Dr. Naveed Iftikhar

co-founder of atomcamp

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar is a co-founder of atomcamp and a former governance specialist at the Ministry of Finance. He earned a PhD from the University of Delaware.

Education and teaching

Iftikhar's doctoral research at the University of Delaware focused on how technology and innovation drive economic growth. He says he has taught at institutes in Pakistan. [1]

atomcamp

Iftikhar says atomcamp focuses on white-collar jobs and has recently started on gray-collar jobs, not blue-collar work. He says most atomcamp boot camps happen online. He says the three-month AI boot camp is only open to people with technical backgrounds, and that the data analytics track teaches SQL, Python, Power BI and advanced Excel. Workforce boot camps, he says, serve people already in the field, such as HR and procurement managers. [1]

He says the boot camps teach domain knowledge and professional development as well as AI. According to Iftikhar, atomcamp graduates have moved into corporate and international jobs, including in the Middle East and the US. He also says some trainees have entered United Nations jobs. [1]

Iftikhar says he wanted to create a sustainable model in which people pay the fee. He says atomcamp takes 30,000 per month from a participant and offers monthly installments, and that students can stop paying if they dislike the course. He says a small number of students ask for refunds, and atomcamp sometimes gives them. He says the same type of boot camp sells in the US for $6,000 to $10,000. [1]

Iftikhar says atomcamp has expanded its model to Saudi Arabia, where it runs a few programs with the University of Chicago. atomcamp has also collaborated with the Ministry of IT and Telecom on an initiative to upskill civil servants. [1]

Views on technology and Pakistan's economy

Iftikhar says there is a huge demand in Pakistan's public sector for digitalization and AI. He says about 99% of Pakistan's health sector work is manual and that financial penetration in Pakistan is very low. He also says Pakistan has started a semiconductor initiative. [1]

He says Pakistan cannot compete in creating new LLMs, and cannot compete in data centers either, so it should aim for the application layer. He says people with more access to AI and more control over it are more advanced than others on the spectrum. He also says the traditional model is not going to work. [1]

Views on entrepreneurship and institutions

Iftikhar says Pakistani talent is entrepreneurial and has been proven abroad. He says Pakistan may need around 50 entrepreneurs to change its economy, and that Pakistani entrepreneurs currently go abroad to build and exit. He says the talented people he mentioned have back offices in Pakistan. [1]

He says internet quality is very poor across 60 to 70% of Pakistan's geography. He says Pakistani banks will not extend credit cards because they do not take risk, and that e-commerce in Pakistan mostly runs on cash on delivery. He adds that when money is taken abroad there will be hundreds of questions, and no venture fund will want to come. [1]

He says government agencies in the US buy from startups, while Pakistan's traditional contracting system does not. He names three priorities: internet infrastructure, the financial system, and public procurement and taxation rules. [1]

Views on education and work

Iftikhar says Pakistan has the second largest population of out-of-school children in the world. He says maybe 200,000 people graduate from universities every year. He also says Pakistan is a strong laboratory for innovation because of its scale. [1]

He says the biggest lie is the quality of Pakistan's university education, and he thinks about 80% of graduates from Pakistani universities are not employable. He says Pakistan has raw talent rather than finished talent. He also says the international job market is now tougher than Pakistan's. [1]

Iftikhar believes university education should not be for everyone and that government funding should be filtered by merit. He says individuals must take charge of their own learning rather than blame universities. He says government should invest in free, good-quality basic and high school education. [1]

He says someone who learns only AI or software engineering, without domain knowledge, is a bigger loser than a civil engineer. He says AI lets people with domain knowledge do bigger and more impactful work than before, and that domain knowledge will matter a lot in an AI world. He says AI will replace many jobs but will not eliminate everything quickly, and that interpersonal skills, integrity and ethics will matter more as AI spreads. [1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2026-04-01 Pakistan can't build the LLM. It has to build the application layer. Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Dr. Naveed Iftikhar?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar is a co-founder of atomcamp. He is a former governance specialist at the Ministry of Finance. He earned a PhD from the University of Delaware.[1]

What does Dr. Naveed Iftikhar do?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar is a co-founder of atomcamp. He says atomcamp focuses on white-collar jobs and has recently started on gray-collar jobs. He says most of its boot camps happen online.[1]

Where did Dr. Naveed Iftikhar study?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar earned a PhD from the University of Delaware. His doctoral research there focused on how technology and innovation drive economic growth.[1]

What company did Dr. Naveed Iftikhar found?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar is a co-founder of atomcamp. He says atomcamp has expanded its model to Saudi Arabia. It has also collaborated with the Ministry of IT and Telecom on an initiative to upskill civil servants.[1]

What did Dr. Naveed Iftikhar do at the Ministry of Finance?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar was formerly a governance specialist at the Ministry of Finance.[1]

How much does atomcamp charge, according to Dr. Naveed Iftikhar?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar says atomcamp takes 30,000 per month from a participant. He says it offers monthly installments, and that students can stop paying if they dislike the course.[1]

What does Dr. Naveed Iftikhar think Pakistan should do in AI?

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar says Pakistan cannot compete in creating new LLMs, and cannot compete in data centers either. He says it should aim for the application layer.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan can't build the LLM. It has to build the application layer. . Thought Behind Things , 2026-04-01.
Show the source passages (54 statements)
  1. He is a co-founder of atomcamp. Co-founder of atomcamp
  2. He was formerly a governance specialist at the Ministry of Finance. former Governance Specialist at the Ministry of Finance
  3. He earned a PhD from the University of Delaware. So that's what I studied as part of my PhD at University of Delaware
  4. His PhD research at the University of Delaware focused on how technology and innovation drive economic growth. many people don't understand how economic growth, modern growth is actually all about technology and innovation. So that's what I studied as part of my PhD at University of Delaware
  5. He says he has taught at institutes in Pakistan. these institutes in Pakistan where I also taught there and uh so you know there are such institutes, LUMS, IBA, GK, NUST
  6. He says atomcamp focuses on white-collar jobs and has recently started on gray-collar jobs, not blue-collar work. we focus more on the white collar jobs and recently we've started on gray collar jobs as well, not on blue collar
  7. He says most atomcamp boot camps happen online. most of our boot camps happen online
  8. He says atomcamp takes 30,000 per month from a participant. today I take 30,000 per month from someone
  9. He says a small number of students ask for refunds, and atomcamp sometimes gives them. Out of like 50 people, maybe one or two don't like our boot camp and they ask us to give our money back and we give sometimes
  10. He says atomcamp offers monthly installments, and students can stop paying if they dislike the course. And we have monthly installments, you paid one month, you didn't like the next two months, don't pay us
  11. He says the same type of boot camp sells in the US for $6,000 to $10,000. In US, the same boot camp is being sold from $6,000 to $10,000
  12. He says he wanted to create a sustainable model in which people pay the fee. wanted to create a sustainable model. People pay the fee
  13. He says atomcamp has expanded its model to Saudi Arabia. We did this model and we expanded to Saudi Arabia
  14. He says atomcamp runs a few programs with the University of Chicago in Saudi Arabia. with University of Chicago, we are doing a few programs together at in Saudi Arabia
  15. atomcamp has collaborated with the Ministry of IT and Telecom on an initiative to upskill civil servants. here is where AtomCamp collaborated with Ministry of IT and Telecom and we've started an initiative to upskill the civil servants in Pakistan
  16. He says there is a huge demand in Pakistan's public sector for digitalization and AI. there is a huge demand in Pakistan's public sector now for digitalization and for embracing AI
  17. He says about 99% of Pakistan's health sector work is manual. The health sector of Pakistan is totally uh need to be digitalized. This is all manual, you know, 99% of it is manual
  18. He says financial penetration in Pakistan is very low. financial penetration in Pakistan is very low
  19. He says that people with more access to AI and more control over it are more advanced than others on the spectrum. if you have more access to AI, you have more control on AI, then you are more advanced than the other one on the spectrum
  20. He says Pakistan has started a semiconductor initiative. So, so Pakistan is also started this initiative of semiconductor in Pakistan
  21. He says the traditional model is not going to work. Yeah, so you I agree with Faizan article actually. I read it and it's it's a very good observation and this is what I also advocate that the traditional model is not going to work
  22. He says Pakistan cannot compete in creating new LLMs. We cannot be in that race of creating new LLM. We cannot be a new deep seek of the world uh phenomena. Uh we cannot create a new open AI
  23. He says Pakistan cannot compete in data centers or LLMs, so it should aim for the application layer. So, we can be at application layer. We cannot compete in data centers, we cannot compete in LLMs
  24. He says Pakistani talent is entrepreneurial and has been proven abroad. Actually, Pakistani talent is very entrepreneurial and it is proven in the world
  25. He says Pakistan may need around 50 entrepreneurs to change its economy. Probably you need, you know, maybe 50 entrepreneurs who will change Pakistani economy
  26. He says Pakistani entrepreneurs currently go abroad to build and exit. So, right now these Pakistanis go abroad and build there and exit there
  27. He says the talented people he mentioned have back offices in Pakistan. Right now, all these talented people that I mentioned, they have back offices in Pakistan
  28. He says internet quality is very poor across 60 to 70% of Pakistan's geography. about geographically the 60 to 70% of Pakistani geography internet quality is very bad
  29. He says Pakistani banks will not extend credit cards because they do not take risk. still Pakistani banks will not extend credit cards, they don't take risk actually
  30. He says e-commerce in Pakistan mostly runs on cash on delivery. e-commerce has to happen, it happens on cash on delivery
  31. He says that when money is taken abroad there will be hundreds of questions, and no venture fund will want to come. But when you will start taking your money abroad, there will be hundreds of questions on you. And no, no venture fund will like to come to here
  32. He says government agencies in the US buy from startups, while Pakistan's traditional contracting system does not. the government agencies, they buy from startups, they buy from all these innovative companies. In Pakistan, you have traditional system of contracting
  33. He names three priorities: internet infrastructure, the financial system, and public procurement and taxation rules. the internet infrastructure, uh the financial system and the government regulations uh relating to public procurement and taxation
  34. He says Pakistan has the second largest population of out-of-school children in the world. We have the second largest population of out of school children in the world
  35. He says Pakistan is a strong laboratory for innovation because of its scale. So Pakistan is also a great laboratory for innovation actually because the scale is very big
  36. He says maybe 200,000 people graduate from universities every year. maybe 200,000 people are graduating every year from universities
  37. He says some atomcamp trainees have entered United Nations jobs. They succeed in entering into, you know, United Nations job
  38. He says atomcamp graduates have moved into corporate and international jobs, including in the Middle East and the US. They succeed into entering into corporate jobs, international jobs, Middle East, US
  39. He says atomcamp boot camps teach domain knowledge and professional development as well as AI. what we train people in our boot camps, not just, you know, AI algorithms, all these things, but the domain knowledge, professional development, how to apply AI
  40. He believes university education should not be for everyone and that government funding should be filtered by merit. I still believe university education should not be for everyone. So I believe in more filtering for if government is paying
  41. He says individuals must take charge of their own learning rather than blame universities. So don't shift all the blame to the university. The the individual need to take charge now
  42. He says government should invest in free, good-quality basic and high school education. So I think that the government need to invest in basic education, very good high school, totally free in Pakistan
  43. He says the international job market is now tougher than Pakistan's. international market is now more tougher than Pakistani market
  44. He says someone who learns only AI or software engineering, without domain knowledge, is a bigger loser than a civil engineer. if you are learning just AI engineering, you are learning uh software engineering, you are doing IT degree, and you don't have any domain knowledge, you are the bigger loser than uh uh than a civil engineering engineer actually
  45. He says AI lets people with domain knowledge do bigger and more impactful work than before. AI now offers the scale uh to you that you can do much bigger, more broader and impactful work with AI that you used to do before
  46. He says interpersonal skills, integrity and ethics will matter more as AI spreads. Your interpersonal skills, uh your integrity, your ethics, these things are going to become more important now
  47. He says Pakistan has raw talent rather than finished talent. So we have raw talent, not the talent actually
  48. He says the biggest lie is the quality of Pakistan's university education. And when I look at our quality, the biggest lie is our university the quality of our university education
  49. He thinks about 80% of graduates from Pakistani universities are not employable. I think that 80% graduates from Pakistani universities are not employable
  50. He says the three-month AI boot camp is only open to people with technical backgrounds. the three months AI boot camp is only for those people who are tech backgrounds, who have computer science, engineering
  51. He says the data analytics track teaches SQL, Python, Power BI and advanced Excel. we teach SQL, Python, we teach Power BI, advanced Excel, uh programming, EDA
  52. He says workforce boot camps serve people already in the field, such as HR and procurement managers. they are HR manager, they are procurement manager, they are general manager, manufacturing, they are sales officer, they join these boot camps
  53. He says AI will replace many jobs but will not eliminate everything quickly. AI uh will replace many jobs, but AI is not going to tomorrow eliminate everything that people say
  54. He says domain knowledge will matter a lot in an AI world. Still the domain knowledge will matter a lot with AI, not just AI