Connecting Dots with Usama

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Ever wondered what it likes being in the tech sector?  Today’s guest Carolyn Duby shares her experience of being associated with the tech field, which might help you in deciding if the tech industry is right for you. A subject-matter expert in cybersecurity and data science, Carolyn is a Field CTO, an active leader in the community, and a believer in lifelong...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! With some creative minds internalizing the shifting world landscape, the Pandemic has surely created a new generation of entrepreneurs. Likewise, three young entrepreneurs founded a Pakistan-based education technology firm, Out-Class, in 2020. The ed-tech startup aims to provide a high-quality alternative to tuition academies from the comfort of students’ homes, and wit...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Our today’s guest, Shaiza Qayyum, is a Ph. D. Economics and an Applied Science Manager at Uber. In this episode, she reflects on her technical role in depth, discusses life as a manager instead of being an individual contributor, and shares with us her journey of transitioning from Pakistan to the States.   Shaiza is also a keen advocate of mentorship and stresses...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! In the lexicon of management, the CEO is the epitome of leadership; yet surprisingly, little is known about this unique role. Therefore, digging more about what this title entails,  we have with us today the CEO of Telenor Microfinance Bank & Easypaisa, Pakistan - Mudassar Aqil. With over two decades of banking experience in the US and Pakistan, Mudassar’s a pu...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Today's guest, Hiba Talat, is a woman in tech - a buzz phrase that you can’t ignore if you work in technology (or even if you don’t). As a data analyst, a lecturer at Sofia university in California, and a member of PWiC, she unfolds her professional journey in this episode. Besides being a teacher, Hiba talks about her passion to bring more awareness about working in th...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! If you’re an organization looking to port your resources to the cloud or an individual who wants to excel in this field, our today’s guest, Khalid Hussain, is a cloud atlas you’d want to pay heed to. He is a Senior Manager of Cybersecurity as well as coaches students about technology and career development. Thanks to his mentorship, his students have secured roles in to...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Our today's guest, Gabija Jonsson, has been a Communications Lead for several large scale multinational companies in her career. Maintaining the flow of information especially during crisis, media campaigns, marketing events and generally with the public, she’s often the face of organizations she has worked for. Not only does Gabija reflect on this strategic role of her...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! As the next time you touch down at the airport and rush to meet your loved ones, we are very sure that you would be appreciative of how this modern day wonder a.k.a Heathrow airport is functioning. Our guest, Mohammad Taher, known as the Airport Guy, is an aviation engineer at one of the world's busiest international airports and has a strong social media presence, wher...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! In a general and swooping categorization, people are quick to label many engineers by nature as bad communicators. Busting all such myths, our guest today hails from an engineering background but now works as a Partnerships & Communications Lead. In this episode, Hassan reflects upon his transition from the telecom world to the extroverted communications sector. Bes...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! The light bulb above your head is glowing and you know that turning it into a marketable product can be a lucrative way to start moving into entrepreneurship. Before you start blabbing about your invention to the wrong person or run to the first company that offers to buy it, you need to do one thing: protect it – or more formally, patent it.   To educate us more o...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! If you were to list out the top tech companies every millenial aspires to work for, it's very likely that our today's guest would have set his foot in most of them. Having worked at IBM, Blackberry, Microsoft, and Amazon, Ahmed Asif, is a great example who enjoys his role as a Product Manager and has switched jobs in big tech companies for career growth. In this episode...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Today's guest, Faizan Ahmad, is a security engineer a former bug bounty hunter and has helped organizations like MIT, Google, Microsoft, and Apple to fix various vulnerabilities in their systems. Eventually basking in the knowledge of cyber security and ethical hacking, he explored a potential career for himself. So, if you are looking into exploring the very much in-de...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! We’re here with yet another peachy episode with a young entrepreneur in Ottawa - Nasr, who observed a gap in the capital’s market for fresh juices and founded his own business of a fruit juice bar.    In this episode, Nasr shares with us his transition not only from Lebanon to Canada, but from engineering to entrepreneurship as well. He talks about discovering...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   Have you ever wondered what a typical day for a CEO looks like? Do you want to know how an executive perceives success?  If you dream to climb up the management ladder one day, tune in to our today's episode with Naeem Ghauri - Chairman at NetSol Technologies. Ghauri transitioned from aeronautical engineering to IT and saw a future in technology, w...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Episode 20 brings you a double treat! Alongside demystifying his current role as a Merchant Success Manager, we also ask our today’s guest, Khaled Abdallah, to connect the dots to his entrepreneurial commitment - a Middle Eastern restaurant in Ottawa: "Chickpeas" Whether it's being there for his clients at his daily job; his aim to satisfy his c...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   Our today's guest, Hishaam, is a product manager based out of Toronto. A few episodes ago, we invited his wife, Fatima Zaheer - who is very much involved in the project management space in the tech industry. Moreover, we had a very insightful discussion with the power duo and were greatly inspired by them as well.   In this episode, we've asked Hishaam to co...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! In today’s episode we will be having a discussion with Basit Khan who is a Sr Product Engineer working in the automotive industry based in possibly the best geographical location in this regard. Other than getting to know about his technical duties we talked about his move to Germany, the infamous autobahn and his future aspirations. Hope you all enjoy this insightful c...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   Reconnecting with my college senior after a decade was revving! Not only Moosa and I share the same alma mater - FAST NUCES, but both of us also started our careers in the telecom industry, and are now settled in North America.  Amongst many job titles that we have tried demystifying in our podcast, Moosa's positions as an SRE and an instructor at aCloudGuru...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   I had always been amazed upon reading blogs every now and then about people changing their careers and switching to tech. And being very excited for today's episode would be an understatement: talking to Sharyar whose 'made it' has been very inspiring. Today, we're featuring a 'crazy' story of determination and courage. He has a great personality and have success...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   We work in a world of LinkedIn keywords and AI scanned resumes. In such an environment, where does one focus their time to achieve the career growth and desired challenges? Building experience or obtaining certifications?   Let's dive deeper into this dilemma with Mohsin Khan - a solutions architect at AWS, UK who is "twelve" times certified! Hope this episo...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! You may not have seen your friends from high school or college in a decade, but you probably see them celebrating their professional achievements on social media now and then. Inspired by his immense technical experience, I reconnected with a college friend of mine in this episode and tried turning a Facebook friendship into a real-life meeting again. Hope you all enjoy...

Welcome to the Connecting Podcast!   Have you ever caught yourself daydreaming about starting your own business?  If so, it's time to tune into our new episode and listen to the story of the CEO of Efani - a US secure mobile service provider. With a track record of two successful business exits and being included amongst the top 100 influential people in Fintech globally, Haseeb shares w...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   People often speak about climbing a career ladder. However, a steady climb up on the same career path isn’t right for everyone. Our guest, Hafsa, shares with us her decision of stepping down the managerial ladder and pursuing her position as a senior engineer to develop more technical knowledge. Featured in Toronto Star, tune in to listen to Hafsa’s journey to th...

Welcome to Connecting Dots! Our today’s episode is going to feature another Project Manager who is based out of Toronto, CA. She has been associated with the telecom industry for several years and have gained professional experience internationally working for telco operator companies. In this episode, we'll ask her to walk us through her journey and demystify her current job title. YouTube: https...

Welcome to Connecting Dots!   Our today’s guest is a Project Manager based out of Vancouver, CA. His professional international experiences have helped him in establishing himself in the construction industry. In this episode, we'll ask him to walk us through his journey; demystify his current job title, and reflect on his transition as a new parent.  YouTube: https://youtu.be/CLJUKDBFes...