Raheel Siddiqui

developer and creator of pakistangov.online

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

Raheel Siddiqui is a developer and the creator of pakistangov.online. Siddiqui used Claude and his coding skills to build a Pakistani equivalent in about 30 minutes. A published description says the site ran on $0 infrastructure and drew over 30,000 users.

Early life and background

Siddiqui says he is 25 years old. He says he used to make music. [1]

Education

Siddiqui studied at Usman Institute of Technology. He graduated from the institute in 2022. He says he came to software engineering by accident. He says his university had little student culture, with fewer tech and founder clubs than Ivy League schools. [1]

He says he joined a research lab that was working on an open-source microprocessor for Pakistan. He says his team built an open-source microprocessor for Pakistan and that Google helped them tape it out. He says he entered a Google program and then began hosting programs. He applied to a program, was turned down, and then built an app that tells users who follows them. [1]

Career

Siddiqui says he was working part-time at companies. He says he joined a company based in Singapore and worked there for two and a half years. He says he worked on projects with the Dutch government. He also says he worked on an operating system for the real estate sales market, which was being built for the United States. [1]

He says he has not written code for a year and a half. He says about 98% of his time goes to thinking about how and what to build. He says he did about five or six pieces of work in the last year and a half and read books on system design. He says he works with Python. He says he is now building something of his own. [1]

pakistangov.online

Siddiqui says he wondered who in Pakistan would do this, noting that the government is not that progressive. He says a Pakistani version would be ready with Claude in half an hour. He put the site online and shared it. [1]

A published description says the site caught the attention of the IT Minister. Siddiqui says the IT minister also reached out to him, and he tried to talk with them and plan. He says corporate companies have reached out to him with job offers. [1]

Siddiqui says he used a $300 Google credit. He says each user is limited to 10 questions. He says he can block IP addresses and that he caches repeated queries. [1]

Views

Siddiqui says CS graduates in the US are not getting jobs and Pakistani students are worried. He says many people miss that AI is only a tool, since garbage in gives garbage out. He says building a product is no longer the hard part. He says students should learn basic problem-solving skills, technical skills and aesthetics. He recommends project-based learning and says he did the same himself. [1]

Siddiqui says he saw a big opportunity in Pakistan. He says the Pakistani market is untapped for these AI tools. He says local businesses need people who can go inside their operations, understand the problem and build with them. He says exposure is a very powerful thing and that he will keep repeating it. He says he has always used what he calls a backdoor strategy. [1]

Personal life

Siddiqui says his first international trip was a solo trip. He got the chance to go on a four-month trip to Southeast Asia. He travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. [1]

He had a two-month visa in Thailand that was about to expire. A published description says he travelled Southeast Asia as a digital nomad, including Chiang Mai. He says he knows people in almost every country through tech communities. [1]

Timeline

2022
Graduated from Usman Institute of Technology.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2026-10-07 Raheel Siddiqui built Pakistan's AI gov hub in half an hour Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Raheel Siddiqui?

Raheel Siddiqui is a developer and the creator of pakistangov.online. Siddiqui used Claude and his coding skills to build a Pakistani equivalent in about 30 minutes.[1]

What does Raheel Siddiqui do?

Raheel Siddiqui is a developer. He says he works with Python. He also says he is now building something of his own.[1]

Where did Raheel Siddiqui study?

Raheel Siddiqui studied at Usman Institute of Technology. He graduated from the institute in 2022.[1]

What is pakistangov.online?

pakistangov.online is a site created by Raheel Siddiqui. A published description says it ran on $0 infrastructure and drew over 30,000 users.[1]

How did Raheel Siddiqui build pakistangov.online?

Raheel Siddiqui used Claude and his coding skills to build a Pakistani equivalent in about 30 minutes. He says he used a $300 Google credit, and that each user is limited to 10 questions. He also says he caches repeated queries.[1]

Has Raheel Siddiqui travelled abroad?

Raheel Siddiqui says his first international trip was a solo trip. He travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.[1]

What does Raheel Siddiqui say about AI and students?

Raheel Siddiqui says many people miss that AI is only a tool, since garbage in gives garbage out. He says students should learn basic problem-solving skills, technical skills and aesthetics. He recommends project-based learning.[1]

References

  1. Raheel Siddiqui built Pakistan's AI gov hub in half an hour . Thought Behind Things , 2026-10-07.
Show the source passages (48 statements)
  1. Raheel Siddiqui says he is 25 years old. یقیناً میں اس وقت 25 سال کا ہوں۔
  2. Raheel Siddiqui is a developer. I sit down with 25-year-old developer Raheel Siddiqui, the creator of pakistangov.online.
  3. Raheel Siddiqui is the creator of pakistangov.online. I sit down with 25-year-old developer Raheel Siddiqui, the creator of pakistangov.online.
  4. Raheel Siddiqui studied at Usman Institute of Technology. From Usman Institute of Technology to Global Nomad
  5. Raheel Siddiqui graduated in 2022 from Usman Institute of Technology. میں نے 2022 میں اے سے گریجویشن کیا۔ جامعہ کراچی۔ اسے عثمان کہتے ہیں۔ انسٹی ٹیوٹ آف ٹیکنالوجی
  6. He says he came to software engineering by accident. سوفٹ ویئر انجینئرنگ بذریعہ حادثہ اور وہ میں بہت اوبل کی طرح تھی۔ لیکن پھر میں بن گیا
  7. He says he joined a research lab that was working on an open-source microprocessor for Pakistan. تو میں اپنی ایک ریسرچ لیب میں شامل ہوتا ہوں۔ یونیورسٹی یہ ایک تھا اسے قتل کہا جاتا تھا اور ہم اس پر کام کر رہے تھے۔ پاکستان کے لیے اوپن سورس مائیکرو پروسیسر
  8. He says his team built an open-source microprocessor for Pakistan and that Google helped them tape it out. پاکستان کے لیے اوپن سورس مائیکرو پروسیسر تیار کیا۔ اور پھر گوگل نے اس کو ٹیپ کرنے میں ہماری مدد کی۔
  9. He says he entered a Google program and then began hosting programs. اس گوگل پروگرام میں میں داخل ہوا اور پھر میں نے پروگراموں کی میزبانی شروع کی۔
  10. He applied to a program, was turned down, and then built an app that tells users who follows them. میں نے اس پروگرام میں اپلائی کیا کچھ مجھے ملا مسترد اور پھر میں ایک ایپ کی طرح بناتا ہوں۔ جو آپ کو بتاتا ہے کہ گیٹ اینڈ پر آپ کو کون فالو کرتا ہے۔
  11. He says he was working part-time at companies. میں نے درمیان میں گریجویشن کیا۔ میں پارٹ ٹائم کمپنیوں میں کام کر رہا تھا۔
  12. He says he joined a company based in Singapore and worked there for two and a half years. اس وقت میں نے ایک کمپنی جوائن کی تھی۔ سنگاپور کی کمپنی اور میں نے وہاں کام کیا ہے۔ ڈھائی سال تک
  13. He says he worked on projects with the Dutch government. واقعی حیرت انگیز پروجیکٹس جو مجھے مل گئے ہیں۔ ڈچ حکومت کے ساتھ ساتھ ان کے انجام کے ساتھ کام کریں۔
  14. He says he worked on an operating system for the real estate sales market, which was being built for the United States. رئیل اسٹیٹ کی فروخت کے لیے آپریٹنگ سسٹم مارکیٹ اور ہم اسے امریکہ کے لیے کر رہے تھے۔
  15. He says he is now building something of his own. اور پھر اب میں اپنا کچھ بنا رہا ہوں۔
  16. He says a Pakistani version would be ready with Claude in half an hour. پاکستان تو میں ایسا تھا جیسا آپ بنا سکتے ہیں۔ کلاڈ یار کے ساتھ آدھے گھنٹے میں تیار ہو جائے گا۔
  17. Raheel Siddiqui used Claude and his coding skills to build a Pakistani equivalent in about 30 minutes. Raheel used Claude and his coding skills to build a Pakistani equivalent in just 30 minutes
  18. He says he wondered who in Pakistan would do this, noting that the government is not that progressive. میں نے سوچا یار یہ پاکستان میں کون کرے گا؟ حکومت اتنی ترقی پسند نہیں ہے۔
  19. He put the site online and shared it. میں نے اسے آن لائن رکھا اور اس طرح شیئر کیا۔
  20. The episode description says the site ran on $0 infrastructure and drew over 30,000 users. Running on $0 infrastructure, the site blew up on Twitter, pulling in over 30,000 users
  21. He says he used a $300 Google credit. میرے پاس گوگل کی ایک مفت کی طرح لاگت ہے۔ ٹرے $300 ہے لہذا میں نے اسے استعمال کیا۔
  22. He says each user is limited to 10 questions. نہیں، 10 بار سے زیادہ سوالات پوچھنا تو وہ جواب نہیں دے گا، سب کے پاس ایک ہے۔ حد کریں تاکہ کوئی بھی 10 جمع نہ پوچھے۔
  23. He says he can block IP addresses and that he caches repeated queries. آئی پی بلاک کر سکتا ہوں میں کیش اے جو کر سکتا ہوں۔ میں دوبارہ قابل استفسارات کیش کرتا ہوں۔
  24. He says he has not written code for a year and a half. میں نے ڈیڑھ سال میں کوڈ نہیں کیا ہے۔
  25. He says about 98% of his time goes to thinking about how and what to build. 98% آف دی ٹائم صرف سوچنے میں استعمال ہوتا ہے۔ کیسے بنایا جائے اور کیا بنایا جائے۔
  26. He says he did about five or six pieces of work in the last year and a half and read books on system design. پچھلے ڈیڑھ سال میں میں نے تقریباً پانچ چھ کام کیے ہیں۔ سسٹم ڈیزائن پر کتابیں پڑھیں۔
  27. He says many people miss that AI is only a tool, since garbage in gives garbage out. انہیں یہ احساس نہیں ہے کہ AI صرف ایک ٹول ہے اگر آپ اس میں کوڑا کرکٹ دیں گے کچرا باہر ہو جائے گا۔
  28. He says building a product is no longer the hard part. مصنوعات اب مشکل حصہ نہیں ہیں۔ کوئی اور۔ یہ تیرے تخیل کی گہرائی ہے
  29. He says students should learn basic problem-solving skills, technical skills and aesthetics. طلباء کو چاہئے بنیادی مسئلہ حل کرنے کی مہارت حاصل کریں۔ تکنیکی مہارتیں اور جمالیات بھی
  30. He recommends project-based learning and says he did the same himself. بس پراجیکٹ پر مبنی سیکھنے اور کرو میں نے اپنے میں بھی یہی کیا۔
  31. He says the Pakistani market is untapped for these AI tools. حقیقت یہ ہے کہ پاکستانی مارکیٹ غیر استعمال شدہ ہے۔ ان ٹولز کے ساتھ اور آپ اصل میں صحیح ہیں۔
  32. He says local businesses need people who can go inside their operations, understand the problem and build with them. سافٹ ویئر انہیں ایسے لوگوں کی ضرورت ہے جو اندر جا سکیں ان کے آپریشنز۔ مسئلہ کو سمجھیں اور پھر ان کے ساتھ کچھ بنائیں۔
  33. He says exposure is a very powerful thing and that he will keep repeating it. میں بار بار کہوں گا کہ نمائش ایک بہت طاقتور چیز ہے۔
  34. He says he has always used what he calls a backdoor strategy. وہ حکمت عملی جو میں ہمیشہ سے رہا ہوں۔ اس کا استعمال بیک ڈور حکمت عملی کہلاتا ہے۔
  35. He says he used to make music. میں موسیقی بناتا تھا اور
  36. He says he works with Python. میرے علم کے مطابق، میں Python کے ساتھ کام کر رہا ہوں۔
  37. He says his first international trip was a solo trip. میں نے کبھی بین الاقوامی سفر نہیں کیا۔ یہ ہوا. اور میں سولو ٹرپ پر چلا گیا۔
  38. He travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. تھائی لینڈ گیا میں لاؤس کمبوڈیا گیا۔ اور ویتنام
  39. He got the chance to go on a four-month trip to Southeast Asia. چار کے سفر پر جانے کا موقع جنوب مشرقی ایشیا میں مہینے۔
  40. The episode description says he travelled Southeast Asia as a digital nomad, including Chiang Mai. Solo Traveling Southeast Asia as a Digital Nomad (Chiang Mai)
  41. He had a two-month visa in Thailand that was about to expire. میرا دو ماہ کا ویزا تھا۔ یہ تھائی لینڈ میں ختم ہونے والا ہے۔
  42. He says he knows people in almost every country through tech communities. حیرت انگیز لوگ۔ اور میں ٹیک میں کی طرح رہا ہوں۔ تھوڑی دیر کے لیے کمیونٹیز۔ تو میں لوگوں کو جانتا ہوں۔ تقریباً ہر ملک میں۔
  43. He says the IT minister also reached out to him, and he tried to talk with them and plan. آئی ٹی وزیر کی طرح بھی پہنچ گئے اور جیسے میں بالکل ایسا ہی ہوں۔ ان سے بات کرنے کی کوشش کرنا اور منصوبہ بندی کرنے کی کوشش کرنا
  44. The episode description says the site caught the attention of the IT Minister. even catching the attention of the IT Minister
  45. He says corporate companies have reached out to him with job offers. کارپوریٹ سیکٹر آپ تک پہنچ رہا ہے۔ ملازمت کی پیشکشیں
  46. He says CS graduates in the US are not getting jobs and Pakistani students are worried. مارکیٹ پلٹ گئی ہے۔ امریکہ کے اندر سی ایس گریجویٹس کو نوکریاں نہیں مل رہی ہیں۔ پاکستان میں بچے ٹینشن میں بیٹھے ہیں۔
  47. He says he saw a big opportunity in Pakistan. میں نے سوچا، یار، بہت بڑا موقع ہے۔ پاکستان میں۔
  48. He says his university had little student culture, with fewer tech and founder clubs than Ivy League schools. وہاں طلبہ کا کلچر زیادہ نہیں ہے۔ ایسا ہوتا ہے کہ آپ کو اچھا لگتا ہے۔ یونیورسٹی ایک بڑی یونیورسٹی کی طرح آئیوی لیگ کی یونیورسٹیاں ہیں۔ جیسے ٹیک کلب، بانی کلب وغیرہ۔ میری یونیورسٹی میں اتنا کچھ نہیں تھا۔