Faisal Iftikhar

About

Experienced and diversified tech-executive who is adept at providing leadership, management and vision necessary to ensure that business has the right people and systems, appropriate operational controls and organizational structures, administrative and reporting procedures in place to effectively take the organization to the next level of growth and innovation while ensuring its financial strength and operating efficiency. Extensive Project/Program Management experience, with the successful delivery of 100+ projects across 30+ customers. Diverse local and global exposure of relationship management with customers/partners (including names from fortune 100) from North America, Europe, Asia, MEA and Australia. Faisal enjoys nurturing large and diverse teams and believes in cultivating a positive and inclusive culture to drive sustainable growth for the business. Expert in the Customer Communication Management (CCM) space through loads of complex and integrated document generation and business process automations in the verticals like Healthcare, Insurance, Banking, Telecom, Education, Government, Real Estate and Financial. Well-versed in key real estate business functions, where he planned, strategized and executed business process improvement, program planning & management, (ERP) enterprise resource planning systems, complex system integrations and change management. Played a critical role in Development, launching and Adoption of CRM across a Real Estate sales team of 600+.

Experience

TechAscend

Jul 2020 – Present

Islamabad

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

Co-Founded IT Consulting and Services firm in the Customer Communication Management (CCM) space with a primary focus on automation of document generation and related business processes. As a chief operating officer of a start-up, I am extensively engaged in all the key business functions like: • Identify Market Opportunities • Manage Partnerships & Customers • Manage Product Development • Direct Marketing and Promotion • Develop Financial Estimates - Time to market - Financial plan - Break-even points - Ensure long-term solvency - Budget management • Create Business Plans and Documents • Build and Lead Teams

Graana.com

Jul 2020 – Mar 2021

Islamabad

Digital Strategy & Transformation Consultant

• Partnered with key business leaders to lead a business and digital transformation program to enable critical business strategies and capabilities • Provided leadership, line management and coaching • Advised, Evaluated, recruited, motivated and mentored a growing, world-class software engineering team • Effectively managed and supported the development of the Digital Transformation team • Provided leadership to ensure clarity and alignment between the ongoing engineering projects and the strategic objectives of the company • Improved processes using systematic, disciplined and data-driven methodologies • Identified new business avenues along with its implementation strategy • Structural and Process reforms to streamline communication between business and development team • Evaluation, Procurement, Onboarding and Expansion planning of ERP (SAP)

Graana.com

Feb 2020 – Jun 2020

Islamabad

Head of Strategy and Operations

• Partnered with key business leaders to lead a business and digital transformation program to enable critical business strategies and capabilities • Planned, strategized and executed Business process improvement, program planning & management, (ERP) enterprise resource planning systems, complex systems integration, and change management • lead multiple business and technology initiatives with a critical focus on managing, people, scope, schedules, resources, investments, and risks • Planned, scoped, built and launched CRM • Envisioned and Architected automated and digitized end-to-end customer and employee journeys through a network of digital and integrated services • Implemented and matured Scrum practices • Successful Adoption of the CRM across sales teams of 600+ • Promoted and enabled the core technology team for disruptive innovation, systems thinking, complexity reduction and superior customer experience

Elixir Technologies

Apr 2018 – Aug 2019

Islamabad

Chief Operating Officer

• Functioned as the single interface for the company’s CEO and Board of directors • Successful Transition to Software as a Service (SaaS) model through o Technology Readiness o Organizational structural upgrade o Addition and reforms – Teams and Process o Pricing and business model • Revenue Growth by 36% • Efficient Operations - cost reduction by approx. 10% • Connected at the C-Level with customers and Technology/Business partners for strategic alignment and bridging of technology and information gap • Reshaped the organizational structure to meet the Challenges of modern Cloud Technology Company • Introduced processes and protocols (data-driven) to promote effective collaboration across internal departments, cross-organization and customer • Worked closely with CTO, Product Owner and VP Engineering to streamline Product roadmap and Technology initiatives with respect to organizational strategic goals, growing customer and market needs • Established training programs, performance-driven culture, ensuring accountability and the reward system, performed resource optimization to maximize the velocity and efficiency without compromising on the quality of deliverables • Collaborated with departmental heads guiding them on continuous improvement measures while putting in place the reporting and monitoring mechanism • Promoted policies and culture that is conducive to productivity resulting in increased employee engagement, motivation and efficiency • Streamlined Financial Forecasting that resulted in a more accurate and informed decision making as well as allowing to plan and schedule initiatives like the annual employee increments and benefits and upgrading of infrastructure and software systems

Elixir Technologies

May 2017 – Apr 2018

Islamabad

Vice President Business Solutions

• Supervised Project Management Office, Professional Services and Technical Support departments • Functioned as the direct interface for the company’s CEO and board of directors for the strategic planning and execution • Implemented capacity planning and process building for the teams • Integrated the customers and internal team’s feedback with Product Road Map • Customer, Region and Partner categorization and engagement planning based on revenue, strategic and technological standing • Sales Pipeline refinement principles and its integration with resource planning • Established protocols for robust and harmonized communication across the internal & external (Like US, China & Prague) teams, customers and partners • Worked with departmental heads on data-driven decision making by putting in place the reporting, monitoring and alerts mechanism • Established process and platforms for customer and partners to communicate the challenges and future opportunities

Elixir Technologies

Feb 2012 – Apr 2017

Islamabad

Manager Professional Services

• Functioned as Project/Program Manager • Led a team of 30+ Professional Services experts • Successful Delivery of 100+ projects across 30+ customers • Services Revenue thrived by 9 times • Employee Retention improved by 90% • Relationship Management with customers and partners from North America, Europe, Asia, MEA and Australia from verticals like Health & Life Insurance, Banking, Telecom, Education, Service Bureau and financial institutes • Customer satisfaction through well planned, seamless and integrated Digitization and Automation of their Business Processes, Document Generation and it's Delivery • Ensured, team has the right mix of people, process and technology • Establish Department Objectives & Goals, Performance Standards, Salary Increment, Bonus and it’s standing in the bigger picture • Department Insights and reports presentation to CEO and Global GM

Elixir Technologies

Mar 2009 – Feb 2012

Islamabad

Solutions Analyst

Pre-Sales • Prepare and conduct customer demo and proof of concepts in collaboration with sales Agile Project Management • Prepare, Communicate, Negotiate and finalize the project plan • Effective collaboration and expectation management of Offshore and Onshore internal/external stakeholders Solution Delivery • Capture, Scope, Document and Sign Off solution requirements with the customer • Solution Architecture, Implementation, Quality Assurance, Deployment and Sign Off Training • Internal and external stakeholder training including customer/partners

Education

International Islamic University Islamabad

Sep 2004 – Feb 2009

BS, Software Engineering

Skills

Languages