead groups and construct firms.
Shahzad Arif states “The expertise and ambition of our youth are unmatched. What they want is an training system that equips them not solely with idea, however with sensible abilities, certifications, {and professional} confidence to compete globally from day one. Collectively, federal authorities and the non-public sector can rework 73,000 annual graduates into the world’s most sought-after expertise workforce. The $10 billion goal isn’t a dream. It’s an actionable plan and it begins in our lecture rooms.”
