Startup founders from the National Incubation Center Karachi will lead an exclusive panel discussion titled Building, Scaling and Monetizing with AI: The Practitioner’s Playbook, hosted at ILMA University, formerly known as IBT. The session takes place on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at 11:45 AM, and it brings together people who have built artificial intelligence driven ventures to share their practical expertise, scholarly insights and first hand experiences. Organizers describe it as a chance to hear directly from industry leaders, technology innovators and startup founders about actionable strategies and real world lessons for turning artificial intelligence concepts into profitable businesses.
The discussion will be moderated by Syed Azfar Hussain, Project Director at the National Incubation Center Karachi, and features five speakers drawn from different corners of the technology and business world. Nidhal Shaikh, Marketing Advisor at TouchGrass Agency, will bring a marketing perspective on reaching customers. Taj Magsi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dilkibaat and Founder of VerticalGuild, will speak from the standpoint of someone running more than one venture. Muhammad Nabeel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Amanah Ventures, is also on the panel. The lineup is completed by Jaffar Aman, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of HiringMine, who will address the technical side of building products, and Salik Khan, Chief Executive Officer of Quanrio Technology Private Limited.
The title of the session points to the three stages that every artificial intelligence startup must work through. Building a product, finding a way to grow it beyond early customers and earning a sustainable income from it each carry different challenges, and founders often discover that skills useful at one stage do not carry over neatly to the next. Hearing from practitioners who have already faced these questions can help newer entrepreneurs avoid common mistakes and judge which strategies fit their own circumstances. Because the panel draws on speakers with backgrounds in marketing, technology and business leadership, the conversation is likely to cover how an idea moves from a working prototype to a company that generates revenue.
The event is also a chance for attendees to network with others working in the field. Organizers have encouraged participants to meet the best in the industry and learn how to scale their ideas with artificial intelligence, and a university setting gives students and early career entrepreneurs access to experienced founders in a single room. Interest in applying artificial intelligence to real business problems continues to grow across Pakistan, and sessions led by working founders offer a grounded alternative to theoretical discussion. For those planning to attend, the panel begins at 11:45 AM on Saturday at ILMA University.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.


