Tanweer Ahmed: The real hero of Pakistan

General Syed Asim Munir’s single sentence, ‘Pakistan is proud of heroes like him’, has brought Pakistani-American Tanweer Ahmed into the spotlight.

Last month, Ahmed was invited to the stage at a Pakistan embassy function hosted in honour of the army chief who lauded the role of the overseas community towards the progress and development of Pakistan.

Though COAS individually met all dignitaries invited to the dinner but especially appreciated Ahmed who has donated $9 million to the National University of Science and Technology for developing the Information Technology tower.

Since then, Ahmed has become the talk of the town. Some believe that his historic donation attracted COAS' attention while others feel that his entrepreneurial skills took him to center stage.

As a matter of fact, it’s Ahmed’s vision of promoting the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pakistan that has brought him to the limelight.

Who is Ahmed?

Born in Sialkot to a lower middle-class family, Ahmed like any other kid, wanted to change the fortune of his family. His father, Mohammad Waris, knew well that education was the key to success. Yet, for a small farmer like him, it was difficult to make two ends meet.

Determined to make his eldest son a doctor, Waris enrolled Ahmed in the best private school in his area. It stretched him beyond limits and affected the family budget as well.

Hence, the young boy would either have the luxury to go to school by bus or walk for a couple of miles to save pennies for lunch. In the evening, this 10-year-old boy would sell vegetables.

Soon Ahmed realised that continuing education would further burden his aging father. He decided to quit education and leave for London where his maternal uncle, Abdul Latif was settled for years.

On his uncle’s advice, Ahmed opted to move to the United States of America. With a borrowed ticket and $23 in his pocket, the 18-year-old boy landed in New York City.

He struggled there for a few months before moving on first to Sacramento and then settling in San Francisco. He took up jobs at a desi restaurant and gas stations.

It was 1988, the US economy was stable and employment expanding at a good pace. The very next year, Ahmed was offered a job at Jack in the Box as a shift manager.

Ahmed’s out-of-the-box approach to generating profit led to his unprecedented promotions. In a couple of months, he was the regional manager, area manager, and next GM of Taco Bell. Since then, he had a meteoric rise.

Major turning point in life

No miracle changed his life. It was simply dedication, perfection in offering services, and a creative approach to expanding business that transformed him into a successful entrepreneur.

In the next eight years, he tried his luck in the largest courier company in the state and became its chief financial officer. He also got involved in the banking sector and played a role in reducing transaction time. It led him to gain the trust of the then-vice chair Federal Reserve, expand his business, and enter into the middle class.

Rubbing shoulders with high-profile financial advisers also helped him foresee that electronic banking would eat up his courier business in this sector.

Perplexed Ahmed reflected on the situation, calculated his strengths and weaknesses, and made the most transformative decision.

He approached the top hierarchy of food chains he had served earlier and sought to open up multiple outlets in different states.

His goodwill served him well. In no time, his business grew from one store to 153 stores in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas with over 5,000 employees. It made him one of the largest fast-food franchise owners in America.

Simultaneously, Ahmed set up insurance companies and also invested in energy production businesses in Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.

For him, the key to business was step by step approach, meticulous planning, and diversification.

This diversification should be either within the same industry by opening multiple avenues or by creating empires in various sectors. The life of goal-oriented Ahmed is a testament to this strategy.

After establishing himself as a successful entrepreneur, Ahmed followed his childhood passion. In this endeavor, he was sure to attract global attention.

It was 2018 when he announced plans to construct the largest cricket complex in the USA, he acquired 86 acres of land, not very far from the main Houston city area.

For Ahmed, who didn’t have the luxury to play when young, it was time for other cricket enthusiasts to be provided with an opportunity to enjoy the world’s second-biggest sport.

Today, his Prairie View Cricket Complex is fast turning Houston into the cricket capital of the United States of America. After all, Texas is home to the third-largest Asian population after California and New York.

In June 2023, this venue hosted ‘Houston Open T20 Tournament’ that featured Major League Cricket and International stars. It drew large a crowd of fans from almost every country where cricket is played.

Ahmed has also contributed to uplifting American-Pakistanis as well as people of his ancestral homeland.

He has built 10 mosques in different states and donated lands for graveyards in Virginia and California. In Pakistan, he has upgraded Sialkot girls’ school into a college and opened a state-of-the-art free dialysis center.

During floods, he made good use of his contacts with the top congresspersons and brought a delegation comprising Sheila Jackson, Algreen, and Tom Souzi.

As the congressperson announced $30 million in aid, Ahmed contributed Rs30 million from his own pocket.

Later, he coined the idea of building a model village for flood victims of Sindh. This was a million-dollar project where a replica of a pure American village was to be developed with all basic amenities.

It was unfortunate that he faced red tape. Yet, he donated huge sums of money to build houses for flood victims in both Sindh and Balochistan.

Donation to NUST

In July 2023, he donated $9 million to NUST to develop the National Science & Technology Park Tower.

The groundbreaking ceremony of this world-class institution is scheduled this month. The project is expected to be completed in 2025. Hopefully, the first batch will be offered admission the following year.

The amount donated by Ahmed will not only build this tower but also provide HEC-approved merit-based scholarships to IT students of unprivileged classes.

In a recent interview, Ahmed said that it took him 30 years to make his fortune. However, those who will graduate in AI and create new technologies, are sure to make a fortune in less than 3 years.

This vision of Ahmed was appreciated by General Munir. The COAS himself said that Pakistan was late to join e-commerce but won’t miss the train to master the field of Artificial Intelligence.