A CS grad from Karachi who ended up leading engineering at one of the world's biggest music platforms
My Career Story
My career has been a series of accidents that somehow worked out.
I graduated from IBA with a CS degree in 2011, when the startup scene in Pakistan was basically nonexistent. Got a job at a local software house, spent 3 years building enterprise Java apps that nobody loved, including me.
Applied to a master's program in Sweden mostly because a friend was going. Got accepted to KTH, moved to Stockholm knowing zero Swedish and zero people. The culture shock was real — from Karachi's chaos to Swedish silence.
Did an internship at Spotify during my master's, back when they were ~1000 people. They offered me a full-time role. I said yes because the engineering culture was unlike anything I'd experienced — autonomous teams, real ownership, and people who genuinely cared about craft.
Twelve years later, I'm still here. Went from junior engineer to engineering director. I've built search features, recommendation systems, and now lead a team working on podcast technology.
The thing nobody tells you about big tech careers is that growth isn't always about jumping companies. Sometimes the best move is going deep, not wide. I've changed teams 5 times within Spotify, and each change felt like a new job.
Advice for Students
If you're a CS student at IBA, your skills are globally competitive. Don't sell yourself short by thinking opportunities only exist locally. Also, learn to write well — at senior levels, your ability to communicate ideas matters more than your ability to code them.