Shahyan Shabbir

founder of Strategic Pulse

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

Shahyan Shabbir is the founder and CEO of Strategic Pulse. He has over 20 years of experience across the UK, Australia and South Asia, and has worked in defence, energy and healthcare. He is certified in CISM, CRISC and CDPSE.

Early life and background

His father is an educationist who had the opportunity to go to Yemen. Shabbir describes himself as one of the geek kids in his family who built machines for relatives. [1]

Education and early career

After Year 12 he took computer courses in networking. He completed FSc and a couple of certifications. At 17 he applied for a World Bank job in Yemen. He did not know if he would get a job when he applied, and he did. [1]

He worked for the World Bank in Yemen and spent two years there before returning to Pakistan. After returning to Pakistan he completed a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. He then started work as a network administrator at a university, where he stayed for three or four years. [1]

Career

Shabbir then moved to the UK and spent about five years in Manchester. There he worked for corporate banks and for a broadband company. He later settled in Australia and has lived there for about 15 years. [1]

He says his career spans 28 years, 15 of them in cyber security. He describes himself as a cyber security specialist and a strategist. He says he has managed over 500 cyber incidents, small and large. He has handled many real cyber attacks in his career. [1]

Nova Systems

Before Strategic Pulse, Shabbir was CIO and CSO at Nova Systems. At Nova Systems he led a $35 million digital transformation and built a $7 million cybersecurity program. [1]

Strategic Pulse

Shabbir left an executive job to start his own company, Strategic Pulse, based out of South Australia. He says he spent about nine months developing the service design for the company. He says it provides services in business performance, cyber, data and AI, and that it helps companies run better, stay secure and use their own data to grow. He says one hidden aim in founding the company was to give jobs to "our people". [1]

He says the company bases its pitch on outcomes, which he thinks suits inflation-hit economies. He says it provides clients a managed, fixed package service. He says its people are vetted and the company is accountable for their deliverables. [1]

He says he is hiring direct resources onshore in Australia, in a small team. He says he is looking to build capability rather than hire staff. He says the company's footprint is Australia and New Zealand, with people on the ground in the UAE. [1]

He says Strategic Pulse checks whether a client's data is in good form to fuel AI. He describes a case where access management was not tight and AI went into every structured and unstructured file. He says the company is building an ecosystem for a cyber immune system that responds to incidents by itself. [1]

He says a market analysis of the health sector, in which he took part, found around $43 billion of revenue. He says market analysis was carried out on 30 sectors. He says a company in India reached out to him for help building a pipeline in a market where it did not want to set up shop. He says he has collaboration partners in India. [1]

Views

Shabbir believes Pakistanis are extremely resilient because they have been through a lot. He believes the Pakistani and South Asian skill set will take the world forward. He also believes South Asia will lead the next era. [1]

He says communication is critical in pre-sales, post-sales and corporate operations, and that English has become the global language. He describes working on a multi-million dollar ERP project. He says Pakistanis were leading work on Oracle Fusion Cloud, a new technology. [1]

On Australia, he says the country did not enter recession during the 2008 financial crisis. He says Australia's economy usually slows before an election because nobody knows the policies. He says there is a lot of scope for services in Australia. He says Australians have a no-nonsense attitude and are very straightforward. [1]

He says immigration to Australia has always been difficult. He says Pakistanis now find even visitor visas hard to get. He sees a great opportunity in Australia and New Zealand for Pakistanis who collaborate well. [1]

On strategy, he says one strategy document does not serve a whole organization, only its top tier. He says each department needs its own strategy in line with the top-level one. He describes strategy as three parts: fix, focus and grow. He says strategy should be revisited every quarter and monitored every month. [1]

He believes AI transformation will lead digital transformation in the coming years. He says about 900 of every 1,000 AI use cases are useless. He expects the current AI noise to continue for at least a year. He believes data is the key to enabling AI quickly. [1]

He believes enterprise data security in Pakistan is still well behind. He says there is a huge opportunity in cyber security. [1]

He says AI engineers will be in demand, but the work is becoming more plug and play. He expects data strategist, data architect and data solution architect roles to be in high demand. He says a data strategist will become an AI strategist. [1]

He says the first step with a partner is desktop due diligence on the company. He says the main red flag in a partner is weak leadership, meaning an unclear operating model and vision. He refers to partnership horror stories that ended with the credibility of one or two of the organizations dismantled. [1]

He says his team is at an early, alpha stage of building a solution for communication and soft skills in Pakistan. He says entrepreneurs can build infrastructure for a cohort of people without waiting for government. He says a coordinated South Asian push can only be done by entrepreneurs or a cohort of entrepreneurs. [1]

Personal life

Shabbir lives in Adelaide, Australia. He says he has had many mentors. [1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2025-05-14 South Asia will spearhead the next era — if it learns to communicate Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Shahyan Shabbir?

Shahyan Shabbir is the founder and CEO of Strategic Pulse. He has over 20 years of experience across the UK, Australia and South Asia. He is certified in CISM, CRISC and CDPSE.[1]

What does Shahyan Shabbir do?

Shahyan Shabbir is the founder and CEO of Strategic Pulse. He says the company provides services in business performance, cyber, data and AI. He describes himself as a cyber security specialist and a strategist.[1]

Where did Shahyan Shabbir study?

Shahyan Shabbir took computer courses in networking after Year 12 and completed FSc and a couple of certifications. After returning to Pakistan he completed a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.[1]

Where does Shahyan Shabbir live?

Shahyan Shabbir lives in Adelaide, Australia. He says he has lived in Australia for about 15 years. His company, Strategic Pulse, is based out of South Australia.[1]

What company did Shahyan Shabbir found?

Shahyan Shabbir founded Strategic Pulse, a company based out of South Australia. He left an executive job to start it. He says he spent about nine months developing its service design.[1]

What did Shahyan Shabbir do at Nova Systems?

Shahyan Shabbir was CIO and CSO at Nova Systems before Strategic Pulse. At Nova Systems he led a $35 million digital transformation. He also built a $7 million cybersecurity program there.[1]

What industries has Shahyan Shabbir worked in?

Shahyan Shabbir has worked in defence, energy and healthcare. He has also handled many real cyber attacks in his career.[1]

How did Shahyan Shabbir start his career?

At 17, Shahyan Shabbir applied for a World Bank job in Yemen. He did not know if he would get a job, and he did. He worked for the World Bank in Yemen and spent two years there before returning to Pakistan.[1]

References

  1. South Asia will spearhead the next era — if it learns to communicate . Thought Behind Things , 2025-05-14.
Show the source passages (84 statements)
  1. Shahyan Shabbir is the Founder and CEO of Strategic Pulse. Joining us today is Shahyan Shabbir, the Founder and CEO of Strategic Pulse
  2. Before Strategic Pulse, he was CIO and CSO at Nova Systems. Before this, he was the CIO and CSO at Nova Systems
  3. At Nova Systems he led a $35 million digital transformation. where he led a $35 million digital transformation
  4. At Nova Systems he built a $7 million cybersecurity program. built a $7 million cybersecurity program
  5. Shahyan Shabbir has over 20 years of experience across the UK, Australia and South Asia. Shahyan has over 20 years of experience working across the UK, Australia, and South Asia.
  6. He has worked in defence, energy and healthcare. He has worked in defence, energy, and healthcare
  7. Shahyan Shabbir is certified in CISM, CRISC and CDPSE. Shahyan is certified in CISM, CRISC, and CDPSE
  8. He has handled many real cyber attacks in his career. handled many real cyber attacks in his career.
  9. His father is an educationist who had the opportunity to go to Yemen. My father was or is an educationist so he had the opportunity to go to Yemen.
  10. He describes himself as one of the geek kids in his family who built machines for relatives. I was one of those geek kids with in my family who would construct machines for other relatives and give it to them.
  11. After Year 12 he took computer courses in networking. year year 12 ke baad jo high school hota hai uske baad maine kuch computer course kiye networking ke aur is tarah ke.
  12. He completed FSc and a couple of certifications. FSc, a couple of certifications and I was in World Bank working in Yemen.
  13. At 17 he applied for a World Bank job in Yemen. Wahan pe maine apply kiya World Bank ke andar. I was at the time 17.
  14. He did not know if he would get a job when he applied, and he did. I didn't know if I will get a job but I thought why not give it a shot. Luckily I did.
  15. He worked for the World Bank in Yemen. I was in World Bank working in Yemen.
  16. He spent two years in Yemen before returning to Pakistan. Uske baad do saal maine udhar serve kiya phir wapas aaya Pakistan
  17. After returning to Pakistan he completed a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. phir wapas aaya Pakistan, university ki Bachelors of Computer Science
  18. He then started work as a network administrator at a university. and then I started working at Air University as a network administrator.
  19. He worked at the university for three or four years. Teen char saal udhar kaam kiya
  20. He then moved to the UK and spent about five years in Manchester. I went to the UK, I served over there for about five years, half a decade in Manchester
  21. In the UK he worked for corporate banks and for a broadband company. different organizations mein, corporate banks, Pipex ek thi company jo broadband ki thi.
  22. He later settled in Australia and has lived there for about 15 years. And then moved eventually moved on to settle in Australia. So I've been in Australia for about 15 years.
  23. He lives in Adelaide, Australia. aur currently residing in Adelaide, Australia.
  24. He says he has worked in the energy, defence and health sectors. Aur I've worked in energy sector, defense sector, health sector.
  25. He says he has managed over 500 cyber incidents, small and large. So I've managed cyber over 500 cyber incidents, small, big, medium.
  26. He says his career spans 28 years, 15 of them in cyber security. My total journey is 28 years, over 28 years, 15 of those is has been dedicated to hardcore cyber security.
  27. He left an executive job to start his own company, Strategic Pulse, in South Australia. I left my executive job to start a company of my own which is called Strategic Pulse based out of South Australia.
  28. He says Strategic Pulse provides services in business performance, cyber, data and AI. Aur we provide services around business performance, cyber, data and AI.
  29. He says he spent about nine months developing the service design for Strategic Pulse. I've been working on it for the last nine months so to make sure the service design was as robust as possible
  30. He describes himself as a cyber security specialist and a strategist. I'm I'm a hardcore as I mentioned before cyber specialist. Aur strategist as well.
  31. He says he has had many mentors. I've been blessed to have all the mentors so far.
  32. He believes Pakistanis are extremely resilient because they have been through a lot. Aur in terms of resilience, I feel Pakistanis are extremely resilient kyunke we have been through a lot.
  33. He believes the Pakistani and South Asian skill set will take the world forward. Pakistani aur South Asian skill set is going to take the world forward. Full stop.
  34. He believes South Asia will lead the next era. So that's why I really believe the charge is going to come through South Asia.
  35. He says communication is critical in pre-sales, post-sales and corporate operations. Communication is so critical nowadays ke chahe aap usko pre-sales le lein, chahe aapko post-sales le lein ya aap corporate operations le lein.
  36. He says English has become the global language. ab woh global language English ban chuki hai aur hai bade arse se
  37. He describes working on a multi-million dollar ERP project. Main aapko example deta hoon main ek project kar raha tha ERP ka, multi-million dollar project tha.
  38. He says Pakistanis were leading work on Oracle Fusion Cloud, a new technology. Oracle technology Fusion Cloud which it's an absolutely brand new technology and Pakistanis were leading the way.
  39. He says showing clients value and return on investment creates a sustainable pipeline. look at providing value, look look at how you can you know showcase return on investment to the to the client or the customer. As soon as you do that, you have a consistent pipeline or sustainable pipeline for the next five years.
  40. He says one strategy document does not serve a whole organization, only its top tier. Ek document doesn't serve the whole organization. That is just the Bible for jaise kehte hain na woh just the Bible for the the top tier to operate.
  41. He says each department needs its own strategy in line with the top-level one. Rest need to have their own strategies in line with that.
  42. He describes strategy as three parts: fix, focus and grow. So iske teen hisse hote hain. Ek fix, focus, and grow.
  43. He says strategy should be revisited every quarter. aaj ke zamane mein strategy jo hai woh revisit karni hai every quarter.
  44. He says a strategy needs to be monitored every month. Uska it is it needs to be monitored every month.
  45. He says Strategic Pulse helps companies run better, stay secure and use their own data to grow. we help uh companies run better, stay secure and use their own data to grow and be sustainable.
  46. He believes AI transformation will lead digital transformation in the coming years. ab mujhe lagta hai ki aane waale chand saalon ke andar AI transformation uh will be leading digital transformation
  47. He says about 900 of every 1,000 AI use cases are useless. har 1000 use cases hain jismein se 900 useless hain by the way.
  48. He expects the current AI noise to continue for at least a year. AI ka abhi jo noise hai woh still it's going to in my view it's going to go for the next at least year or so.
  49. He believes data is the key to enabling AI quickly. Toh in my view data is the key to enabling AI rapidly.
  50. He says Strategic Pulse checks whether a client's data is in good form to fuel AI. as part of our services as well, we look at data what uska is it in a good form? Is it in is it in a pure form sort of thing so it can fuel AI?
  51. He describes a case where access management was not tight and AI went into every structured and unstructured file. unki security kyunki access management itni tight nahi thi. AI went into every structured and non-structured file
  52. He believes enterprise data security in Pakistan is still well behind. for countries like Pakistan I think data security on an on an enterprise level we're we're still kaafi peeche kyunki woh hamare environment aur culture mein hi nahi built-in hua.
  53. He says AI engineers will be in demand, but the work is becoming more plug and play. Yes, AI engineers will be um in demand but I think the way things are moving um it's more plug and play nowadays but how to do that is critical.
  54. He expects data strategist, data architect and data solution architect roles to be in high demand. So uh data strategist, data architect, um data solution architect as well.
  55. He says a data strategist will become an AI strategist. Basically data strategist will become AI strategist in my view.
  56. He says Australia did not enter recession during the 2008 financial crisis. I think it was 2008 jab woh financial crisis hua tha. Australia was the only country which withstood which stood the the crisis and didn't go down under recession
  57. He says Australia's economy usually slows before an election because nobody knows the policies. it always slows down before the election because nobody knows what the policies would be.
  58. He says there is a lot of scope for services in Australia. So, in terms of services ka, definitely services ka um bahut scope hai.
  59. He says a market analysis of the health sector, in which he took part, found around $43 billion of revenue. Health sector, we did a market analysis and it was around $43 billion of revenue.
  60. He says market analysis was carried out on 30 sectors. So, that's one sector and we did 30 of them.
  61. He says Australians have a no-nonsense attitude and are very straightforward. Australia has a no-nonsense attitude as I mentioned before. They are very straightforward people.
  62. He says immigration to Australia has always been difficult. immigration to Australia ki toh hamesha se hi difficult rahi hai.
  63. He says Pakistanis now find even visitor visas hard to get. hamare bechare Pakistanion ko ab immigration toh kya unko visitor visa bhi milna thoda mushkil ho rahe hain.
  64. He sees a great opportunity in Australia and New Zealand for Pakistanis who collaborate well. I think there is a great opportunity here in Australia and New Zealand um for people uh especially from Pakistan who can collaborate effectively
  65. He says one hidden aim in founding his company was to give jobs to our people. one of the hidden agendas for me to establish my own company was actually to give um rozgar to our people, quite frankly.
  66. He says he is hiring direct resources onshore in Australia, in a small team. nahi I am hiring direct resources lekin woh on shore hain Australia mein, ek choti si team.
  67. He says his company's footprint is Australia and New Zealand, with people on the ground in the UAE. hamara footprint jo hai woh abhi Australia, New Zealand hai aur next we have got people, some people on the ground in UAE as well
  68. He says he is looking to build capability rather than hire staff. what I am looking to build is capability. I am not necessarily looking to bring or hire staff.
  69. He says his company bases its pitch on outcomes, which he thinks suits inflation-hit economies. we are basing our our pitch around outcomes. Outcome based approach is much better for inflation hit economy everywhere in the world.
  70. He says his company provides clients a managed, fixed package service. So, what we are providing them is a managed fixed package service
  71. He says his company's people are vetted and the company is accountable for their deliverables. Quality hamari vetted hai, you can interview our people. We will be accountable for their deliverables.
  72. He says small companies tend to hire freelancers through platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. woh they tend to go for freelance. Basically aap logon ke yeh Upwork aur Fiverr
  73. He believes collaborative partnerships are critical for entering a new market. So, I think jo mere meri nazar mein collaborative collaborative partnerships jo hain woh bahut critical hain.
  74. He says a company in India reached out to him for help building a pipeline in a market where it did not want to set up shop. one of in India, you know, reached out to me and said okay, we don't want to set up shop over there. Can you help us um build a pipeline over there
  75. He says he has collaboration partners in India. And quite frankly I've got partners in in collaboration partnerships in India as well.
  76. He says the first step with a partner is desktop due diligence on the company. So, I think the first first step is doing a bit of due diligence, just desktop due diligence, looking at the company
  77. He says the main red flag in a partner is weak leadership, meaning an unclear operating model and vision. More red flags are mainly around uh weak leadership. Uh if they are not able to articulate their um their operating model uh in in within their company and what their vision is
  78. He refers to partnership horror stories that ended with the credibility of one or two of the organizations dismantled. horror stories uh which has ended up in credibility uh dismantling of credibility of one of the or two of the organizations.
  79. He says his team is at an early, alpha stage of building a solution for communication and soft skills in Pakistan. we're we're in a very early stage uh alpha stage I would say of trying to build a solution for the communications and soft skills problem for Pakistan.
  80. He says entrepreneurs can build infrastructure for a cohort of people without waiting for government. Lekin we we don't have to wait for infrastructure to be built by the government. We can invest ourselves into an infrastructure and you know for the for creating value for you know a certain cohort of people.
  81. He suggests interviews and psychometric testing to assess candidates' attitude and aptitude. Haan unko aap interviews se karein, unko psychometric testing karein, samjhein unko unke kya attitude hai, aptitude hai.
  82. He says a coordinated South Asian push can only be done by entrepreneurs or a cohort of entrepreneurs. And it it can only be done by you know entrepreneurs or a cohort of entrepreneurs if that makes sense.
  83. He says there is a huge opportunity in cyber security. there's a huge opportunity, huge opportunity around cyber.
  84. He says Strategic Pulse is building an ecosystem for a cyber immune system that responds to incidents by itself. we are creating that ecosystem. So around cyber, data, AI, how can we have a cyber immune system which would respond to these sort of incidents by itself.