Ahmed Abubakar

founder of Imagine Art

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Ahmed Abubakar is the founder of Imagine Art, a GenAI creative suite built in Pakistan and used by millions worldwide. He has said annual recurring revenue rose from $1 million in 2022 to $10 million during 2023. He has said the company is EBITDA positive.

Early life and background

Abubakar has said that he and his siblings were born in Karachi. He has said his mother's health worsened in Karachi, so the family moved to a village, which he places near Shahpur and Sargodha. He studied in the village and returned to Karachi in 2005. [1]

He has said his father was a taxi driver with two or three taxis, and that his father started a taxi business after moving to Karachi. According to Abubakar, his father also worked at a cotton factory in Hyderabad. He has said he sat with his father while they filled small water tanks. [1]

Abubakar has said his father had never studied and is a hafiz of the Quran. He has said his mother also did not receive an education. He has said his older sister was diagnosed with brain cancer and died. [1]

Education

Abubakar has said he scored 67 percent in matriculation. He has said he decided to repeat and put in a full year of effort again. He picked telecommunications and computer science as his major, and has said he ended his final year with a 3.94 GP. He has also said he earned an international CCNA certification. [1]

Career

Abubakar has said he did an internship at Telenor. He has said his first job was in a network customer role. He has also said he had a morning job from 7 to 4 while the team kept planning late into the night. [1]

According to Abubakar, the team began building its first app, a background changer. The team implemented ads using Google Ads and AdMob, and integrated a Google search API. He has said the product went viral in India. He has said the first product passed $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue. [1]

Abubakar has said Google Singapore sent an invitation after the team became what he believed was a top 50 developer. He has said the team reached the top 3 in Android art and design. He has said the team decided to build a product because its experience was in image and media content. [1]

Imagine Art

Abubakar has said the team created a product called Imagine in December 2022. He has said the team first registered imagine.art for desktop. The team's first model was Imagine 3.1, built for realistic images, and he has said Imagine offers image, video, audio and music generation in one place. [1]

He has said the team moved into subscriptions and SaaS in mid-2023. He has said the company used to depend on AdSense and then decided to change its focus. He has said the average customer pays the company about $40. [1]

Abubakar has said his company is an early partner of foundation model companies. He has said Imagine works with about 1,200 top AI creator partners, and that it is moving toward a creator community that will go live soon. He has said the company plans to launch team plans with collaborative features. He has said the team recently deployed an internal model with a single prompt box. [1]

He has said some users can cost the company $75 in inference against a $25 subscription. He has said the company does not plan to lose money on each customer. He has said the company targets $100 to $150 million in annual revenue within the next two to three years. [1]

Funding, offices and partnerships

Abubakar has said the company completed a valuation and is about to open an ESOP, and that it plans to keep a larger ESOP pool. He has said the company is in the process of raising funds. He has said he spent a whole month in the US meeting venture capitalists. [1]

He has said the company recently opened an office in San Francisco, and that it has operated mostly from the US for about three to three and a half years. He has said the company considered opening an office outside Pakistan. He has said the team is considering Dubai because its time zone is similar to Pakistan's. He has said he is going to a conference in Riyadh. [1]

Abubakar has said his company is running partnerships with several startups. He has said the team had a call with Ogilvy, which said it liked the product. [1]

Views

Abubakar has said Adobe Firefly has started integrating other AI models. He has said more competition among foundation model providers helps the team build more mini apps. He has said large AI companies think a thousand times before building, which slows them down. He has said the biggest AI problem is that users must learn every platform. He has said Midjourney is a very successful bootstrap company. [1]

He has said the future of AI workflows is many apps, each trained on one feature-specific use case, and that mini apps are built for specific image and video use cases. He has said the team's focus is on social media trends on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. He has also said expanding into B2B is very hard, and that people in the US work in very lean teams. [1]

Abubakar has said Suno's output lacks soul. He has said filmmaking is a full workflow, not just putting the film together. He has said he needs to know the craft himself to create something powerful. [1]

He has said AI has made content creation much easier for ordinary people. He has said a one-minute AI video that took a full day now takes about two hours with the right model. He has said jobs are being replaced by people who know AI, not by AI itself. He has said people who cannot innovate should copy what works well and improve it. [1]

Abubakar has said Pakistan's app industry, including gaming, is bigger than India's. He has said he is very positive about Pakistan's future. He has said Pakistan has very smart people who need to be trained for the work, and that much of Pakistan's talent goes to international markets rather than staying in Pakistan. He has said his team is in Islamabad but works as if it were in the Valley. [1]

He has said young Pakistanis are shifting their focus away from government jobs. He has said education is the enabler and a basic necessity for every individual. He has said education is a must for poor people. He has said many young people in villages leave school believing there is no future. [1]

Personal life

Abubakar has said he got a US visa last year and has visited the US three times since. He has said he travels back and forth between Pakistan and the US. [1]

He has said he has used Suno to make music. He has said he released a song in January, and that he wrote a song about his mother. He has said he uses writing and composing music to relax. He has said his songs get a better response on Spotify than on YouTube. [1]

Timeline

2005
Returned to Karachi after studying in a village.[1]
2022
The team created a product called Imagine in December.[1]
2023
Annual recurring revenue rose from $1 million in 2022 to $10 million during 2023.[1]
2023
The team moved into subscriptions and SaaS in mid-2023.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2025-12-05 AI won't take your job. Someone who uses it will. Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Ahmed Abubakar?

Ahmed Abubakar is the founder of Imagine Art. Imagine Art is a GenAI creative suite built in Pakistan and used by millions worldwide.[1]

What does Ahmed Abubakar do?

Ahmed Abubakar is the founder of Imagine Art. He has said Imagine offers image, video, audio and music generation in one place.[1]

Where is Ahmed Abubakar from?

Ahmed Abubakar has said that he and his siblings were born in Karachi. He has said the family village is near Shahpur and Sargodha.[1]

What company did Ahmed Abubakar found?

Ahmed Abubakar founded Imagine Art, a GenAI creative suite built in Pakistan. He has said the team created a product called Imagine in December 2022.[1]

What did Ahmed Abubakar study?

Ahmed Abubakar has said he picked telecommunications and computer science as his major. He has said he ended his final year with a 3.94 GP. He has also said he earned an international CCNA certification.[1]

How does Imagine Art make money?

Ahmed Abubakar has said the team moved into subscriptions and SaaS in mid-2023. He has said the company used to depend on AdSense and then decided to change its focus. He has said the average customer pays the company about $40.[1]

Is Imagine Art profitable?

Ahmed Abubakar has said the company is EBITDA positive. He has said the company does not plan to lose money on each customer.[1]

Where does Ahmed Abubakar's company operate from?

Ahmed Abubakar has said the company has operated mostly from the US for about three to three and a half years. He has said the company recently opened an office in San Francisco. He has also said his team is in Islamabad.[1]

References

  1. AI won't take your job. Someone who uses it will. . Thought Behind Things , 2025-12-05.
Show the source passages (93 statements)
  1. Ahmed Abubakar is the founder of Imagine Art. Ahmed Abubakar, Founder of Imagine Art
  2. Imagine Art is a GenAI creative suite built in Pakistan and used by millions worldwide. a Pakistan-built GenAI creative suite used by millions worldwide
  3. Ahmed Abubakar has said he and his siblings were born in Karachi. paidaish hum behan bhaiyon ki saalon ki Karachi se hai
  4. Ahmed Abubakar has said his mother's health worsened in Karachi, so the family moved to a village. doctor ammi ko kehte hain ke unki tabiyat kharab ho jati hai Karachi mein, kis unko jo hai na environment change karne ke liye hum gaon ki taraf you know move karna padta hai
  5. Ahmed Abubakar has said the family village is near Shahpur and Sargodha. which is like hamara gaon jo hai Shahpur aur Sargodha ke paas ek hai
  6. Ahmed Abubakar has said he studied in the village and returned to Karachi in 2005. humne maine wahan education hasil ki aur phir hum 2005 mein wapas Karachi chale gaye
  7. Ahmed Abubakar has said his father was a taxi driver with two or three taxis. walid sahab taxi driver hain aur do teen taxi thi abu ki
  8. Ahmed Abubakar has said his father started a taxi business after moving to Karachi. jab woh Karachi gaye to unhone taxi ki uh jo hai ek business start kiya matlab taxi start ki
  9. Ahmed Abubakar has said his father worked at a cotton factory in Hyderabad. Hyderabad mein rui ki ek factory mein kaam karte the
  10. Ahmed Abubakar has said he sat with his father while they filled small water tanks. aur main abu ke saath baith jata tha aur hum Surab Goth se paani ki tankiyan choti choti hoti thi woh bharte the
  11. Ahmed Abubakar has said his father had never studied and is a hafiz of the Quran. abu jo the unhone bhi bilkul nahi padha tha aur Quran Pak ke hafiz hain
  12. Ahmed Abubakar has said his mother also did not receive an education. aur ammi ne bhi education nahi hasil ki
  13. Ahmed Abubakar has said his older sister was diagnosed with brain cancer and died. she got diagnosed with a brain cancer aur uski wajah se unki phir meri badi behen ki death ho jaati hai
  14. Ahmed Abubakar has said he scored 67 percent in matriculation. To yahan pe main 67 percentage matric mein aa gayi hai
  15. Ahmed Abubakar has said he decided to repeat and put in a full year of effort again. Maine kaha nahi I have to repeat. Maine apna pura ek saal dobara se wahi effort ki
  16. Ahmed Abubakar has said he picked telecommunications and computer science as his major. maine telecommunications and computer science ko maine major pick kiya
  17. Ahmed Abubakar has said he ended his final year with a 3.94 GP. final year mein I ended up with 3.94 GP right
  18. Ahmed Abubakar has said he earned an international CCNA certification. maine CCNA ki ek international certification le li thi
  19. Ahmed Abubakar has said he did an internship at Telenor. Phir Telenor mein maine kuch in time internship ki
  20. Ahmed Abubakar has said his first job was in a network customer role. Uske baad ek pehli job lagi Cybernet mein as a network customer network wala
  21. Ahmed Abubakar has said a younger brother of his is a co-founder of the company. Especially mere chhote bhai Zain Abdullah jo aaj co-founders hain Vairo ke
  22. Ahmed Abubakar has said his youngest brother is the CTO. mere sabse chote bhai Abdullah who is the CTO right now
  23. Ahmed Abubakar has said a brother called him one day to say he had understood Python. Abdullah called me one day bro ki na mujhe Python samajh aa gayi hai
  24. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team began building its first app, a background changer. Humne phir pehli app yeh background changer banana shuru ki
  25. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team implemented ads using Google Ads and AdMob. Ads implementation start ki Google ads lagaya, AdMob lagaya
  26. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team integrated a Google search API. Humne kiya kya uske andar Google search API integrate kar di
  27. Ahmed Abubakar has said the product went viral in India. Woh product India mein viral ho gayi
  28. Ahmed Abubakar has said the first product passed $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue. pehli product hamari 50,000 dollar MRR ke upar monthly revenue pe chali gayi
  29. Ahmed Abubakar has said Google Singapore sent an invitation after the team became what he believed was a top 50 developer. Google Singapore ki taraf se invite aata hai as a I think top 50 developer hum ban chuke the
  30. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team reached the top 3 in Android art and design. Android pe hum top 3 art and design
  31. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team decided to build a product because its experience was in image and media content. hamari to experience hai hi content image aur media ke upar hai to kyun na hum koi product banaye
  32. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team created a product called Imagine in December 2022. 23 ke 22 ke December mein humne Imagine naam se ek product
  33. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team's first model was Imagine 3.1, built for realistic images. humne pehla apna model Imagine 3.1 banaya jo ke realistic images ke upar tha
  34. Ahmed Abubakar has said annual recurring revenue rose from $1 million in 2022 to $10 million during 2023. To 2022 tak alhamdulillah hum 1 million ARR pe se uth ke hum 2023 ke andar 10 million ARR pe chale gaye
  35. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team moved into subscriptions and SaaS in mid-2023. Ab humne subscription aur SAS ke business ke andar enter 23 ke mid mein
  36. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company used to depend on AdSense and then decided to change its focus. pehle hum ek ads AdSense pe dependent the ab humne kaha yaar nahi let's focus on that
  37. Ahmed Abubakar has said the average customer pays the company about $40. on average customer humein $40 de raha hai
  38. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team first registered imagine.art for desktop. humne desktop ke upar pehli baar imagine.art register kiya
  39. Ahmed Abubakar has said Imagine offers image, video, audio and music generation in one place. imagine is right now a one stop solution that offers uh image image, video, audio, music, all generations available
  40. Ahmed Abubakar has said his company is an early partner of foundation model companies. hum foundational model company ke sath early partners hain duniya bhar se
  41. Ahmed Abubakar has said Imagine works with about 1,200 top AI creator partners. Imagine ke is waqt duniya bhar se 1200 top AI creators partners hain hamare
  42. Ahmed Abubakar has said Imagine is moving toward a creator community that will go live soon. we are taking it towards a community. Community is gonna live soon jisme aap koi content banayenge, publish karenge
  43. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company plans to launch team plans with collaborative features. hum ek team plans live karne ja rahe hain jisme hum imagine ko complete collaborative experience dene ja rahe hain
  44. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company is EBITDA positive. Yes, we are EBITDA positive or profitable hain, Alhamdulillah
  45. Ahmed Abubakar has said some users can cost the company $75 in inference against a $25 subscription. kabhi kabhar aisa bhi hota hai ke yaar maine 25 dollar ki subscription li, actually maine usmein jo inference inference kar kar ke to aap you know actual cost aa rahi hai 75 dollar
  46. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company does not plan to lose money on each customer. on every customer losing let's say 2 dollar, right. Hum yeh nahi karenge
  47. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company targets $100 to $150 million in annual revenue within the next two to three years. jahan pe ab saal ka 100-150 million dollar, inshaAllah agle do-teen saal mein jo hamara target hai
  48. Ahmed Abubakar has said expanding into B2B is very hard. B2B expand karna hai. Literally it's very hard
  49. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company completed a valuation and is about to open an ESOP. humne uski valuation done karwa li hai and we are about to open ESOP
  50. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company plans to keep a larger ESOP pool. salaries keh lein ya unka ESOP keh lein toh yes that's in plan aur pool hum zyada bada rakhenge
  51. Ahmed Abubakar has said much of Pakistan's talent goes to international markets rather than staying in Pakistan. Pakistan mein jo hamara talent hai woh zyada tar Pakistan mein hop nahi karta right? Aur aur woh zyada tar international market mein jaata hai
  52. Ahmed Abubakar has said people in the US work in very lean teams. US mein log ek bahut lean teams ke andar operate karte hain
  53. Ahmed Abubakar has said he spent a whole month in the US meeting venture capitalists. I was in uh in US for whole month. I was meeting world class VCs
  54. Ahmed Abubakar has said he got a US visa last year and has visited the US three times since. Ab last year I got a visa for US aur uske baad mein teen baar US ja chuka hoon
  55. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company recently opened an office in San Francisco. abhi humne recently uh San Francisco mein ek uh you know ek office open kiya hai
  56. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company is in the process of raising funds. we are about to raise uh we are in the process of raising
  57. Ahmed Abubakar has said his company is running partnerships with several startups. abhi hum kuch different partnerships kar rahe hain, unhone kuch different startups kar rahe hain
  58. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company considered opening an office outside Pakistan. hum yeh bhi soch rahe the ki hum Pakistan se jab humein next step hop karna hoga just to open an office
  59. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team is considering Dubai because its time zone is similar to Pakistan's. ke humein Dubai rehna hai ya kyunke Dubai ka fayda yeh hai ke time domain similar hai
  60. Ahmed Abubakar has said he is going to a conference in Riyadh. abhi next month Riyadh mein Pak Launch conference ho rahi hai, wahan ja raha hoon
  61. Ahmed Abubakar has said Pakistan has very smart people who need to be trained for the work. Pakistan mein aapko train karna padta hai lekin of course very smart people we have in in Pakistan
  62. Ahmed Abubakar has said the company has operated mostly from the US for about three to three and a half years. Abhi bhi hamari jo company hai 3, 3.5 saal se takreeban US se hi operate ho rahi hai
  63. Ahmed Abubakar has said he travels back and forth between Pakistan and the US. Ah main back and forth kaafi zyada kar raha hoon
  64. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team recently deployed an internal model with a single prompt box. hum internal recently ek ek model deploy kiya hai humne, jismein aapko ek prompt box hai
  65. Ahmed Abubakar has said he had a morning job from 7 to 4 while the team kept planning late into the night. Main morning job karta tha subah 7 se 4 aur mujhe yaad hai main 4:30 baje apne TIC office mein raat 11 1 2 baje tak hum baith ke kuch na kuch plan karte rehte the
  66. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team had a call with Ogilvy, which said it liked the product. Ogilvy we had a call with Ogilvy by the way. Ah they like the product
  67. Ahmed Abubakar has said Adobe Firefly has started integrating other AI models. Adobe Firefly ka main dekh raha tha they have started integrating other models as well
  68. Ahmed Abubakar has said the team's focus is on social media trends on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Toh our focus is entirely on the social media, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn
  69. Ahmed Abubakar has said more competition among foundation model providers helps the team build more mini apps. jitna zyada humein competition of foundational model mil raha hai, un foundational model ko use karke hum different mini apps create kar pa rahe hain
  70. Ahmed Abubakar has said large AI companies think a thousand times before building, which slows them down. jitna company badi hai na, usko challenges yeh hain ke wo banane se pehle hazaar baar sochte hain
  71. Ahmed Abubakar has said the biggest AI problem is that users must learn every platform. Aapko AI ka sabse bada masla yeh hai ke aapko har platform ko seekhna padta hai
  72. Ahmed Abubakar has said Midjourney is a very successful bootstrap company. Main interestingly mid journey uh very very successful bootstrap company
  73. Ahmed Abubakar has said the future of AI workflows is many apps, each trained on one feature-specific use case. the future of of of actual AI workflows woh yeh hai ke bunch of different apps jo ke trained hain on feature specific use case
  74. Ahmed Abubakar has said mini apps are built for specific image and video use cases. ke har problem of image, video ke upar use case specific hai basically
  75. Ahmed Abubakar has said Suno's output lacks soul. Suno is there only, right? Lekin uske andar woh soul nahi hai
  76. Ahmed Abubakar has said filmmaking is a full workflow, not just putting the film together. But film making is not the art of putting the film together
  77. Ahmed Abubakar has said he needs to know the craft himself to create something powerful. I need to know something about something to be able to create something powerful
  78. Ahmed Abubakar has said he has used Suno to make music. Personally maine suno ko istemal kiya recently
  79. Ahmed Abubakar has said he released a song in January. maine usko ek gaana maine release kar diya is saal ke January ke andar
  80. Ahmed Abubakar has said he wrote a song about his mother. maine walida ke upar ek bada solid composition ek likhi hai
  81. Ahmed Abubakar has said he uses writing and composing music to relax. Jo aapki negative energy hai, aap usko relax kar sakte hain ismein likhne mein, compose karne mein
  82. Ahmed Abubakar has said his songs get a better response on Spotify than on YouTube. Rahi baat yeh ke iska response YouTube ka kaafi achha hai aur Spotify zyada behtar hai
  83. Ahmed Abubakar has said AI has made content creation much easier for ordinary people. aam aadmi ke liye content banana bada aasaan ho gaya
  84. Ahmed Abubakar has said a one-minute AI video that took a full day now takes about two hours with the right model. like pura din lag raha tha AI ke upar bhi karte hue, ek ek minute ki video banane mein. Ab woh behtar hote hote hote, I think bahut like do ghante mein ban jaati hai right, agar aap right model use karte hain
  85. Ahmed Abubakar has said jobs are being replaced by people who know AI, not by AI itself. And again jobs replace AI nahi kar raha, jobs replace ho rahi hain by someone who knows AI
  86. Ahmed Abubakar has said people who cannot innovate should copy what works well and improve it. bahut achhe ko copy kar lo. Aap jab usko copy karoge you will be able to make better ways by sometime
  87. Ahmed Abubakar has said Pakistan's app industry, including gaming, is bigger than India's. Pakistan ki jo app industry hai woh even India se bhi badi hai gaming aur app mila ke
  88. Ahmed Abubakar has said education is the enabler and a basic necessity for every individual. education is the enabler, is the basic basic necessity of every individual, man and woman both
  89. Ahmed Abubakar has said he is very positive about Pakistan's future. I am very positive about Pakistan, right?
  90. Ahmed Abubakar has said young Pakistanis are shifting their focus away from government jobs. unko unka focus change hua hai, maybe towards from government jobs
  91. Ahmed Abubakar has said education is a must for poor people. Agar koi ghareeb hai toh uske paas taleem hona must hai
  92. Ahmed Abubakar has said many young people in villages leave school believing there is no future. gaon dehat mein log apni taleem khatam kar dete hain ke yaar koi future nahi hai
  93. Ahmed Abubakar has said his team is in Islamabad but works as if it were in the Valley. although my team is in Islamabad right? Lekin we work like ki hum valley ke andar hi baithe hain right?