Kamsoft’s CEO highlights payment gateway workarounds, equity dilution for scaling, and capturing 1% of the global tech market
KARACHI: Pakistan’s information technology (IT) industry must move beyond low-cost training programmes and fragmented business efforts to focus on global exports, internationally competitive products and a stronger “Made in Pakistan” identity, Kamal Hasan, founder and chief executive officer of Kamsoft Technologies, has said.
Speaking in an exclusive interaction with The Financial Daily, Kamal Hasan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kamsoft Technologies, outlined a comprehensive blueprint for scaling Pakistan’s IT exports, addressing systemic bottlenecks, overcoming historical economic disruptions, and encouraging local tech entrepreneurs to build global-grade software products.
Established seven years ago, Kamsoft Technologies is a Pakistani tech company operating across two primary verticals: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions and high-end gaming and animation production. Over the past seven years, the enterprise has grown from an initial revenue base of $200 to a $7 million operation, delivering animation and series assets for international entertainment giants, including Netflix, Disney, Pixar, Sony, and Warner Bros, alongside services provided to Fortune 500 firms in the United States.
Shifting Focus to Global Markets
Kamal Hasan criticized the prevailing local trend where digital entities and training platforms aggressively market basic IT courses domestically rather than guiding the workforce toward direct international service exports.
“Every e-commerce venture or entity selling IT courses claims massive prospective revenues, yet they focus primarily on selling short courses locally for Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000,” Hasan remarked. “We need to talk about international export exposure. Instead of operating in isolation, the community must unite around a unified vision: capturing even 1 percent of the global IT market, which could translate into at least $200 million in inflows.” He noted that while legacy firms such as Systems Limited and TRG Pakistan have established structural blueprints for global scaling, the vast majority of local IT enterprises remain limited in scope.
Infrastructure Bottlenecks and Registration Workarounds
While acknowledging government initiatives under Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja including recent engagements with regional leadership from Google, Kamal Hasan emphasized that structural payment gateways remain a major hindrance for Pakistani exporters.
“The lack of direct access to primary international payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe poses a significant challenge,” he stated. “While smaller intermediaries offer workarounds by establishing entities in North America, those models often rely on third-party Social Security setups and fail to register products under a ‘Made in Pakistan’ identity.”
Sharing his personal experience, Hasan detailed how he personally navigated international corporate registration while on a visit visa to the United States, establishing a fully compliant corporate structure while retaining 100 percent operational credit for Pakistani development teams.
“Our animation, software and digital outputs are produced entirely within Pakistan for global studios,” Hasan explained. “The primary issue facing local CEOs and founders is not a lack of capability, but a lack of clarity on execution and global representation.”
Unlocking the Animation Sector and Product Mindsets
Highlighting Pakistan’s human capital, Kamal Hasan argued that Pakistan’s talent compares favorably with regional competitors, including India and Bangladesh, but suffers from fragmented industry strategy, internal election politics within tech associations like P@SHA, and a lack of focus on high-value intellectual property (IP).
“Two years ago, at an industry conference in Lahore, I set a target to capture 1 percent of the global animation market, a sector valued at roughly $327 billion globally,” Hasan noted. “Currently, around 50 to 60 Pakistani studios along with Prolific Studio (a subsidiary of Kamsoft Technologies) collectively contributed approximately $224 million to this global market share. In comparison, nations like Thailand have aggressively structured state and industry support to capture substantial market share under their national brand.”
Hasan urged Pakistani tech leaders to pivot from pure service agency models toward scalable product development. A key barrier to this transition, according to Hasan, is an aversion among local founders to equity dilution.
“Local founders often fear that diluting equity means losing their company,” Kamal Hasan observed. “In mature Western ecosystems, the focus is placed on product scalability rather than rigid ownership percentages. Diluting equity to secure growth capital and strategic partnerships is standard practice for building multi-million-dollar platforms.”
Addressing Kamsoft’s product roadmap, Hasan revealed that the firm has spent five years developing a social media and community platform scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2027 under its tech division, ASK IT WORLD. The platform incorporates custom algorithms, gamified user mechanics, cryptocurrency features, and mining capabilities. He said the product is intended to compete with established social media and community platforms, including X, Facebook and Instagram, through a different algorithm and an integrated gamification model. “I hold a 70 percent stake in this platform, with 30 percent held by the U.S.-based partners, but the core product is built and engineered in Pakistan,” Hasan added.
Turning Crises into Opportunities: Lessons from COVID-19
Reflecting on macroeconomic disruptions, Kamal Hasan pointed out that tech downturns and global crises often act as catalysts for rapid innovation and growth when approached with the right execution model.
“The period around COVID-19 represented one of the largest global economic shocks and recessions,” Hasan noted. “Yet, during the pandemic, the IT sector witnessed extraordinary growth, giants like Amazon saw historic highs, and numerous individuals and tech entities in Pakistan were established specifically during COVID.”
He stressed that rather than dwelling solely on survival during tough economic times, tech leaders must use period shifts to launch scalable ideas.
Empowering the next generation
Offering advice to emerging tech founders, Hasan emphasized that vision and execution outweigh initial capital requirements, pointing to Kamsoft’s zero-investment start during tight financial conditions.
“You do not need massive initial capital to build a product; you need clarity of vision and the determination to execute,” Hasan advised. “The fault does not lie with young entrepreneurs who have ideas but lack direction. It lies with established leaders who recount success stories without detailing the tactical steps and setbacks to avoid.” He encouraged the upcoming generation of tech leaders to leverage market disruptions constructively, noting that global economic shifts frequently create opportunities for agile software firms.
“We are here not just to survive economic cycles, but to build scalable, high-value exports that establish Pakistan’s footprint on the global technology map,” Kamal Hasan, founder and CEO of Kamsoft Technologies tells The Financial Daily.
