Atique Ur Rehman

founder of Maveshi Farms

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

Atique Ur Rehman is the founder of Maveshi Farms, an organic farm that provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. He was born in Wah Cantt and did a master's in computer science, specialising in AI. He also co-founded the Recognition, Vision and Learning Lab at FAST.

Early life and background

Rehman was born in Wah Cantt and has lived there all his life. He describes it as a very small city, about 3-4 kilometers in diameter. He says that being from Wah Cantt helped a lot and transformed his whole career. [1]

He says he came from a humble background and worried about how he would afford engineering. [1]

Education

Rehman did matriculation rather than O-levels and scored 80-85% in matric. He started FSC pre-engineering at a government school, and he says he was forcefully inducted into FSC. He was interested in maths there, and he first planned to become an electrical engineer. [1]

An entry test was cancelled, and it was held again a couple of months later. Rehman first selected electrical engineering and then computer science, and by chance he got into computer science. He says computer science chose him rather than the other way round. [1]

FAST offered him a master's scholarship in return for teaching. He did a master's in computer science and specialised in AI, and he says he got straight A's throughout, with a 4.0. He completed his master's thesis within a year or a year and a half. [1]

He describes a project named SnapThat. The idea of SnapThat was that a person visits a place, takes an image of it and associates something with it. He took a course on computer vision and image processing that a teacher was introducing at the time. He says he spent a whole summer vacation, five hours a day, building games. [1]

Career

Rehman says he and others founded the Recognition, Vision and Learning Lab at FAST. He says a five-day workshop was given purely to teachers from all the other universities, and that NVIDIA gave them their first K80. A person from Teradata who joined that workshop offered him a job at Teradata after a couple of semesters. [1]

He says he joined a company as technical lead for Pakistan, and that he was hired for the German office and was paid in euros. He says he spent two years there and then decided to leave. When he left, he says, the team was about 120. He says the role at Automotive AI had very poor work-life balance, and that they introduced a scholarship program by Automotive AI at FAST and fully funded a couple of students. [1]

He later moved to another company, which he names as his current employer. He says his employer gets somewhere around 100,000 videos a month. He says he luckily got exposure to international clients and to companies working internationally. [1]

Maveshi Farms

Rehman founded Maveshi Farms. He describes it as an organic farm that provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. He took a place half an hour from his house and partnered with another person. He says buyers can buy an animal a month or two beforehand, visit whenever they want, and get updates. [1]

He says he specifically picked goats first and then the dairy. He grows his own wheat, fodder, maize and peas on land he took. He says a collective number of about 250 to 300 goats are following these practices. He says they are talking with the agriculture department and institutes in Islamabad, which are taking samples from them. [1]

He says they are breeding a strain of Beetal to bring uniformity to the animals. They are building a pool of sire bucks with the traits they want passed on. He says a male goat has been priced at 10 to 15 lakhs. [1]

He says they are trying to reduce the price for their own people, among whom there is a huge demand. He says the vision is to educate enough people that a demand can be created. He says they aim to create a model in which a person can take a herd from them and build their practices. [1]

Views

Rehman is a believer in keeping the sense of sacrifice in qurbani. He says many animals sold at markets are retired or emergency slaughtered, and that some livestock is given steroids to make it eat more. He says antibiotic use in livestock creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria. [1]

He says the government needs to focus on biosecurity and improving local breeds. He says the Chinese are importing Pakistan's Beetal goats, and that food security will be a major issue for the region over the next decade. He says he sees himself here 30 to 40 years on, thinking that he was part of this revolution. [1]

On AI, he says the first AI bubble burst as people learned the limits of AI. He says AI models often fail when they meet real-world data after lab training, and that AI cannot do everything but can automate repetitive tasks. He thinks AI is in its second phase of rise. [1]

He thinks medical imaging is an area where AI will have a strong impact. He describes imagining talking to Photoshop and doing the work without actually learning Photoshop. He says AI can already build conversational agents that talk in Urdu. [1]

On work and education, he says the thing that contributed most in his whole career was having good teachers. He says the value of computer science is in problem solving rather than coding. He says 50% of the work is technical and the rest is communicating, and that not enough focus is placed on work ethics and general personality building of students. [1]

Personal life

Rehman is the only brother and has two sisters. He says he needed to earn, as the only son. He supports his family, and his father is retired. [1]

He was diagnosed with fibromatosis, a non-cancerous tumor, around 2018. For two months he believed he had cancer. During his second operation he was starting another business and handling construction from hospital. [1]

He says a surgery was a break that led him to think more about his priorities and the type of work he was doing. After his surgery he became too sensitive for a time to do his job properly. He says he realised the importance of mental health at that time. [1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-10-31 The AI engineer quietly building Pakistan's food future Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Atique Ur Rehman?

Atique Ur Rehman is the founder of Maveshi Farms, an organic farm that provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. He was born in Wah Cantt. He did a master's in computer science and specialised in AI.[1]

What does Atique Ur Rehman do?

Atique Ur Rehman founded Maveshi Farms, which provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. He also says he later moved to another company, which he names as his current employer. He says he grows his own wheat, fodder, maize and peas on land he took.[1]

Where is Atique Ur Rehman from?

Atique Ur Rehman was born in Wah Cantt and has lived there all his life. He describes it as a very small city, about 3-4 kilometers in diameter.[1]

Where did Atique Ur Rehman study?

Atique Ur Rehman did matriculation and then started FSC pre-engineering at a government school. He later did a master's in computer science and specialised in AI. FAST offered him a master's scholarship in return for teaching.[1]

What company did Atique Ur Rehman found?

Atique Ur Rehman founded Maveshi Farms. He describes it as an organic farm that provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. He says he specifically picked goats first and then the dairy.[1]

What is Maveshi Farms?

Maveshi Farms was founded by Atique Ur Rehman. He describes it as an organic farm that provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. He says buyers can buy an animal a month or two beforehand, visit whenever they want, and get updates.[1]

References

  1. The AI engineer quietly building Pakistan's food future . Thought Behind Things , 2022-10-31.
Show the source passages (76 statements)
  1. He was born in Wah Cantt and has lived there all his life. So I was born in Wah Cantt and I've been in Wah Cantt for all my life.
  2. He describes Wah Cantt as a very small city, about 3-4 kilometers in diameter. it's a very small city, 3-4 kilometers of diameter
  3. He did matriculation rather than O-levels. I did matriculation, O-levels were not the cool thing at that time
  4. He scored 80-85% in matric. I was a good student from the start, so 80-85% in matric and then also.
  5. He started FSC pre-engineering at a government school. So I started FSC pre-engineering from a government school
  6. He says he was forcefully inducted into FSC. So I was forcefully inducted to FSC.
  7. He is the only brother and has two sisters. I'm the only brother, I have two sisters
  8. He says he came from a humble background and worried about how he would afford engineering. I was coming from a very humble background and I wasn't sure how we are going to afford my engineering
  9. He was interested in maths in FSC. So in my FSC, I was very interested in maths, so I was good at maths from start.
  10. He first planned to become an electrical engineer. So naturally the notion was that I'm going to become an electrical engineer.
  11. An entry test was cancelled, and it was held again a couple of months later. But the test got cancelled and we got a couple of months before the test would again be conducted.
  12. He first selected electrical engineering and then computer science, and by chance he got into computer science. I selected electrical engineering at first and then computer science and by chance I got into computer science.
  13. He says computer science chose him rather than the other way round. I didn't choose computer science, it chose me.
  14. He says being from Wah Cantt helped a lot and transformed his whole career. So for once in life, being from Wah Cantt helped a lot and transformed my whole career.
  15. FAST offered him a master's scholarship in return for teaching. FAST offered a scholarship for masters. Okay. So, they'll pay for your master's fees and in in return, you'll teach, right?
  16. He says he got straight A's throughout, with a 4.0. I got straight A's throughout. I have 4.0.
  17. He did a master's in computer science and specialised in AI. So I chose computer science and then I did my specialization in AI.
  18. He completed his master's thesis within a year or a year and a half. jo mera master's ka thesis tha, woh maine pehle ek saal ya dedh saal ke andar kar liya tha
  19. He describes a project named SnapThat. The project was named SnapThat and the idea was that you visit some place
  20. The idea of SnapThat was that a person visits a place, takes an image of it and associates something with it. you visit some place, for example, you're on vacation, you take an image of that place, you associate something with it.
  21. He took a course on computer vision and image processing that a teacher was introducing at the time. Dr. Sibte was at that time introducing a course on computer vision and image processing. I took that course.
  22. He says he needed to earn, as the only son. I was the only son, I had to earn.
  23. He says he and others founded the Recognition, Vision and Learning Lab at FAST. we founded Revi Lab, Recognition, Vision and Learning Lab at FAST.
  24. He says a five-day workshop was given purely to teachers from all the other universities. we um gave a five-day workshop purely to teachers from all the other universities.
  25. He says NVIDIA gave them their first K80. NVIDIA gave us our first K80.
  26. A person from Teradata who joined that workshop offered him a job at Teradata after a couple of semesters. The person who joined that workshop from Teradata after a couple of semesters offered me the job at Teradata.
  27. He says he joined a company as technical lead for Pakistan. I joined them as technical lead for Pakistan.
  28. He says that when he left two years after, the team was about 120. when I left two years after, the team was 120, I guess.
  29. He says he was hired for the German office and was paid in euros. So, technically I was getting the benefit of being German, so I was hired for the German office. I was getting paid in uh Euros.
  30. He says he spent two years there and then decided to leave. And I spent two years there and then I decided to leave.
  31. He says a surgery was a break that led him to think more about his priorities and the type of work he was doing. I went through a surgery, right? And that was sort of a break for me that led me to think more about all the priorities, what type of work I am doing.
  32. He says the role at Automotive AI had very poor work-life balance. At Automotive Artificial Intelligence, I was very involved and the role was like very intense. So, there was very bad work-life balance on one side.
  33. He later moved to another company, which he names as his current employer. then I landed towards keep trucking. Currently Motive.
  34. He says they introduced a scholarship program by Automotive AI at FAST and fully funded a couple of students. We introduced a scholarship program by Automotive AI in FAST and we funded a couple of students, fully funded.
  35. After his surgery he became too sensitive for a time to do his job properly. Uh what happened to me is that after that, I became way too sensitive for for a certain duration so that that I wasn't able to even do my job properly.
  36. He says he realised the importance of mental health at that time. Uh aur us time pe I realized the importance of mental health.
  37. He was diagnosed with fibromatosis, a non-cancerous tumor, around 2018. I was diagnosed with fibromatosis. It's a form of non-cancerous tumor around 2018.
  38. For two months he believed he had cancer. For two months I believed I had cancer
  39. During his second operation he was starting another business and handling construction from hospital. during my second operation, I was starting another business and I was handling construction from office, uh sorry, from hospital.
  40. He supports his family, and his father is retired. now supporting my family. My father is retired.
  41. He founded Maveshi Farms. So that is where I founded Maweshi Farms
  42. He describes Maveshi Farms as an organic farm that provides breeding and raising of animals for qurbani and meat. Okay, so Maweshi Farms is an organic farm in which we are providing breeding and raising animals for qurbani purposes and for meat purposes
  43. He is a believer in keeping the sense of sacrifice in qurbani. I'm a true believer in keeping the sense of sacrifice in qurbani.
  44. He took a place half an hour from his house and partnered with another person. I took some place near to my house, half hour away and uh partnered with some some person
  45. He says buyers can buy an animal a month or two beforehand, visit whenever they want, and get updates. You can buy the animal, let's say a month before or two months before. You can visit whenever you want, you get updates of all of that.
  46. He says many animals sold at markets are retired or emergency slaughtered. there are a lot of animals which are either retired, right, uh late in their ages, or they are emergency slaughtered.
  47. He says some livestock is given steroids to make it eat more. They would give the animal steroids, animal would eat a lot because these steroids are initially meant for supporting the liver.
  48. He says antibiotic use in livestock creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria. On the other way, it's creating antibiotic resistant bacterias.
  49. He says he specifically picked goats first and then the dairy. Yeah, not yet and the reason is that I specifically picked goats first and then the dairy.
  50. He says they are talking with the agriculture department and institutes in Islamabad, which are taking samples from them. we are talking with the agriculture department here and institutes here in Islamabad, they are taking samples from us
  51. He grows his own wheat, fodder, maize and peas on land he took. So I took some land and I'm growing apni gandum, apna chara, apni makai, matar
  52. He says a collective number of about 250 to 300 goats are following these practices. we have a collective uh number, I think 250 to 300 goats on which we are following these practices.
  53. He says they are breeding a strain of Beetal to bring uniformity to the animals. a strain of Beetal called Makhi Cheena and we are breeding them to involve this uniformity in them.
  54. They are building a pool of sire bucks with the traits they want passed on. We are first of all creating a pool of sires which have certain properties that we want in the children.
  55. He says a male goat has been priced at 10 to 15 lakhs. Imagine a a male bakra having a price of 10 to 15 lakhs. Oh. That has happened.
  56. He says they are trying to reduce the price for their own people, among whom there is a huge demand. what we're trying to do is to reduce the price so that our own people, there is a huge demand.
  57. He says the vision is to educate enough people that a demand can be created. the vision is that we can educate enough people that we can create a demand for this first of all
  58. He says they aim to create a model in which a person can take a herd from them and build their practices. we can create a model form in which a person can come in, take a herd from us, build our practices
  59. He says the government needs to focus on biosecurity and improving local breeds. So you need your government to start focusing its effort in biosecurity, in trying to improve our breeds.
  60. He says the Chinese are importing Pakistan's Beetal goats. Chinese are importing our beetle goats.
  61. He says he sees himself here 30 to 40 years on, thinking that he was part of this revolution. And I personally see myself here 30, 30, 40 years after thinking that I I was part of this revolution.
  62. He says food security will be a major issue for the region over the next decade. food security is very very important which is going to hit this region over the next decade or so.
  63. He says the first AI bubble burst as people learned the limits of AI. People got to know the reality and limitations of AI systems.
  64. He says AI models often fail when they meet real-world data after lab training. you train it in lab settings on some data and then you the moment it get in touch with the real data, um things start falling apart.
  65. He says AI cannot do everything but can automate repetitive tasks. It cannot do everything, but it can definitely automate some repeating tasks
  66. He thinks AI is in its second phase of rise. I think it's in its second phase of rise, right?
  67. He says his employer gets somewhere around 100,000 videos a month. in Motive we get somewhere around 100,000 videos a month.
  68. He thinks medical imaging is an area where AI will have a strong impact. I think medical imaging and magical domain is one of the areas in which it would have a very strong impact.
  69. He describes imagining talking to Photoshop and doing the work without actually learning Photoshop. imagine having Photoshop in front of you and being able to talk to Photoshop and do the stuff without actually learning to do Photoshop.
  70. He says AI can already build conversational agents that talk in Urdu. AI technology is already there with which you can build conversational agents which can talk to you in Urdu.
  71. He says he luckily got exposure to international clients and to companies working internationally. after that, I luckily got exposure of international clients, companies who were working internationally.
  72. He says he spent a whole summer vacation, five hours a day, building games. And I spent I think the whole summer vacation five hours a day building games.
  73. He says the thing that contributed most in his whole career was having good teachers. The the thing that contributed most in my uh whole career was having good teachers, right?
  74. He says the value of computer science is in problem solving rather than coding. It's not the coding part. Yeah. It's the problem solving part.
  75. He says 50% of the work is technical and the rest is communicating. 50% of your work is actually technical and the rest is communicating.
  76. He says not enough focus is placed on work ethics and general personality building of students. I think we are not focusing enough on work ethics, general personality building of students