#224 Tekrevol's CTO Asim Siddiqui: Bridging the Gap between Technology and Business

0:00:01 - Mehmet
Hello and welcome back to a new episode of the CTO show with Mehmet. Today I'm very pleased to have with me Asim. Thank you very much for joining the podcast today. The way I like to do it, I give it to the guests to introduce themselves, so the floor is yours. 

0:00:18 - Asim
Thanks, mehmet, thanks for having me on this podcast and I'm looking forward to this conversation. So, yeah, to introduce myself, my name is Asim Siddiqui and I am the co-founder and the CTO at TechRevel. And to introduce myself, it is like I grew up in Pakistan and I got my degree, I graduated from the university and then I pursued my MBA and during that I did not really learn much because I was more towards the computer programs, of software development, but when I climbed towards leadership role then I could get out, like how important to apply the marketing and financial and other aspects which I learned during the MBA. So I have been already like I am always been, like really fascinated about the computer programs and software development and that has been always my passion. So, yes, from the last 16 years I have been working the same space and work on a different capacity and different role and six years ago, like I found in my own organization and since then we have been working and one of the top digital transformation companies right now. 

0:01:25 - Mehmet
That's great and thank you for being here today, asim. Now, the first thing you know I always get interested about the journey, so what inspired you to? You know, found TechRevel, and how has the journey been so far? 

0:01:43 - Asim
So, like I have always this thing in my mind, like I wanted to do this like 10 before, like when I spent around 4 to 5 years in this is that I knew that I had to do something by my own. It is not about just like working for yourself, but like I always had this perspective, like I would like to see from a much bigger perspective, and I had this drive. But I figured out, like most of the companies I have worked in the past before they were like from the very short term goals and they were not really driving the values to the customer the way it should be. So the drive was always there and I was just waiting for the right opportunity and it happened with the TechRevel. So it is like kind of fun, like not a funny story, but like really interesting story. 

Like the company I had been working, like one of the biggest company in Pakistan, I was working with them and I was doing really well in my life and all of a sudden, this company just found itself in the middle of the crisis due to some news broke and, like along with me, like thousand of employees got just lost their job. 

And this is what I did not like about my future, that how could this happen to me? And this is where I decided to take matters in my own hand and started working for the inception of this company. Then I found my co-founder, abhi Raza, and we were both doing fine in our space, but he is not really happy because of the same short term goals, and this is where we decided that we should start something by our own and decided to like provide more value, and we saw the gap in the market, and that's why this is how TechRevel came into existence, and since then, germany has been amazing and we have been clamping ladders and like winning a lot of awards. So it's been a really interesting journey A little bit of bumpy road, of course, but the nice one, the good one. 

0:03:53 - Mehmet
That's, of course, like there's nothing. That is always easy. Now, as if you can tell me a little bit about which technologies you know you focus more on and what are the changes that you are seeing in the tech space. 

0:04:12 - Asim
So the technology, like anything under the technology umbrella, like I am all up for that and it's specific to the tech people. 

We are a digital transformation company that we help businesses to transform in a way and disrupt, so like, whether it's a mobile application or maybe metaverse, or maybe a blockchain application or it could be an artificial intelligence, so we are helping businesses in all different spaces right now and whenever it comes to provide more value and it comes to solve the bigger and the complex problem, we are all up for that. So we are not specific to one technology, but, yes, we have been specialized in the mobile technology the most, and CR and ER applications as well. And, like, apart from that, like when you talk about the impact of the technologies and like how the things have been moving, then, of course, two technologies which I have been inspired the most in the last to one decade of course, blockchain technology. I am really in love with this technology just because this is the first time something really inspired me after a very long time, and the reason is the kind of transparency, the kind of trust and then, like, the transactions handling is being done through the blockchain. 

It was never happened that before, so it opens a lot of new doors for companies and organizations and even like, if you talk about removing the intermediaries between these kind of flows, then I think blockchain has put like really good impact throughout the trust and the transparency factor. And, of course, the number two is of artificial intelligence and it is like really impactful and exciting. We have been learning a lot, like everybody is learning a lot, about artificial intelligence and like a lot of tools and a lot of new advancement are being happening on the daily basis and like I feel like it is the best time, like being a CTO, like enjoying the innovation and the new things are being added and in our digital umbrella on the daily basis. So it has a lot of potential and it has changed our life completely. So I see a really, really big impact and I'm really really towards artificial intelligence and we are just looking forward to what, what stays on ahead. So yeah, Great. 

0:06:56 - Mehmet
So, talking about artificial intelligence, asem, like a lot of talks, a lot of people, you know, have different opinions, but from a CTO perspective and you know deep technical knowledge that you have are you seeing you know artificial intelligence taking on some of the functionalities that some people within the tech space and let's say, with specifically in the field that you do, whether, like I said, developer, analyst, maybe testing so are you seeing you know AI replacing completely or are you seeing just and other, as they are calling it? You know it will empower us. What is your take on this? 

0:07:40 - Asim
Yeah, I think there is quite like one of the common question. I normally get inside my organization and whenever I go out and people talk about that and they have this fear of like being replaced by the AI. So I always tell them that you do not need to worry about AI being replacing you, unless until you adapt and you learn these quickly. 

It is like just like when the like, the calculator was introduced or the computer was introduced to the human then, everybody had that fear that the human will be replaced by the computer, but eventually you were able to produce more jobs just because you had to learn the different ways of using that thing towards your achievement or accomplishment. So, like it is the same thing. Maybe, yes, there are few, few, very odd jobs that can be replaced completely by the AI. But people should learn, people should adapt about the advancement of the AI. So in my organization, like I took this chart like six, seven months ago when, like, the judge was introduced and I had like very detailed training session to my own developers, like every, every like every domain of the organization, not only the developer but the marketing, but like the QA, maybe the business analyst, like I encourage everybody to like start using those tools and do not shy away that why you are not using it. 

I think you should be. You should find yourself stupid if you don't be doing it because it is. It is the way to enhance your productivity and efficiency and, at the same time, the time which you are saving with this. Of course, you have to use your brain, like where the human brain is involved. If the human brain is required, like you should be spending more time on that. So you should not be worried about like being replaced by that. You should only worry if you are not adapting, if you are not embracing yourself with the new technology, with the new trend, then you should be concerned about this. Otherwise, I see a lot of new things happening. I see a lot of more opportunities being created, being offered to the people. It is just about adjustment and adapting great answer, asim. 

0:09:50 - Mehmet
Now, you talked at the beginning and when you, when you were doing the introduction, about yourself and the company, you mentioned digital transformation right now. Matter of fact is that, although, like, digital transformation is still a buzzword, we've been, you know, seeing people reluctant or, let's say, still hesitant, still slow in doing this, and now, all of a sudden, the AI come on top. So how do you think this? You know, the introduction of these new AI tools will push companies to be more agile and more fast to adopt the change. 

0:10:33 - Asim
Of course, I think this is like another very common problem which we normally encounter with our customer. Especially when the customers are not really tax-heavy or like they are kind of layman in these these domains, then it is our responsibility to educate them, to let them know how to solve these problems and how these tools are more effective in like streamlining their business operations or maybe optimizing their processes. But in all honesty, I feel the problem lies somewhere else and if you take like very core example of the Apple, then one thing they have always done is to like simplify the technology, and this is where I believe the most like whenever you talk about implementing or like introducing the new technology, it is all about making it really simple for the people so that they can understand it and, at the same time, keep it very, very simple and minimalistic so that they see the impact, they see the result, do not make them really confused about the jargon about the technology and being bombarded with the new words, and they always feel like just like we are sending them in some sort of like matrix and they won't be able to understand something if you keep it very simple, to the point and give them this clarity of the kind of impact how could they can produce through these tools. I think they should be like, really on like, adopt this technologies very quickly and, at the same time, they will be more rewarded towards the result and think which they have never experienced this before. So it is simplified that all stuff. 

I feel and this is what we have done in the past and this is what we have been doing, and I take this as my, my responsibility being a digital transformation company that whenever I do that, I make sure that it is not about the solving the problem but making sure that my customer, the industry I am working with, they are finding it simple and they can carry it forward without having any big problem or become becoming really technology understanding that, yes, we are not understanding it. Make it simple and I think the companies should understand and they have been like those who have okay, those who have embraced you. They are seeing the results now. 

0:12:57 - Mehmet
Great. Now where are you seeing the mix between you know these AI technologies and the other technologies that we always used to talk about when it comes to digital transformation. So you mentioned blockchain is one of them. I know that also, you do some work around internet of things or IoT, so are you seeing a blending and mixing of these technologies that will also allow businesses to disrupt more and shift their businesses more? 

0:13:26 - Asim
Of course, of course, like just talking about even the blockchain and AI, like if you think about implementing these technologies together, then having the trust, transparency, privacy, the data manipulation and at the same time yes, of course, ai is important and in like the way it is like the kind of trajectory we are seeing with the AI right now. It is quite impressive, but we need to like think about keep like a balance of having the biased AI or like things where we we talk about the ethics and the privacy, but the companies who are like incorporating and making use of these technologies, they have control on the both side. So, just to give you an example, like even my organization, like a few months ago, we like just because we are the digital transformation and we have to adapt like blunt technologies very quickly, just because of the customer demands and the requirement, we understand that even if you are not adapting by ourselves, if you are not seeing that there are a lot of repetitive tasks, there could be a more informed decision that can be made through the AI. So why not implementing the AI inside the organization in every aspect? So, like we were able to like find out a hundred different tasks which we figure out like and we re-trialize this item, and we said, okay, these are the ten different items which are repetitive, that can be replaced with the AI completely and let have our team work on some other items. 

And I think we were able to extract a lot with like even who would have said like the developers or like the company developers are working with the marketing team right now right, at least the right with the marketing team right now, and they are helping them to like automating their tasks so that they can do something else. So nobody has done this before and nobody even thought about that, even if you are developing something but the company who is developing softwares or like helping other businesses, but they are adapting and learning by themselves to improve their working practices and improve their working styles so that they can be more effective while providing the solution to the company. So it is all about like how you apply these technologies and how do you take these technologies. So for us, this is working very nice and we see the competitive advantage right now. We see the like, the kind of competition over there. So if we are not learning, we are not adapting by ourselves. 

How would we educate our customer and make them convince on this particular item, which we have not done by ourselves? So I think, using these technologies. 

On the other hand side, like, again, if we talk about the blockchain, we implemented the blockchain in our own organization first and we know like, yes, we are solving a lot of problems for the customer, but, like there is a concept called Ravcoin in our company where we have given a blockchain, crypto based stock to our employees so that they can have more loyalty with the organization and how they can move forward and how can keep those stock in their hands so that if we are spending more time with the organization, they are being at the kind of stakeholder with the company, so like we are leveraging the technology by ourselves. 

So when we talk about the industry and when we talk about providing a complete solution for our customer, so we know like they are getting a lot of advantage and they have a very, very, very clean and transparent kind of transactions and then like automating and automating the talk and then improving the efficiency and effectiveness throughout. So I think there is a lot to learn and there is a lot to apply as well. 

0:17:09 - Mehmet
Great. Now a question that came to my mind how do you manage and this is, you know, sometimes hard? We know for a fact that projects they take time to finish right. So sometimes so, especially if it's like a big project, transformation and these kinds of projects, I know from my own experience. So how do you manage when a new technology, like, let's say, chat, gpt, comes while you are in the middle of another project? So how do you handle this? 

0:17:43 - Asim
So I think it is of the resilience nature of a developer, like I came from the same background, so I know like I have to learn all the time and whenever I am exposed with any new technology, any new tool, I always do that and it is like one of the core responsibility in my organization to like bring that innovation all the time. So when I talk about comparing myself with all the big companies in the consulting domain, like Accenture, maybe, deloitte, digital, something like that, so I do look into that and I do follow like what is happening in this tech space. So I keep myself updated all the time and I try to bring that kind of innovation in my organization all the way so that we can get a competitive advantage and at the same time, we should not be lying behind what the customer is asking. So if in the middle of the project something is being demanded, even though if I have to put more efforts, if I have to go extra mile for that, without being concerned about the project scope creep and something like that, we still find because I know like If we get to know about the technology, if we get a chance to learn more about this, then of course this should be more useful in the near future, because you learn that technology you want. 

And, for me, why I do like this project-based consulting and the transformation project mostly because with every project you are always required to learn something new and I find this and the opportunity all the time that if the customer is talking about any new idea and a new technology, I always get the time to look into that, maybe spending 10-15 minutes about this, and I get happy just because I have added one more thing in my library, in my knowledge that, yes, I have learned something. So whenever these kind of things or maybe requirements are expected from the customer, I find it even more interesting and we never been shy away of not doing it or saying that, oh, we do not know about this. I know we can learn about any technology, maybe take a few days, a few weeks, but once you learn that, you can master that. 

0:20:07 - Mehmet
That's great and this is what will lead me, because I can see the ambition. So I know that your company, techrevol, was listed in the Inc 5000 in 2022. So what do you think where the key drivers behind this huge achievement? 

0:20:29 - Asim
I think how could there have been a lot of hard work? Of course you cannot get to the Inc 5000 list without taking a route where you have to make a lot of sacrifice about, maybe your personal life or your professional life. 

But there has been a lot of hard work involved and I think one of the main key factors is the growth weather mindset which we set up from the start of the organization. When we built this company, we had this company very clearly in our mind. We did that we need to provide top launch services to our customer and we should not be working as a developer. We should be working as a strategic partner, as a development partner, so that we provide this kind of flexibility to our customer, that we are always there for their support and we come up with a growth weather mindset. So if they are growing, if I build a product that is doing really well, then of course I can take the credibility and I can tell the entire world that this is something I have built. So even very first customer of mine, which we had six years ago, they have. They grew with us together and we are still working on all the different items. So this is the kind of motor we always set up and, of course, without people, nothing can happen. So people are our asset. 

We have been really lucky. We have been really Lucky in that format where we got the very tremendous minds of the people who have been with us in the journey, who have bought this vision that this is how we want to facilitate and service our customers, and they responded very well. They have been always there. There was a situation about the COVID and all that stuff, but they stand by. They have been always our support, our strength, and without them, like, you cannot achieve that. 

So credit goes to the entire organization and the people I have been working really closely and making to. The list is always a big. We were like among, like we were ranked around 675 overall and like number six in Houston only, so we were able to like set up this footprint. It took a lot of time and I have first like make and set up that footprint, but yes, the people know us by the name and now we have been on a very good case study where we were able to develop some very disrupting ideas, very disrupting constructions as well, and we like taking more challenges. So, yeah, I think it is all about the people and the mind to grow together. Mindset. 

0:23:30 - Mehmet
Great, I am talking about growth and you know the mindset. So while I was preparing, I know that there is something you like to talk about which is calculated risk. So what does that mean to you and can you share, like maybe, some example of where you did this calculated risk and it led you to a success? 

0:23:52 - Asim
So I think risk is always a key factor, especially if you are an entrepreneur, if you are an innovator, then of course you have to make some calculations and you have to go with your instinct as well, your gut feeling as well, like what you are going to do next. 

And when I started the company, even I had, I took a very big risk that I even I didn't know about my future. But of course I had to take the risk because if I wouldn't do that by that time then I would never do this. So, yes, the calculation is there, but at the same time, if you have trust in your ability and if you know that, yes, you can pull it, then I don't mind and even I encourage. Even in our organization like this is the kind of mindset we have created, where we encourage a lot of entrepreneurship, a lot and the people who are having some ideas like the world changing, ideas that can improve the life in any way, we encourage them and, like in the past four or five years, we were able to create six different CEOs in our organization and it's those who were like the employee at one time. So, calculated risk is all about going towards your instinct and, at the same time, trust on your ability, if you have done something in this space and you know that you are capable enough to do it. So, like I said, like I lost my job like five months I was jobless and I had nothing to do I still like what's able to take that risk. Then I tell the same stories to the people that if I can do that then anybody can do it, because it is not something, it is not that big, which you most of time understand. It is all about what you want to do in your life. If you have a very clear vision and if you want to do something big you have. Well, like you have a control of your destiny in your hand so you can call all the shots. So it is about just make that right calculation that, yes, you can survive, a bit like when I took the weights, like I just Calculated, like around for the two month, that if I could survive somehow by two months, I had that, that, that money in my account, like Run my household in the kitchen. So if I would be able to do it, then I think I can pull it and I I think I was even successful, successful. So it is not that difficult and it is all about giving the confidence and I Think for me that was the passion. 

I always wanted to do, that when I talked about, talked with my family, with my wife Just go ahead, because we know you can, you cannot be, you won't settle until you, you take that thing, that, you Do it, you, you, you see if this is really working for you or not, and so far I never looked behind and think so all this can, in my way and People are able to like, make it work for us great, very inspiring us and really and you know I agree with you you need to, you know, follow your gut feeling, as you said, you need to Trust, you know that if really you are on to something, of course, as you mentioned a few moments back, like it's up and downs and it's not always like Road full of roses. 

0:27:12 - Mehmet
So I agree with you on this and you know I like to hear such stories, success stories similar to yours. So just to encourage others also as well, taking the same path if, as you said, they have a kind of a passion of doing something big, or maybe you know they feel they have a purpose of changing something. And you know we know, like all big entrepreneurs and successful entrepreneurs, they do this. Now I know, as in you do also mentorship. So how do you balance the time between running a Very rapid, growing company and mentoring other? You know entrepreneurs and I know, maybe sometimes businesses I think I always Find it very easy for me. 

0:27:57 - Asim
Yes, there is a compromise always, and I have compromised a lot in my personal life, of course, and but it's still like when you, when you run after the passion, then you have to find your way and like again, I like by lastly, like I was not feeling really well, but even the doctor advice to take a Take a rest for the one week, two weeks or even more than that. But I said if I cannot, if I'm not doing the work, then I cannot find my energy bag. And I am not really I kind of person to just take a rest and sit somewhere and see what is happening For me, what is something where I get my energy back and I like talking to people all the time and when it is about providing the mentorship. So that is the reason I build this company and that's the reason that I Wanted to work for others, because I know, especially from the developer's background, I have been working for the vision for the, for the idea that why the developers are not Coming forward, to take those kind of reasons, why they are always stuck with their own journey of being Senior developers or junior developers and they are not adding towards entrepreneurship. So this is where I have been working a lot and like giving advices and even working on with with a lot of people to like Grow out from your comfort zone. 

You are not only a developer. You are more than that. Even if I can do that like, if I can learn about the management skill, like I can learn about the finances, entrepreneurship, I can go out there to the world, to the Silicon Valley, and talk about the people and I can observe that, then why don't you do that? So, like, that's kind of information which I carry, which I transfer to the people who work with me, and they were able to like, like, change their persona completely. They have been more effective people and they were able to learn that it is not a limiting factor or you should not be, like, finding yourself in a one room, that, yes, you are only a developer. So I wanted to change this mindset and I developed my own personality on that, and now I'm trying to inspire others to like, follow the same or maybe like, they have even more potential, they have more talent than me, they have even more potential, they have more talent than me. 

And why not pursuing that, that domain of entrepreneurship, and Make it successful? For you all said, because you know, entrepreneurs are innovators and I tell them always, like all the big stories of Facebook or Microsoft, like when you talk about this, like all these products were just an idea one time, the entrepreneurs and the innovators like me bring those, bring those to the life. So, if they can do it, then why don't you do? Why can't you do it? So, like, when you do that, when you give them this confidence, then, yes, people learn to you, people listen to you and if they see, like, if they see my profile, they see like, yes, this guy has been from the same journey. So, yes, he understand that and I try to get onto the same wavelength as well. So, like, setting up the time and managing is not a big problem. Yes, being an entrepreneur yes, we can are the days where you think about the business. Week days are the days where you really execute those ideas. 

So you like I never get and a holiday of proper off from the world, and that excites me. So I try to balance somehow and it works for me. So I spend around 14 hours on work and then six to seven hours with my family or we write a text book. That should be enough for me and it is working quite nice for me. 

0:31:38 - Mehmet
Great because I think you enjoy a lot what you do. So you don't see it as work actually, so probably this Exactly. I think like if we want to leave the audience today with something, especially if someone is about to start up something, or maybe someone who already started the journey you want to give maybe one or two sentences of advice. What would you tell them? 

0:32:03 - Asim
Of course, and I think I already mentioned, especially for the newcomer, those who want to do something. If you have an idea that the world changing, idea that has a big impact, that can change the lives, just go for that. Do not wait for anything. It is the right time for doing anything, even in whatever the age, whether you are right now. If you really have this confidence and you think that that can change the life, it has a big impact on the world, just do it and you can have a control of your own destiny. You can call this short and you understand it Like maybe it can be. Like I normally say to the people do not start business for minting the money only. If you are doing that, you are limiting yourself for your risk taking abilities and your own self. 

Do that, go for the bigger vision, go for the bigger purpose as well. So again, be an innovator, be an entrepreneur, and I think everything will come to your way. So do not wait for anything. We just go ahead and just implement it or do it whatever you want to do. 

0:33:12 - Mehmet
Great. So, asim, where can people find more about you and your company? 

0:33:20 - Asim
So you can Google my name, Asim Rai Siddiqui. You will find a lot of information about me. I write for the big publishing platform like ReadWrite, entrepreneurcom or, in 5,000. Anythingcom as well. But apart from that, of course, my social media handles are available on the website as well, as you can find it easily on the YouTube. So, yes, you can just Google me or my company, so you will find most of the information over there. 

0:33:49 - Mehmet
Great, I will make sure that I will put your LinkedIn profile at least, so people can find you easily. Anything, asim, you wish that I had asked you Anything you want to add before we close. 

0:34:04 - Asim
No, I think we were able to touch on entrepreneurship and a little bit of the technology. So, yeah, I think that covers most of the stuff. Of course, there are thousands of things to discuss about, but, yes, I don't want people to get bored with the kind of podcast that came to the stretch for you. So, if that is informative, very limited, I think that should be enough for me. 

0:34:33 - Mehmet
Yeah, so I don't limit and everyone, all my guests, they know this and I think the audience know this. I don't limit the time, but I like your story, alcim. It's very I would say inspiring to reach the ING 5000 from a humble starter point. So it's really something. I get excited to talk to you and after we talk, I get more interesting to know more and more and more. Of course and this is why the show exists is to bring people like yourself, us, into the show and show that everything is possible. As you said, it's about the mindset and being the success. So thank you very much for sharing your story with us today. I really enjoyed it. I'm sure that the audience will enjoy as well. And, as usual, this is how I end my episodes. Guys, please keep the feedbacks coming. I'm enjoying reading them. I'm enjoying having good feedback, whether it's something you want me to enhance or maybe something you're liking it Like. I'm open, I like. Actually, this is more than compliments, because this is how I can make the podcast better. 

0:35:44 - Asim
So thank you for your feedback. 

0:35:45 - Mehmet
It's always valuable and if you are also interested to be a guest, like Asim was a guest today, please reach out to me. Don't be shy, and we can do the arrangement for this. The format is very straightforward and easy. Just it's enough that you have a great story, a great technology related to tech, marketing, anything related to startups and entrepreneurship. I'm very interested to hear more about you, so don't be shy. As I said, thank you very much for tuning in today and hope to see you again in a next episode very soon. Thank you, bye-bye. 

0:36:22 - Asim
Bye-bye. 

Transcribed by https://podium.page