Mahe Zehra Husain

CEO of Five Rivers Technologies

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

Mahe Zehra Husain is the CEO of Five Rivers Technologies. Husain says an HR policy cannot be identical for men and women. She suggests having a daycare as one possible solution.

Early life and background

Husain was home-schooled for part of her life, along with her three siblings. She left school after class 6, at age 10. She took her O-levels at around age 14, and her parents let her choose her subjects. [1]

Education

Husain did her first master's degree in mathematics at Punjab University. She describes her whole education as being in mathematics. She also took a few water quality courses because, at the time, she thought Pakistan had a serious problem with water resources. She recalls that about 14 to 15% of students at her university were women. [1]

Five Rivers Technologies

Five Rivers Technologies has offered many kinds of IT services over the years. Husain has worked at the company for almost 13 years. Among its projects, the company created content for a US-based company. It also made a photo editor for BlackBerry that reached number one on its App Store. [1]

The company now focuses on AI, machine learning and data science, in addition to its other work. It is launching its own products, and it is focusing first on productivity apps. It also has a venture fund called Five Rivers Ventures. [1]

Clients and business model

Husain says the company has been steady for 20 years, with no major ups and downs. About 80% of its business comes from long-term relationships with clients, and she confirms that most clients are based in North America. She says the company has not been impacted, because its work is relationship based. It earns in dollars and reflects that in staff pay. [1]

She says clients visit the company because a client relationship needs rapport. She says a relationship-based model is not a fast-scaling one, and that the biggest problem in outsourcing is the lack of relationship. [1]

Expansion in the Middle East

Five Rivers set up a tech company in the UAE earlier this year to expand in the region. It also went to Saudi Arabia this year. Husain says the Middle East is a market worth looking at, and that Saudi Arabia is ready for the world. [1]

Murree project

Five Rivers is developing a real estate project in Murree, close to the Murree Forest. The company has a piece of land that is surrounded by preserved land. It plans to sell the plots selectively, to build a community. The project aims to show that preservation and profit can go together. [1]

Publishing

Husain has sold her own books on Amazon for a long time. She says a small publishing collective has been created, focused on Pakistani creators. The plan is to take artists and authors of fiction and self-help books to the US market. [1]

Views on women at work

Husain says an HR policy cannot be identical for men and women. She suggests having a daycare as one possible solution. She says the tech sector needs more women in senior roles. [1]

Views on AI and education

Husain believes AI will take care of mediocrity and expects it to remove menial, busy work. She believes education as we know it will be disrupted and should be. She says that in the age of AI, people can earn from what they are passionate about. She says hobbies are not taken seriously in Pakistan. [1]

Views on skills and startups

Husain says the core skill people need is knowing how to problem solve. She says hands-on work experience is the way to build soft skills, and that failure teaches things that success does not. She says in this age of ideas, idea people will rise to the top, and believes ideas and storytelling will be the future. [1]

Views on Pakistan

Husain says her country's population is mostly young. She says Pakistan can use all the investment it can get, and that tech could help agriculture, where much remains to be done. She adds that her country's tourism and travel sector is underutilised. [1]

Personal life

Husain draws and does paper crafting as a hobby. She has tried many hobbies, including baking, cross stitch, woodwork and making lamps from shampoo bottles. She says she uses ChatGPT a lot for idea generation and as someone to talk to. [1]

Timeline

2003
Five Rivers Technologies is started.[1]
2010
Husain joins the company, after her master's degree.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2023-07-05 Why AI rewards problem solvers and could bring women back to work Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Mahe Zehra Husain?

Mahe Zehra Husain is the CEO of Five Rivers Technologies, an IT services company based in Lahore. She joined the company around 2010, after her master's degree.[1]

Where did Mahe Zehra Husain study?

Mahe Zehra Husain did her first master's degree in mathematics at Punjab University. She says her whole education has been in mathematics. She took her O-levels at around age 14.[1]

What company does Mahe Zehra Husain lead?

Mahe Zehra Husain is the CEO of Five Rivers Technologies, which is based in Lahore. The company was started in 2003. Husain joined it around 2010.[1]

What is Mahe Zehra Husain known for?

Mahe Zehra Husain is known as the CEO of Five Rivers Technologies. The company is developing a real estate project in Murree and has a venture fund called Five Rivers Ventures.[1]

What does Five Rivers Technologies do?

Five Rivers Technologies has offered many kinds of IT services over the years. It now focuses on AI, machine learning and data science, in addition to its other work. It is also launching its own products, focusing first on productivity apps.[1]

What does Mahe Zehra Husain think about AI?

Mahe Zehra Husain believes AI will take care of mediocrity and expects it to remove menial, busy work. She says that in the age of AI, people can earn from what they are passionate about. She also uses ChatGPT a lot for idea generation and as someone to talk to.[1]

References

  1. Why AI rewards problem solvers and could bring women back to work . Thought Behind Things , 2023-07-05.
Show the source passages (68 statements)
  1. Mahe Zehra Husain is the CEO of FiveRivers Technologies. Mahe Zehra Husain is the CEO at FiveRivers Technologies.
  2. She was home-schooled for part of her life, along with her three siblings. We're four siblings and all four of us were home-schooled for a part of our lives.
  3. She left school after class 6, at age 10. Maine school class 6 mein chhod diya tha. I was 10 years old
  4. She took her O-levels at around age 14. agar maine O-levels jaldi dena hai which I think I gave at the age of 14
  5. Her parents let her choose her O-level subjects. My parents asked me to choose my subjects for my O-levels and I was allowed to choose my subjects
  6. She did her first master's degree in mathematics at Punjab University. maine ek apna masters jo kiya mathematics mein pehla wala woh maine Punjab University mein kiya.
  7. Her whole education has been in mathematics. Meri apni education saari mathematics mein hai.
  8. She took a few water quality courses because, at the time, she thought Pakistan had a serious problem with water resources. I took a few water quality courses because at that time mujhe tha ki Pakistan mein water resources ka bahut masla hai.
  9. She recalls that about 14 to 15% of students at her university were women. if I remember my university, we were at 14-15% women only.
  10. She joined Five Rivers Technologies around 2010, after her master's. I joined in around 2010 after my masters.
  11. Five Rivers Technologies is based in Lahore. Five Rivers Technologies jo hai woh Lahore mein based hai.
  12. Five Rivers was started in 2003 and has been operating for about 20 years. 2003 se company shuru hui aur ab mashaAllah 20 saal ho gaye hain almost.
  13. She has worked at the company for almost 13 years. mujhe company ke saath almost 13 saal ho gaye hain.
  14. Five Rivers has offered many kinds of IT services over the years. Hum har qisam ka services ka kaam karte aaye hain over the years.
  15. Five Rivers created content for a US-based company. we were creating content for a US-based company.
  16. Five Rivers now focuses on AI, machine learning and data science, in addition to its other work. Aur ab hum log zyada jo focus kar rahe hain, in addition to everything else, is on AI, machine learning and data science.
  17. Five Rivers has a venture fund called Five Rivers Ventures. we also have a venture fund which is Five Rivers Ventures
  18. Five Rivers is developing a real estate project in Murree. we are developing a real estate project in Murree
  19. The Murree project is close to the Murree Forest. Uh hamara Kuldana ke paas near the Murree Forest.
  20. The Murree project aims to show that preservation and profit can go together. where we're trying to show that preservation and profit can kind of go hand in hand.
  21. Five Rivers has a piece of land in Murree that is surrounded by preserved land. So we've actually gotten a piece of land that is kind of surrounded by preserved land so no one can build there.
  22. Five Rivers plans to sell the Murree plots selectively, to build a community. So we're planning to sell them and again we're going to try and be a little selective in the selling because we want to create a sense of community.
  23. Five Rivers made a photo editor for BlackBerry that reached number one on its App Store. the photo editor that we made for the BlackBerry made it to world number one on their App Store.
  24. Five Rivers is launching its own products. dusri taraf through five rivers we are launching our own products also.
  25. Five Rivers is focusing first on productivity apps. hum log kuch productivity apps ke upar pehle focus kar rahe hain.
  26. She says a small publishing collective has been created, focused on Pakistani creators. we've created a little collective, a publishing collective called Ink Tribe where we are going to try ke Pakistani jo creators hain
  27. She says the plan is to take artists and authors of fiction and self-help books to the US market. So artists and uh people who've written fictional stories or self-help books and stuff like that, we're going to try to take them to the US market
  28. She has sold her own books on Amazon for a long time. for a long time I've been selling my books on Amazon.
  29. She draws and does paper crafting as a hobby. I create, uh I draw, I do paper crafting
  30. She has tried many hobbies, including baking, cross stitch, woodwork and making lamps from shampoo bottles. From baking to cross stitch to woodwork, to making lamps out of shampoo bottles.
  31. She personally takes some internship interviews. I take uh some of the internship interviews myself.
  32. Five Rivers has been steady for 20 years, with no major ups and downs. we've been there for 20 years and there have been really no ups and downs.
  33. About 80% of Five Rivers' business comes from long-term relationships with clients. I would say 80% of our business is relationship based.
  34. She confirms that most of Five Rivers' clients are based in North America. Majority of your clients are based out of North America? Yes.
  35. Five Rivers set up a tech company in the UAE earlier this year to expand in the region. earlier this year we established a setup a tech company in the UAE and uska goal yahi hai to expand in the region.
  36. Five Rivers went to Saudi Arabia this year. we went to Saudi Arabia also this year and are looking
  37. She says Five Rivers has not been impacted, because its work is relationship based. Funnily enough, it has not impacted us because like I said we have relationship based work.
  38. Five Rivers earns in dollars and reflects that in staff pay. we are also very blessed that because we earn in dollars, we are able to you know reflect that in their in their compensation.
  39. About 10% of Five Rivers' staff are women, she says. I think about hamari 10% ladkiyan hoti hain.
  40. She estimates that about 70% of the staff work in tech and 30% in support functions. I think it would be about 70% tech and then 30% support functions
  41. Some women have worked with her at Five Rivers for more than 10 years. a lot of the girls that I have been able to retain over the years, kuch 10 plus saal se mere saath hain
  42. She says an HR policy cannot be identical for men and women. you can't just have an HR policy that is equal for men and women because men and women are different.
  43. She suggests having a daycare as one possible solution. So for example, one solution could be you know having a daycare.
  44. She says the tech sector needs more women in senior roles. We need more women represented in the higher levels of the tech sector.
  45. She believes AI will take care of mediocrity. I think it will take care of mediocrity.
  46. She expects AI to remove menial, busy work. a lot of the menial small stuff that was just busy work, I think haan woh eliminate ho jayega.
  47. She uses ChatGPT a lot for idea generation and as someone to talk to. that's what I use ChatGPT for a lot. Just idea generation, someone to talk to.
  48. She believes education as we know it will be disrupted and should be. I think education as we know it will get disrupted and should get disrupted.
  49. She says hands-on work experience is the way to build soft skills. I think that is the only way, hands-on experience on how you can gain these soft skills.
  50. She says failure teaches things that success does not. what you learn from failure is something that you will never learn from success.
  51. She says the core skill people need is knowing how to problem solve. You just need to know how to problem solve.
  52. She says in this age of ideas, idea people will rise to the top. I think it's the age of ideas. I think idea people are the people who will rise to the top.
  53. She believes ideas and storytelling will be the future. I feel like ideas and storytelling will be the future.
  54. She says every fresh college graduate seems to want to start their own company. we have every new fresh college grad wanting to start up their own company.
  55. She has done several startups and says they are not a bed of roses. I've done several startups. It is not a bed of roses at all, at all.
  56. She says her country's population is mostly young. hamari population agar aap dekhein, it's mostly young, right?
  57. She says tech could help agriculture, where much remains to be done. ki tech agriculture ke liye kya kar sakta hai. There is so much to be done there.
  58. She says that in the age of AI, people can earn from what they are passionate about. Jis cheez ka aapko shauk hai aur aap mein passion hai na, usse ab in the age of AI, paise aap bana lenge.
  59. She says hobbies are not taken seriously in Pakistan. Hobbies toh Pakistan mein mazaak hi nahi hai na.
  60. She says the Middle East is a market worth looking at. yes I think the Middle East is a market that is worth looking at.
  61. She says Saudi Arabia is ready for the world. it really shows you that Saudi Arabia is ready for the world.
  62. She says Pakistan can use all the investment it can get. I think right now Pakistan can use all the investment that we can get.
  63. She says her country's tourism and travel sector is underutilised. hamara jo tourism aur travel ka sector hai it's pretty underutilized.
  64. She believes startups should work with established companies to gain mentorship. startups should work in conjunction with companies because again like I said there's a there's so much knowledge that you can take from all the people there
  65. She says the biggest problem in outsourcing is the lack of relationship. Outsourcing ka jo sabse bada masla woh yahi hai na ke there's no relationship.
  66. She says a relationship-based model is not a fast-scaling one. this is not a very fast scaling model, this relationship based business.
  67. Five Rivers tries to fit people in the right places. So we try and fit people in the right places.
  68. She says clients visit Five Rivers because a client relationship needs rapport. And we've had clients come and visit and create it because you have to create a rapport and a relationship.