From outsourcing to innovation: Pakistan’s path to scalable IT products is need of time: Shahzad Arif

Muhammad Umar Waqqas

KARACHI: For over two decades, Pakistan’s IT exports have been powered primarily by services-outsourcing, call centers, and back-office support. While these have laid a strong foundation, the next leap forward will not come from services alone. To unlock 10x growth, Pakistan must move decisively into productization-building, proving, and exporting scalable IT products rooted in local demand and validated by public-sector use.
Senior IT & AI affairs expert Shahzad Arif says “The opportunity has never been brighter. Pakistan recently posted record $3.8 billion in FY25 IT/ITeS exports, and with the National AI Policy 2025 now cabinet-approved, the country has the right ingredients to shift gears. This policy lays out bold goals: training one million people in AI, creating AI Innovation & Venture Funds, launching 50,000 civic projects and 1,000 local AI products, and even reserving 2,000 MW of power for data centers-critical infrastructure for scaling digital products.”
The Productization Path
Shahzad Arif says “To transform services into exportable products, Pakistan must adopt a pragmatic, phased approach:
1. Solve for Pakistan First
Public demand in health, agriculture, education, policing, and municipal services offers a ready-made testbed. By creating paid reference deployments in these areas, startups can build repeatable solutions. Aligning product roadmaps with the AI Policy’s 12 sectoral working groups ensures each pilot has a clear path from local use to global scaling.
2. Institutionalize Procurement
Pakistan must set up a Pakistan Digital Marketplace, modeled after the UK’s G-Cloud. This would let government agencies subscribe to vetted local SaaS solutions quickly, cutting out red tape. With built-in trust features like security protocols, data-residency guarantees, and price caps, such a marketplace could supercharge adoption.
3. Fund the Full Product Cycle
The AI Innovation & Venture Funds should mirror the US SBIR model-supporting products from proof-of-concept to commercialization.
Funding should be milestone-driven, tied to tangible metrics such as adoption rates, system uptime, and independent security audits.
4. Harden for Export
Pakistani products must meet international compliance standards-ISO 27001, SOC 2, OWASP ASVS, and privacy-by-design principles. The National Centre of AI (NCAI) can lead red-team testing and security validation. At the same time, sovereign cloud infrastructure should be developed to meet foreign buyers’ data-locality requirements.
5. Mitigate Risks Head-On
Connectivity disruptions and opaque filtering practices harm international buyer confidence. Cyber and digital policies must be aligned with export goals through transparent industry consultation.”
Learning from Global Playbooks
Shahzad added “Pakistan does not need to reinvent the wheel-it can adapt proven international models, such as:
> US SBIR: Government-funded innovation that transitions into commercial products.
> UK G-Cloud: Fast-track procurement for SMEs selling cloud solutions to the government.
> Singapore GovTech: A builder-operator model for civic-scale product validation.
> Estonia’s e-Residency: Digital services that became global exports.
> India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: Public “rails” (identity, payments, data exchange) that fuel private innovation.
Each of these provides lessons that can be localized for Pakistan’s unique context.”
An 18-Month Action Plan
Shahzad Arif suggests a road map to turn vision into results, he says “Pakistan should commit to a focused, 18-month program:
1. Pick five exportable domains: Agri-supply chains, school & skills tech, hospital logistics/diagnostics, city services, and SME fintech/compliance. Anchor pilots with provincial buyers and measurable KPIs.
2. Launch “SBIR-PK” calls quarterly, funding 50 proofs of concept, 15 build phases, and at least 5 commercialization-ready products.
3. Stand up the Pakistan Digital Marketplace, onboarding 200 vetted SaaS solutions, with 30% of new government software buys routed through it within the first year.
4. Set up Product Hardening Hubs at NCAI for testing, certifications, and multilingual UX labs.
5. Fast-track infrastructure, prioritizing low-tariff, high-reliability AI data centers.
6. Pursue Go-to-Market Diplomacy, sending product export missions to the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.
7. Embed governance and trust-ethics, cybersecurity, and data protection-into every procurement and deployment.”
Success by 2030
Shahzad Arif hopefully says “If above mentioned executes with discipline, Pakistan could see by 2030:
= 1,000 in-market products with domestic public-sector references.
= $10 billion+ in annual product-led exports-on top of services.
= Tens of thousands of high-skill jobs in product management, DevOps, AI, and cybersecurity.
= A global reputation for practical GovTech, AgriTech, HealthTech and FinTech solutions “Made in Pakistan.”
“Pakistan’s services-led IT sector gave us the lift-off. But the next chapter-product-led growth-is about building solutions that not only solve Pakistan’s problems but also power public and private systems worldwide. With strategic procurement, mission-driven funding, world-class infrastructure, and an unwavering commitment to digital trust, Pakistan can finally take its place as a global hub for scalable IT products.” Senior IT & AI affairs expert Shahzad Arif tells TFD.