About

where I started

I grew up in Hyderabad, Sindh, a city with few tech companies. Before I wrote any code, I was a salesman in my father's shop. Then I had to make a hard decision: stay in the shop, or keep studying and try to build a career in software, even though I didn't know how to program yet. I chose software.

I taught myself, mostly from YouTube. When YouTube was blocked in Pakistan, I built my own proxy app so I could keep learning.

In 2014 I got my first job, at Vertex Web Solution, building websites while I was still studying. For the next three years I worked and studied at the same time, paying for my own education and helping at home. I finished my BS in Computer Science at the University of Sindh in 2017.

Verge and WebHR

In 2015 I joined Verge Systems in Pakistan. I built enterprise, banking and public-sector applications there, sometimes as the only developer and sometimes leading the team. That work is why the company moved me to WebHR, the flagship product of Verge Inc, its US company. I've been with Verge Inc since 2018.

I was one of WebHR's first engineers. Most modules were basic, so I took them one at a time, starting with attendance. I brought AI into the product through Amazon Alexa in 2018, so people could run HR by voice. As WebHR grew past a million employees, I built the gateway and the first service behind it, and we moved the busiest parts of the system out one by one.

Since 2018 I've worked directly with the founder and CTO. When they have a new product idea, I build the foundation and get it working, then a team grows around it. That's how HireSide and PayDay started, and I still run the infrastructure behind all of our products.

AI

In 2024 we decided to build one AI platform for all our products, and I left my other work to build it. Today people can use every one of our products by typing what they need in plain text, and an AI agent finds the answer or does the work. I lead the team behind it.

I work AI-first myself too. It lets me move across several products at once, and I still get hands-on when a problem needs it.

today

I still live in Hyderabad, and from here I lead teams across Pakistan, the US and the UAE. Along the way I went from Software Developer to Principal Software Engineer and mentored 150+ engineers. I also speak and teach, mostly about AI, AWS and building SaaS products.

By Allah's grace, I've come a long way from that shop. My father supported me at every step. Even when times were hard for our family, he let me choose my own path and was there whenever I needed him. Today he is retired and enjoying it.