Umair Majeed Rana

CEO of Datics AI, founder of Tech Nation

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

Umair Majeed Rana is the CEO of Datics AI and the founder of Tech Nation. He joined Systems Limited and then its big data team. He says his team is about 50 people now.

Early life and background

Rana's father enrolled him at Lodhran Public School from the start of his schooling. The school was semi-government. He grew up living together with more than 30 cousins. His family had a petrol agency. He took a family trip to Islamabad and then Karachi. [1]

Education

Rana was called back and then repeated FSC. He did not get into NUST on merit. He was admitted to FAST Lahore after completing FSC. FAST taught management science and a marketing course. His final-year project was an image search tool for e-commerce. [1]

He graduated in four years. His CGPA was not good, and he says the biggest reason was the first two or three semesters. He describes writing essays in English on his own as a change. [1]

Rana started a master's in data science at ITU alongside his job. He did not complete his master's degree. [1]

Early career

Rana did not do internships at that time. His core interest developed in machine learning. After graduating he applied to only a few companies, including Systems Limited. Systems Limited asked him only about a project: what it was, what his contribution was and how he did it. The company then made him a job offer. [1]

At Systems he mostly worked on Power BI reporting, since Systems was a Microsoft partner. He moved to ITU as a research associate. He says research is very boring for someone with a coding background who enjoys coding. He concluded that the work he was doing was not what he was made for. [1]

He then switched to ADDO AI, a company run by the same professor. He started at ADDO AI in 2018. He says his time at ADDO AI was short. [1]

Freelancing and company building

Rana made an Upwork profile around 2015 or 2016 and did not use it actively then. He says he set a very low rate of $8 an hour at one point. He says the organization started on 8 October. He proposed that a client hire through the organization rather than have it supply individual people. The team grew to about 20 people between October and December. [1]

A client left after keeping the company's money, and the company was in very bad shape. He says he was acting as a project manager rather than as a CEO of the organization. He was handling HR issues and writing contracts himself. He says the team reached around 30 people. The company agreed to continue at half the rate and keep building. [1]

By May and June 2019 he was acting as CEO of the organization. He says Datics is the only expert-vetted agency on Upwork, to his knowledge. He says he has taken no new business from Upwork in the last two years. [1]

Datics AI

Rana says part of the work they do is with RVs, meaning recreational vehicles. One of the biggest RV dealers in the US became a client. He says they build whole products end to end and also handle maintenance afterwards. [1]

Together with another person he formed another company. He says they formed a company in the US together with their partner. He was added to someone's team as chief development officer. He says his own company has about 10 departments. [1]

Tech Nation and training

Rana says the goal of Tech Nation is to create professionals. He says his company runs its own boot camps. [1]

Views

Rana advises students not to freelance during their degree, since it can stop them finishing it. He says three to five years in a job teaches processes. He says a job is not slavery, and that one has to do jobs for at least three to five years. He says one should always look at what one gained rather than constantly focus on what one lost. [1]

He says work found on LinkedIn or similar platforms depends on a company's worth. He says Upwork or any freelancing platform is a good approach for taking a team up to 15, 20 or 30 people. He estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the work called AI and ML is recommendation systems. He says about 90 percent of the client base needs must-haves, not nice-to-haves. He says the product mentality is greatly lacking in Pakistan. [1]

Rana says that without a speciality in an area, one cannot grow there and one's rates stay the same. He describes deep learning, ML and AI as the top of the food chain at present. He says rates across the IT spectrum run from about $2 an hour to $200 an hour. He says a Fortune 500 company will not trust a random company or a random freelancer. He personally finds it unrealistic for the IT industry to reach $50 billion. [1]

He says supply is the biggest problem to solve. He says many companies reach 100 to 150 people and then collapse. He says a task should be started once it is clear in the mind. [1]

Rana says the youth have been pushed towards a shorter route. He says the youth cannot be blamed when others are not sharing their own journeys. He says there is no overnight success, and that Systems reached where it is after 30 years. He says there is no shortcut to success. He says degrees focus more on the fundamentals. [1]

He says a degree gives a basic understanding of the whole ecosystem. He says that despite advancement, the basic process of building a house will always remain the same. He says no single solution applies to everyone. He says he personally sees the future as very bright. He says they regard people from Karachi, and from Peshawar, as brothers. [1]

Timeline

2015
Around 2015 or 2016, made an Upwork profile that he did not use actively at the time.[1]
2018
Started at ADDO AI.[1]
2019
By May and June, was acting as CEO of the organization.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-04-08 The founder who built a company from a cold Upwork message Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Umair Majeed Rana?

Umair Majeed Rana is the CEO of Datics AI and the founder of Tech Nation. He says his team is about 50 people now.[1]

What does Umair Majeed Rana do?

Umair Majeed Rana is the CEO of Datics AI. He says part of the work they do is with RVs, meaning recreational vehicles. He also says they build whole products end to end and handle maintenance afterwards.[1]

Where did Umair Majeed Rana study?

Umair Majeed Rana was admitted to FAST Lahore after completing FSC. He started a master's in data science at ITU alongside his job, but he did not complete that degree.[1]

What did Umair Majeed Rana found?

Umair Majeed Rana is the founder of Tech Nation. He says the goal of Tech Nation is to create professionals.[1]

What is Umair Majeed Rana known for?

Umair Majeed Rana is known as the CEO of Datics AI and the founder of Tech Nation. He says Datics is the only expert-vetted agency on Upwork, to his knowledge.[1]

Where has Umair Majeed Rana worked?

Umair Majeed Rana joined Systems Limited and then its big data team. He moved to ITU as a research associate, and he started at ADDO AI in 2018.[1]

What does Umair Majeed Rana think about freelancing?

Umair Majeed Rana advises students not to freelance during their degree, since it can stop them finishing it. He says Upwork or any freelancing platform is a good approach for taking a team up to 15, 20 or 30 people.[1]

References

  1. The founder who built a company from a cold Upwork message . Thought Behind Things , 2022-04-08.
Show the source passages (81 statements)
  1. Umair Majeed Rana is the CEO of Datics AI. The CEO of Datics AI & Founder Of Tech Nation Umair Majeed
  2. Umair Majeed Rana is the founder of Tech Nation. Founder Of Tech Nation Umair Majeed
  3. His father enrolled him at Lodhran Public School from the start of his schooling. mujhe start se mere father ne Lodhran Public School mein karwaya
  4. Lodhran Public School was semi-government. It was a semi-government. The DC operate karte the unko.
  5. He grew up living together with more than 30 cousins. toh hum sab ikatthe rahe, saari zindagi jitne hum takreeban koi 30 plus cousins hain
  6. His family had a petrol agency. 9th tak mere father jo hain woh bike pe jaate the, hamari ek saath gaon tha udhar hamara petrol ki agency thi
  7. He took a family trip to Islamabad and then Karachi. ek family ka poora trip aaya tha Islamabad, phir Karachi
  8. He was called back and then repeated FSC. unhone mujhe wapis bulaya, phir maine dobara udhar se FSC ki
  9. He was admitted to FAST Lahore after completing FSC. uske baad mera FAST Lahore mein admission hua
  10. He did not get into NUST on merit. NUST mein unfortunately main nahi us time pe bana saka merit
  11. His final-year project was an image search tool for e-commerce. So, basically it was search through image for e-commerce.
  12. He graduated in four years. meri jo sabse badi achievement hai ki main 4 saal mein graduate ho gaya
  13. His CGPA was not good, and he says the biggest reason was the first two or three semesters. Cgpa koi acha nahi tha uski sabse badi wajah pehle 2-3 semesters
  14. FAST taught management science and a marketing course. FAST mein woh management science woh bhi padha dete the course aur marketing ka bhi course padha dete the
  15. He describes writing essays in English on his own as a change. usmein phir woh English pe khud se essays likhna, woh ek change tha
  16. He did not do internships at that time. Nahi main us time pe internships pe toh nahi gaya
  17. His core interest developed in machine learning. Mera apna jo core interest develop hua woh yahi aur machine learning ki side pe hi tha
  18. After graduating he applied to only a few companies, including Systems Limited. Maine basically uh bahut hi kam jagahon pe apply kiya tha. Usme ek toh uh Systems Limited thi.
  19. Systems Limited asked him only about a project: what it was, what his contribution was and how he did it. unhone sirf pucha project kya tha, aapki kya contribution thi, kaise kiya
  20. Systems Limited made him a job offer. unhone mujhe job offer ki
  21. He joined Systems Limited and then its big data team. phir main eventually uh udhar se Systems mein induct ho gaya aur phir big data ki team mein ho gaya
  22. At Systems he mostly worked on Power BI reporting, since Systems was a Microsoft partner. Usme uh zyada toh Power BI, basically Power BI reporting ke liye kyunki jo Systems thi woh Microsoft ki partner thi.
  23. He started a master's in data science at ITU alongside his job. saath maine masters bhi start kiya apna data science ke andar ITU se
  24. He moved to ITU as a research associate. Maine phir udhar se switch karke main ITU mein hi aa gaya as a research associate
  25. He says research is very boring for someone with a coding background who enjoys coding. jis bande ka coding ka background ho jisko coding mein maza aata ho uske liye research is very boring kind of
  26. He concluded that the work he was doing was not what he was made for. lekin maine kaha yaar yeh toh this is not jiske liye main bana hoon
  27. He then switched to ADDO AI, a company run by the same professor. Phir maine udhar se usko switch kiya aur main phir Ado AI uh unhi professor ki company thi
  28. He started at ADDO AI in 2018. Ado I started worked in 2018.
  29. He did not complete his master's degree. Masters mera nahi complete hua reh gaya. Nahi hua ruk gaya.
  30. He says his time at ADDO AI was short. Ado ki meri journey badi short rahi
  31. He advises students not to freelance during their degree, since it can stop them finishing it. main usko advice yeh karta hoon ki freelancing during degree toh keh lein ki bilkul usko haram kar lein apne upar kyunki woh phir aapko degree nahi karwati
  32. He says he set a very low rate of $8 an hour at one point. It was very less $8 an hour maine set kiya us time pe
  33. He made an Upwork profile around 2015 or 2016 and did not use it actively then. 2015-16 mein bana li hogi lekin usko kabhi actively use nahi kiya
  34. He says the organization started on 8 October. Toh it was uh kind of 8th of October when we started our organization
  35. He proposed that a client hire through the organization rather than have it supply individual people. usko propose karo ki hire through us rather than ki hum usko bande de dein
  36. The team grew to about 20 people between October and December. Karte karate October se leke December tak hum koi 20 logon ki team ho gayi
  37. He says a task should be started once it is clear in the mind. agar aapko koi bhi kaam shuru karna hai na aapne usko ek dafa dimag mein socha aur aapko samajh aa gaya toh usko shuru kar dein
  38. A client left after keeping the company's money, and the company was in very bad shape. woh hamare paise kha ke bhi gaya aur woh chala bhi gaya aur phir hum we were in a very bad shape
  39. He says he was acting as a project manager rather than as a CEO of the organization. I was not acting as a CEO of the organization. I was just acting as a project manager kind of thing
  40. He was handling HR issues and writing contracts himself. HR ke masle bhi main hal kar raha hun, contracts bhi main bana raha hun
  41. He says the team reached around 30 people. hamari team 30 ke around pahunch gayi
  42. The company agreed to continue at half the rate and keep building. Toh humne kaha yaar chalo aadhe pe kar lete hain koi baat nahi, baaki hum build karte rahenge
  43. By May and June 2019 he was acting as CEO of the organization. maine as a CEO of the organization main baat kar raha hun 2019 ke May, June ki
  44. He says his team is about 50 people now. meri team ka size abhi 50 ke around hai
  45. He says Datics is the only expert-vetted agency on Upwork, to his knowledge. Datics is the only in my knowledge is the only expert vetted agency on Upwork
  46. He says he has taken no new business from Upwork in the last two years. Lekin last do saal se maine koi naya business Upwork se nahi liya
  47. He says work found on LinkedIn or similar platforms depends on a company's worth. LinkedIn pe ya koi bhi aise platform pe milta hai aapki company ki worth pe
  48. He says Upwork or any freelancing platform is a good approach for taking a team up to 15, 20 or 30 people. Upwork bhi jo hai woh ya koi bhi freelancing platform aapko till 15, 20, 30 people tak ki team leke jaate hue it's a good approach
  49. He estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the work called AI and ML is recommendation systems. majority 90% mere khayal mein 80% kaam jo hai woh recommendation system ko aap AI ML kehte hain
  50. He says about 90 percent of the client base needs must-haves, not nice-to-haves. Abhi jo aapke 90% of the jo client tail hai, usko must haves ki zaroorat hai. Usko nice to haves ki zaroorat nahi hai
  51. He says the product mentality is greatly lacking in Pakistan. But actual mein jo product ki mentality hai woh Pakistan mein badi lack karti hai
  52. He says that without a speciality in an area, one cannot grow there and one's rates stay the same. aapki speciality uske upar nahi hai toh aap uske upar grow nahi kar sakte aur aapke rates jo hain woh wohi rahenge
  53. He describes deep learning, ML and AI as the top of the food chain at present. Aur phir top of the food chain is waqt baitha hua hai ji deep learning wala ya ML, AI, woh saara ka saara
  54. He says rates across the IT spectrum run from about $2 an hour to $200 an hour. anywhere between let's say $2 an hour or even less, to, you know, $120 an hour or $100 and $200 an hour
  55. He says a Fortune 500 company will not trust a random company or a random freelancer. Fortune 500 kisi random company ko, random freelancer ko trust nahi karegi
  56. He personally finds it unrealistic for the IT industry to reach $50 billion. hamari IT industry $50 billion dollar pe jaaye. Mujhe personally unrealistic lagti hai
  57. He says supply is the biggest problem to solve. supply side is the biggest problem to solve
  58. He says part of the work they do is with RVs, meaning recreational vehicles. Dusra hum jo kaam karte hain woh RVs ke saath hai, recreational vehicles
  59. One of the biggest RV dealers in the US became a client. one of the biggest RV dealers in the US, woh hamara client bana
  60. He says they build whole products end to end and also handle maintenance afterwards. end to end pure product bana ke de denge ya woh kar denge development. Uske baad uski maintenance bhi hamare paas hai
  61. He says many companies reach 100 to 150 people and then collapse. company ki journeys woh 100, 150 ko touch karti hain, uske baad woh collapse kar jaati hain
  62. Together with another person he formed another company. usne phir saath milke mere saath ek aur company bana li
  63. He says they formed a company in the US together with their partner. humne idhar se US mein apne partner ke saath milke ek company bhi bana li
  64. He was added to someone's team as chief development officer. toh usne mujhe apni team mein as a chief uh development officer add kiya
  65. He says his own company has about 10 departments. ab main 10 departments aapko ginwata hoon jo meri apni company ke andar exist karti hain
  66. He says one should always look at what one gained rather than constantly focus on what one lost. aap hamesha dekhenge ke yaar maine kya isse gain kiya rather than constantly focusing on ke maine kya lose kiya
  67. He says three to five years in a job teaches processes. Ab 3 se 5 saal jab aap job karte hain toh us se aapko processes samajh aate hain
  68. He says a job is not slavery. Job is not a slavery.
  69. He says one has to do jobs for at least three to five years. aapne 3 saal se 5 saal kam az kam jobs karni hain
  70. He says the goal of Tech Nation is to create professionals. Technation se hamara jo goal hai, woh bhi yahi hai ki professionals create karne hain
  71. He says the youth have been pushed towards a shorter route. Abhi hamari youth ko jo hai woh ek shorter route ki taraf dhakel diya gaya hai
  72. He says the youth cannot be blamed when others are not sharing their own journeys. Jab woh apni journey hi nahi share kar rahe toh aap youth ko nahi blame kar sakte asal mein
  73. He says there is no overnight success, and that Systems reached where it is after 30 years. there is no overnight success. Systems 30 saal baad idhar pahunchi hai
  74. He says there is no shortcut to success. mujhe yeh baat samajh aa gayi ki there is no shortcut
  75. He says degrees focus more on the fundamentals. They might, but they focus more on the fundamentals
  76. He says a degree gives a basic understanding of the whole ecosystem. Toh degree jo hai woh aapko basic poore ek ecosystem ki understanding deti hai
  77. He says that despite advancement, the basic process of building a house will always remain the same. It's the advancement, but the basic process of building a house will always remain the same
  78. He says no single solution applies to everyone. koi bhi ek solution har kisi pe applicable nahi hota
  79. He says he personally sees the future as very bright. future personally toh mujhe bahut bright nazar aa raha hai
  80. He says his company runs its own boot camps. main apni company ke jo boot camps hain, ab khud run kar raha hoon
  81. He says they regard people from Karachi, and from Peshawar, as brothers. hum Karachi wale ko bhi apna bhai samajhte hain, hum Peshawar wale ko bhi apna bhai samajhte hain