Kanwal Masroor

IT company founder

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

Kanwal Masroor is the founder of CXO Global Forum and Dynamic Folio. Masroor says he worked in the warehouse of a pharma distributor and then moved to its IT department, where he learned some computing. He came to understand an inventory management system on his own and then began designing such systems himself.

Education

Masroor says he completed his primary education at the school where he began his schooling. He then attended another school and moved to a government school around class 6. He completed his matric at a government school. [1]

Early career

Masroor says he worked in the warehouse of a pharma distributor and then moved to its IT department, where he learned some computing. He came to understand an inventory management system on his own and then began designing such systems himself. After Windows arrived, he also became somewhat involved in graphics. [1]

He worked as a creative head at several organizations, drawing on his design background. He says he has worked with more than 200 to 300 companies, including big ones, and that he worked with most of the big companies. [1]

His own company

Masroor's company began in a small room, and staff were asked to bring their own computers from home. It built websites priced at about 10,000 rupees each, and its first project came from a bank. [1]

The company later worked with international customers and did geo-fencing work. It also designed some financial wallets outside Pakistan and built expense managers, which gave it valuable exposure. It did e-detailing work for big global companies and built presentations that were then delivered to doctors. [1]

Masroor says the company has turned down some projects for lack of bandwidth. The company had about 36 people before COVID and about 25 to 26 people now. [1]

Working with clients

Masroor says he has never met 90% of his clients in person. He says all of the interaction has been virtual, over Zoom and similar meetings. He says payment arrives 90 days after the job completion certificate is issued. [1]

Forum and CXO academy

Masroor says he realised that national-level forums like the World Economic Forum were greatly needed. He says the forum is the first of its kind to originate in Pakistan. His plan was to build a knowledge-sharing platform, and he says GDP is shifting from a normal economy to a knowledge economy. [1]

He says CXO members are C-level executives, such as CEOs, CIOs and CFOs. He says membership is close to 500, all from big companies, and that the members are not exclusively Pakistani and include foreigners. He says they run events and meetups, and have a publication and conferences. [1]

He says that about a year before, they had planned to create a CXO academy. The plan was that people would give two hours of their week and teach young people remotely on Zoom. He says they did not design that train-the-trainer model and did not convert it into an institute. [1]

Views on business and payments

Masroor says ease of doing business is not available to the ordinary person. He says a person should be able to register a company easily and escape the hassles of the FBR. He also says his account opened last week, after roughly one and a half to two months. [1]

He says that until the payment gateway issue is solved, an ordinary young person doing business outside Pakistan will not land money in Pakistan. He says investment is a big problem because money does not land in Pakistan. He says Payoneer does not provide merchant accounts, and that there is a FATF challenge and there are anti-money laundering issues. [1]

He says the private sector and the corporate sector need to be involved, and calls for round tables with them. He says institutions do not talk to one another. He says there are a great many egoistic issues at the top. [1]

Views on talent and the IT industry

Masroor says nothing has been done for the 60% youth, and that the youth have no stakeholder platform, so they turn to TikTok and YouTube. He says the issue at present is to empower the common person, an ordinary youngster. He says he always believes in empowering those who come after. [1]

He says roughly 5 to 10 lakh young people are needed in the IT industry in high-level roles. He says nobody has an answer to who will develop those people over the next ten years. He says the focus should be more on those who become job creators. [1]

He says content writing and graphic design can be automated for most part. He feels the IT industry should have a somewhat bigger role, and describes himself as the biggest advocate of STZA. [1]

He says there is a 15 to 20 year gap that now has to be covered very rapidly. He says a mindset is needed in which people look at their own benefit later, and that there is a strong tendency to be very self-centric. He thinks that by learning from its mistakes the country will become a grown country, especially in the IT sector. He says he sees a very grown country, because he has high expectations of the young people now coming up. He says the chances of exponential growth are very many. [1]

Timeline

2003 or 2004
Started e-marketing work[1]
2013
Ended employment in a job and started a small company of his own[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-01-19 Pakistan's IT problem is disconnection, not potential Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

What does Kanwal Masroor do?

Kanwal Masroor started a small company that built websites priced at about 10,000 rupees each. The company also built expense managers, designed some financial wallets outside Pakistan, and did e-detailing work for big global companies.[1]

Where did Kanwal Masroor study?

Kanwal Masroor says he completed his primary education at the school where he began his schooling. He then attended another school and moved to a government school around class 6. He completed his matric at a government school.[1]

How did Kanwal Masroor start his company?

Kanwal Masroor worked in a job until 2013 and then started a small company of his own. The company began in a small room, and staff were asked to bring their own computers from home. Its first project came from a bank.[1]

How big is Kanwal Masroor's company?

Kanwal Masroor's company had about 36 people before COVID and about 25 to 26 people now. He says he has never met 90% of his clients in person.[1]

What did Kanwal Masroor plan for a CXO academy?

Kanwal Masroor says that about a year before, they had planned to create a CXO academy. The plan was that people would give two hours of their week and teach young people remotely on Zoom. He says they did not design that train-the-trainer model and did not convert it into an institute.[1]

What does Kanwal Masroor say about the IT industry?

Kanwal Masroor says roughly 5 to 10 lakh young people are needed in the IT industry in high-level roles. He feels the IT industry should have a somewhat bigger role. He also says content writing and graphic design can be automated for most part.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan's IT problem is disconnection, not potential . Thought Behind Things , 2022-01-19.
Show the source passages (61 statements)
  1. He completed his primary education at the school where he began his schooling. So I've started from uh Saint Mary's School, usmein primary education meri wahin se hui
  2. He then attended another school and moved to a government school around class 6. phir uh Gulshan Cambridge School, phir uh I guess class 6 mein we have moved to a sarkari school
  3. He completed his matric at a government school. matric maine Sakkar se kiya from Bagh-e-Hayat Ali Shah jo sarkari school hai wahan se kiya
  4. He worked in the warehouse of a pharma distributor and then moved to its IT department, where he learned some computing. ek pharma company thi uh distribution unki main uh warehouse mein kaam karta tha aur wahan se phir unke IT department mein jaake toh thoda bahut computer bhi seekh gaye
  5. He came to understand an inventory management system on his own and then began designing such systems himself. phir maine poora inventory management system ko maine khud se samajh ke phir khud se design karna shuru kiya
  6. After Windows arrived, he also became somewhat involved in graphics. Windows ke baad phir main thoda sa graphics mein bhi involve hua
  7. He worked as a creative head at several organizations, drawing on his design background. kyunke uh my designing ka tha toh as a creative head bhi raha phir different organizations mein
  8. He started e-marketing work in 2003 or 2004. phir 2003-4 mein jo hai maine e-marketing start ki
  9. He says he has worked with more than 200 to 300 companies, including big ones. So I've worked with more than 2-300 companies jismein big companies bhi hain
  10. He says he worked with most of the big companies. usmein uh uh most of the big companies humne unke saath kaam kiya
  11. He worked in a job until 2013, then started a small company of his own. till 2013 tak main job karta raha, phir uske baad maine apni chhoti si ek company start ki Shahbaz Commercial mein
  12. The company began in a small room, and staff were asked to bring their own computers from home. Chhota sa ek kamra tha, 4000 rupay the toh woh jinko uh rakha tha unko kaha ke computers bhi aap gharon se le aayein
  13. The company built websites priced at about 10,000 rupees each. 10-10 hazaar rupay ki websites banate the
  14. The company's first project came from a bank. phir pehla project humein mila ek bank ka
  15. The company later worked with international customers and did geo-fencing work. phir humne international customers ke saath kaam kiya, us time pe humne geo-fencing pe kaam kiya tha
  16. The company also designed some financial wallets outside Pakistan. bahar humne Pakistan se bahar koi financial wallets bhi design kiye the
  17. The company built expense managers, which gave it valuable exposure. humne expense managers banaye toh woh bada humein ek achha bada behtareen exposure mila
  18. The company did e-detailing work for big global companies. as e-detailing mein bhi humne uh big companies ke saath kaam kiya, globally big companies, internationally humne kaam kiya
  19. The company built presentations that were then delivered to doctors. hum usmein hum expert the, humne woh banaya, woh phir doctors ko jaake woh poori presentation dete the
  20. He says he has never met 90% of his clients in person. 90% customer se main aaj tak mila bhi nahi hoon
  21. He says all of the interaction has been virtual, over Zoom and similar meetings. hamari interaction jo hai woh saari aaj tak virtual hi hai, Zooms ke upar aur uh is tarah ki meetings ke upar hi hoti hai
  22. He says payment arrives 90 days after the job completion certificate is issued. JCC ke baad uh job completion certificate ke baad 90 days ke baad aapko payment milti hai
  23. He says the company has turned down some projects for lack of bandwidth. hum itna phir baad mein qualitative ho gaye the ke humein sometime koi aisa project milta bhi tha toh hum na kar dete ke nahi abhi hamare paas bandwidth nahi hai
  24. The company had about 36 people before COVID and about 25 to 26 people now. before COVID hamare paas koi 36 log the, ab takreeban 25, 26 ke qareeb hain
  25. He realised that national-level forums like the World Economic Forum were greatly needed. mujhe realize hua ke uh national level ke upar uh is tarah ki forums ki bahut zyada zaroorat hai jis tarah ke ek World Economic Forum hai
  26. He says the forum is the first of its kind to originate in Pakistan. I think this is the first kind of uh forum jo ke uh Pakistan se originate hui hai
  27. He says CXO members are C-level executives, such as CEOs, CIOs and CFOs. jo C-level log hain, CXO ka matlab hai ke CEO, CIOs and CFOs hain
  28. He says membership is close to 500, all from big companies. ab takreeban hum log almost 500 members ko touch karne waale hain. Right. All big companies.
  29. He says the members are not exclusively Pakistani and include foreigners. Exclusively not Pakistani, usmein gore bhi hain
  30. His plan was to build a knowledge-sharing platform. Mera yeh plan tha ke hum uh ek knowledge sharing platform build karein
  31. He says GDP is shifting from a normal economy to a knowledge economy. GDP jo hai woh ek normal economy se shift ho ke knowledge economy ki taraf ja rahi hai
  32. He says they run events and meetups, and have a publication and conferences. hum events karate hain, meetups karate hain, phir hamari publication hai, hamari conferences ho rahi hain
  33. He says there is a 15 to 20 year gap that now has to be covered very rapidly. 15-20 saal ka yeh jo gap hai woh ab humein jo hai bahut rapidly uh cover karna hai
  34. He says nothing has been done for the 60% youth. us 60% youth ke liye humne kiya kuch bhi nahi hai
  35. He says the youth have no stakeholder platform, so they turn to TikTok and YouTube. Koi stakeholder platform nahi hai. Isiliye woh TikTok ki taraf ja rahe hain ya woh you know YouTube ki taraf ja rahe hain
  36. He says institutions do not talk to one another. Idare ek dusre se baat nahi karte.
  37. He says the issue at present is to empower the common person, an ordinary youngster. Hamara issue hai is waqt aam aadmi ko, ek aam bachay ko empower karna
  38. He says ease of doing business is not available to the ordinary person. karobar karne ke liye aasani jo hai na woh hamare ek aam aadmi ke liye nahi hai
  39. He says a person should be able to register a company easily and escape the hassles of the FBR. woh apni company easily register kara sake, woh FBR ke jhamelay se nikal jaye
  40. He says that until the payment gateway issue is solved, an ordinary young person doing business outside Pakistan will not land money in Pakistan. jab tak yeh payment gateway ka mamla hal nahi hoga hamara ek aam bacha Pakistan se bahar business karke wahan se paisa Pakistan mein land nahi karega
  41. He says there is a FATF challenge and there are anti-money laundering issues. hamein FATF ka bhi challenge hai hamein anti money laundering ke bhi issues hain
  42. He says the private sector and the corporate sector need to be involved, and calls for round tables with them. private sector ko involve hone ki zaroorat hai corporate sector ko involve hone ki zaroorat hai aur inke saath round tables karein
  43. He says investment is a big problem because money does not land in Pakistan. investment mein bhi bahut bada issue yeh hai ke paisa Pakistan mein land nahi hota
  44. He says Payoneer does not provide merchant accounts. Payoneer unfortunately merchant account nahi deta.
  45. He says a mindset is needed in which people look at their own benefit later. Yeh jo mindset hai na yeh hamein apnane ki zaroorat hai jahan pe hum apna benefit baad mein dekhein
  46. He says there are a great many egoistic issues at the top. hamare uh top side pe jo hai na woh uh egoistic issues bahut zyada hain
  47. He says there is a strong tendency to be very self-centric. Hamare yahan yeh bada ek rujhan hai ki hum self-centric bahut zyada hain
  48. He says his account opened last week, after roughly one and a half to two months. Abhi mera account last week na dedh paune do mahine baad account khul gaya
  49. He says the focus should be more on those who become job creators. humein focus is taraf zyada karna hai jo job creators bane
  50. He thinks that by learning from its mistakes the country will become a grown country, especially in the IT sector. hum log jo hain woh ek apni galtiyon se seekh ke ek grown country honge aur specially in IT sector
  51. He says he sees a very grown country, because he has high expectations of the young people now coming up. Main bahut hi ek grown mulk dekh raha hoon kyunki ab jo bachay aa rahe hain unse mujhe bahut zyada expectation hai
  52. He says roughly 5 to 10 lakh young people are needed in the IT industry in high-level roles. hamein takreeban koi 5 se 10 lakh bacha chahiye hai IT industry ke andar high level se role hai
  53. He says nobody has an answer to who will develop those people over the next ten years. Woh bacha kaun develop karega agle 10 saal? And I think nobody has an answer for that
  54. He says content writing and graphic design can be automated for most part. content writing hai automate ho sakti hai, graphic designing hai automate ho sakti hai for most part
  55. He feels the IT industry should have a somewhat bigger role. mujhe ab lagta hai ke IT industry ka thoda sa zyada role hona chahiye
  56. He describes himself as the biggest advocate of STZA. STZA ke sabse bade advocate jo hai woh main hoon aur main IT companies ko invite karta hoon
  57. He says that about a year before, they had planned to create a CXO academy. saal bhar pehle humne plan kiya tha ki hum CXO academy ek banayenge
  58. He says the plan was that people would give two hours of their week and teach those young people remotely on Zoom. apne week ke do ghante de aur un bacchon ko padhaye remotely Zoom ke upar
  59. He says they did not design that train-the-trainer model and did not convert it into an institute. Toh humne humne uska woh train the trainer wala model nahi design kiya, usko humne institute mein nahi convert kiya
  60. He says he always believes in empowering those who come after. main hamesha is cheez pe believe karta hoon ki aage aane walon ko aap itna empower kar dein
  61. He says the chances of exponential growth are very many. exponential growth ke chances hain hamare bahut zyada hain