Imran Zia takes over as MD PSEB

You will remember Imran Zia as the Immediate Past Chairman of P@SHA and the CEO of Vahzay Inc, Lahore. Well, the man has changed gear and as of today, has taken on the challenging position of Managing Director, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) – a position that has for some reason been lying vacant for the past two years.

The Secretary, Ministry of IT & Telecom, Mr. Nagibullah Malik, should be congratulated on the selection of such an impressive candidate to fill this post. He must have seen in Imran what many of us who have worked with him, have known for some time –  an honest, committed, hardworking and intelligent person with a passion for making a difference. Those of us who have been involved in policy discussions with him know that he has been very vocal about the policy changes that are needed for Pakistan to become a greater player on the world ICT scene.

Imran strongly believes in the raw talent that exists in this country and has been known to press the case for small and medium sized companies who need extra support from both the government and the private sector in order to overcome the challenges that they face.

Imran is a man of vision. Many of you may remember that as recently as October 14, 2009 at the P@SHA ICT Awards, recognizing the potential of Zayd Enam of MediConnect and Babar Ahmed of Cricket Revolution, he gave the time allocated for the Chairman’s address to these young men so that they could present their innovative ideas and products to the 540 people assembled at the Sheraton in Karachi. His faith in them (as well as the faith of all of us who were inspired by them) was justified when they went on to win the APICTA award and the Runner up award in their respective categories in Melbourne Australia.

Imran is an MBA (Finance and Entrepreneurship) from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He is also an MS (Computer Engineering) from Cornell University and a B.Sc. (Electrical Engineering) from UET, Lahore. He has over 17 years experience working in senior managerial positions in sales, consulting, product management and product development at Oracle, Altera and other hi-tech companies. At Oracle he was recognized for his contribution to the sales and consulting teams and was nominated to Club Excellence on two separate occasions – an award given only to the top performers in Oracle sales and consulting. Imran has been bit by the entrepreneurial bug and is a serial entrepreneur who has started software companies both in the US and in Pakistan. He has also been teaching  entrepreneurship at FAST-NUCES Lahore for the past couple of years.

When I interviewed him on ITLOW in April last year, he spoke about a variety of issues (I also put up a post on this blog to coincide with the interview). It will be interesting to have him back on the show after he has settled into his new position, just to see what he thinks can be done from within government.

Imran Zia is an amazing chap and his friends and associates, and all of us at P@SHA, believe that his appointment is a good omen for the ICT industry. We all know that Imran will put in 110% into his new role. However, perhaps all of us need to manage our expectations in so far as what, even a person like Imran, will be able to achieve with the limitations of the government framework in which he will find himself. Let us give him a bit of time to settle in, a bit of room to manoeuvre and to understand the lay of the land, before we begin to expect him to perform miracles.

Imran, the industry offers you its full support and cooperation. Let us join hands and work together to ensure that the brilliant minds within the Pakistani ICT sector are able to meet their true potential. Good luck Imran Zia. Our prayers and good wishes are with you as you take on this challenging role.