Kashif Manzoor

Senior Vice President at Systems Limited

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

Kashif Manzoor is Senior Vice President at Systems Limited. He joined the company in November 2021. His earlier career included work at Schlumberger and Oracle, and almost eight years at Confiz. He completed a master's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Early life and background

Manzoor says his parents told him he was born in Multan, where he lived from birth until grade seven. He is the only son in his family and has an elder sister who is a doctor. His mother held a master's degree in Urdu, and she pushed his father to complete his law studies. [1]

He says he was always a good student. He describes himself as an inherently introverted person. [1]

Education

Manzoor joined Cadet College Hassan Abdal after it was shortlisted and an exam was held. He attended the college from eighth class to twelfth class. He ran away in ninth grade, and says the reason was homesickness. He says he hated the boarding life there. After he ran away, the college board decided to rehire him. He says he later earned a board position in his FSC exams. [1]

He applied to EME and was rejected. He says admissions at that time lacked meritocracy. He describes GIK as the only other option, at four years. He joined UET in electrical engineering, and later left UET and joined GIK as part of its first batch. [1]

At GIK he first enrolled in the program then called Maths and Applied Physics. He wanted to do a PhD in physics. He says he was advised not to pursue Maths and Applied Physics and to transfer, and he transferred to Electronics and Computer Science. He says he chose computer science almost by chance, and that nobody at the time knew computer science was the future. He says he and others found excitement in the feeling of pioneering something. He graduated in 1997. [1]

Schlumberger

Manzoor worked at Schlumberger, a French oil company. He was selected for a role in wireline and testing, the electronics-oriented part of Schlumberger. In the role he lowered equipment and ran computers that analyzed data. He spent his first month as an operator in Qatar. He also spent about four months in a training school in Indonesia, and worked as an engineer in Qatar. [1]

Work in China

After leaving Schlumberger and coming back, Manzoor joined a technology company. The company sent him to China, where he took his mother with him. He headed the China office, and was in Beijing, having learned Chinese, including through a two-month course in Pakistan. He says the company's sponsors suggested an offshore center in China because of a possible corporate decision to do no business with Pakistan. [1]

He says that company's largest customer was General Electric, with multi-million annual revenue. He says the company's co-founders were both MIT graduates. He says that he and his colleagues rejected individuals because their English was not good, although they knew they were smart. He says that company had about 12 million dollars in annual revenue when he eventually left. [1]

Master's degree

Manzoor planned to study abroad but did not want to ask his father for money. He planned to pursue a master's degree and a PhD. He had been working for seven years, and had taken the GRE and scored well. He took a two-year sabbatical from the company because he believed in its vision. [1]

He completed a master's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received funding for his master's. He finished with a 4 GPA and an academic fellowship. He then came back and rejoined the company, and left it after one and a half years. He says the company was not going to be a one billion dollar Pakistani company. [1]

Oracle

Manzoor moved to Oracle in Asia Pacific. At Oracle he worked on projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. He stayed on at Oracle for another three years, traveling. He left Oracle after completing five years there. [1]

Confiz

Manzoor joined a smaller company called Confiz. Confiz revenue was about 1.5 million when he joined, and about 25 million when he left. He worked at Confiz for almost eight years. [1]

Systems Limited

Manzoor is Senior Vice President at Systems Limited, which he joined in November 2021. He says it took him a year and a half to assess how serious Systems was about its growth. He planned a six-month transition at Confiz before moving to Systems. He was first looking for a mentor, not a job at Systems. He says he met Asif Akram, whom he found to be a great mentor. [1]

Views

Manzoor says he realized early that he is no entrepreneur. He says he thinks a very large IT services company is needed. He says Sri Lankan expats have created businesses worth more than a billion dollars. He says he could not build that company himself and was too late to become an entrepreneur. [1]

He says many Silicon Valley CEOs rely on mentors. He says mentorship is uncommon in Pakistan because few mentors are available. [1]

On Systems, he says the company was ideally placed, and that its brand attracts a lot of talent. He says Systems is in a better position to provide high quality talent and win business away from other competitors. He says that at one point Systems was still a company, but it was not clear where it was heading. [1]

On the wider industry, he says that, because of security and a lot of other things, large organizations want to play it safe. He says the party is not going to last for too long, and that they are very cognizant of it. He says IT services revenue depends directly on how many people a firm has, and that companies focused on excellence will keep winning business. He says selling became easy during COVID. He says a lot of technologies have evolved to a point where the metaverse is now possible. [1]

Personal life

Manzoor got married and had a child. He took his wife and two children to Malaysia, where they were based while he travelled. He says he was willing to make career sacrifices up to a limit that would not leave him bitter. Both of his parents have passed away. [1]

Timeline

1997
Graduated[1]
2021
Joined Systems Limited in November[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-04-15 Pakistan has no worthy number two to Systems Limited Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Kashif Manzoor?

Kashif Manzoor is Senior Vice President at Systems Limited. He joined the company in November 2021. His earlier career included work at Schlumberger, Oracle and Confiz.[1]

Where is Kashif Manzoor from?

Kashif Manzoor says his parents told him he was born in Multan. He lived in Multan from birth until grade seven. He is the only son in his family and has an elder sister who is a doctor.[1]

Where did Kashif Manzoor study?

Kashif Manzoor attended Cadet College Hassan Abdal from eighth class to twelfth class. He transferred to Electronics and Computer Science at GIK. He completed a master's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[1]

Where has Kashif Manzoor worked?

Kashif Manzoor worked at Schlumberger, a French oil company, and later headed a technology company's China office. He moved to Oracle in Asia Pacific, and then joined Confiz. He joined Systems Limited in November 2021.[1]

What did Kashif Manzoor do at Schlumberger?

Kashif Manzoor was selected for a role in wireline and testing, the electronics-oriented part of Schlumberger. In the role he lowered equipment and ran computers that analyzed data. He spent his first month as an operator in Qatar.[1]

How long did Kashif Manzoor work at Confiz?

Kashif Manzoor worked at Confiz for almost eight years. He joined a smaller company called Confiz. Confiz revenue was about 1.5 million when he joined and about 25 million when he left.[1]

When did Kashif Manzoor join Systems Limited?

Kashif Manzoor joined Systems Limited in November 2021. He planned a six-month transition at Confiz before moving to Systems. He says it took him a year and a half to assess how serious Systems was about its growth.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan has no worthy number two to Systems Limited . Thought Behind Things , 2022-04-15.
Show the source passages (89 statements)
  1. Kashif Manzoor says his parents told him he was born in Multan. my parents tell me that I was born in Multan.
  2. He is the only son in his family and has an elder sister who is a doctor. I'm the only son. I have an elder sister, she's a doctor.
  3. He lived in Multan from birth until grade seven. And then from my birth till grade seven, pretty much in Multan.
  4. His mother held a master's degree in Urdu. Even though my mother herself was a masters in Urdu in the time jab women education was rare
  5. His mother pushed his father to complete his law studies. my mother forced him to complete his law and all of that.
  6. He joined Cadet College Hassan Abdal after it was shortlisted and an exam was held. Hostel ki to Cadet College Hassan Abdal wahan pe shortlist kiya, exam hua to then I joined Cadet College.
  7. He attended Cadet College from eighth class to twelfth class. Eighth class se 12th class tak.
  8. He ran away from Cadet College in ninth grade. And to an extent that in ninth grade, I actually ran away.
  9. He says he ran away from Cadet College because of homesickness. So main to homesickness ki wajah se bhaga tha.
  10. He says he hated the boarding life at Cadet College. So, so I hated every moment of it because I was the only son
  11. After he ran away, the Cadet College board decided to rehire him. And then the board made made a decision ki nahi ab inko hum rehire kar lete hain.
  12. He says he was always a good student. And I was always a good student.
  13. He describes himself as an inherently introverted person. So I became very introvert and even now I'm I'm inherently introvert caught in an extrovert body.
  14. He says he later earned a board position in his FSC exams. Happy to say that FSC mein phir board mein position aayi and all of that was forgotten.
  15. He applied to EME and was rejected. So I applied to EME and I was rejected.
  16. He says admissions at that time lacked meritocracy. So that was the situation of, you know, lack of meritocracy at that time.
  17. He describes GIK as the only other option, at four years. So then, you're right, GIK was the other only option, four years.
  18. He joined UET in electrical engineering. I just ended up joining UET in electrical engineering.
  19. He left UET and joined GIK as part of its first batch. they then gave GIK exam and then we dropped out of UET and then we were the first batch of GIK.
  20. He first enrolled at GIK in the program then called Maths and Applied Physics. Back then it used to be called Maths and Applied Physics.
  21. He wanted to do a PhD in physics. So my dream was to be a to do PhD in Physics.
  22. He says he was advised not to pursue Maths and Applied Physics and to transfer. they suggested that, you know, if that's the situation, you should not pursue Maths and Applied Physics. You should transfer.
  23. He transferred to Electronics and Computer Science at GIK. So because I had good GPA, so I could transfer in Electronics and Computer Science.
  24. He says he chose computer science almost by chance. So it was just a toss of a coin.
  25. He says nobody at the time knew computer science was the future. And at that time we had no idea that Computer Science is the future, right?
  26. He graduated in 1997. Uh, you graduated in 97? 97.
  27. He says he and others found excitement in the feeling of pioneering something. I think we found excitement in the fact that you feel that you are you're pioneering something.
  28. He planned to study abroad but did not want to ask his father for money. So I knew I would eventually go abroad, but I didn't want to ask my father for money, right?
  29. He worked at Schlumberger, a French oil company. So Schlumberger, it's a French oil company, they would do interviews
  30. He was selected for a role at Schlumberger. So I was selected in that.
  31. The role was in wireline and testing, the electronics-oriented part of Schlumberger. So the one which is the more electronics oriented job, that's called wireline and testing.
  32. At Schlumberger he lowered equipment and ran computers that analyzed data. So we were the ones lowering the equipment and running the computers, analyzing the data.
  33. He spent his first month at Schlumberger as an operator in Qatar. So my first month was in Qatar where I was working as an operator.
  34. He spent about four months in a training school in Indonesia, then worked as an engineer in Qatar. So I spent around four months in Indonesia in training school. Graduated from there and then went back to Qatar as an engineer.
  35. He planned to pursue a master's degree and a PhD. The idea was to go masters, PhD, whatever, right?
  36. He got married and had a child. So uh got married uh and uh and had a kid.
  37. After leaving Schlumberger and coming back, he joined a technology company. at that time I had joined Technologics because I left Schlumberger, came back, have to join somewhere.
  38. That company sent him to China, where he took his mother with him. Uh and so joined Technologics and then they send me to China and over there I took my mother along with me to China.
  39. He headed the China office. So at I was heading the China office.
  40. He was in Beijing, and had learned Chinese, including through a two-month course in Pakistan. I was in Beijing and I had also uh learned Chinese for we did a two months course in Pakistan.
  41. He says the company's sponsors suggested an offshore center in China because of a possible corporate decision to do no business with Pakistan. So our sponsors over there suggested that there's going to be a corporate decision taken, no business with with Pakistan, so you might open an offshore center in China.
  42. He says that company's largest customer was General Electric, with multi-million annual revenue. Technologics's largest customer was General Electric, making multi-million uh annual revenue.
  43. He says that he and his colleagues rejected individuals because their English was not good, although they knew they were smart. we were rejecting individuals just because their English wasn't good, although we knew they were smart.
  44. He says the company's co-founders were both MIT graduates. their co-founders were both MIT graduates.
  45. He says that company had about 12 million dollars in annual revenue when he eventually left. when I eventually left, they were like 12 million dollar annual revenue.
  46. He had been working for seven years. I was working for seven years.
  47. He had taken the GRE and scored well. So at that time I I had done GRE, I scored well and I was ready.
  48. He took a two-year sabbatical from the company because he believed in its vision. I took two years off uh sabbatical from Technologics uh because I believed in the vision, right?
  49. He completed a master's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. once I did my uh masters from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
  50. He received funding for his master's. Um and uh got funding as well.
  51. He finished his master's with a 4 GPA and an academic fellowship. In the end, I ended up with 4 GPA and the and the benefit was that I got fellowship and all of that which was academically based.
  52. He came back and rejoined the company. So came back uh and then rejoined Technologics.
  53. He left that company after one and a half years. but then I left after one and a half years.
  54. He says the company was not going to be a one billion dollar Pakistani company. they are not going to be a one billion dollar Pakistani company
  55. He says he realized early that he is no entrepreneur. very early in my life I realized I am no entrepreneur.
  56. He moved to Oracle in Asia Pacific. So I moved to Oracle uh in Asia Pacific.
  57. At Oracle he worked on projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. I did projects in Singapore, Malaysia, uh Indonesia, uh South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia.
  58. He took his wife and two children to Malaysia, where they were based while he travelled. I took my wife and my two kids with me uh and we were based out of Malaysia, but I was traveling all around.
  59. He says he was willing to make career sacrifices up to a limit that would not leave him bitter. I'm willing to make career sacrifices up to a limit that does not make me bitter.
  60. He stayed on at Oracle for another three years, traveling. So she moved back after around two years. And I stayed back for another three years in Oracle traveling
  61. He left Oracle after completing five years there. once I completed five years, then I said that is it
  62. He joined a smaller company called Confiz. a smaller company called Confiz.
  63. Confiz revenue was about 1.5 million when he joined. So when I joined, the revenue was around 1.5 million.
  64. Confiz revenue was about 25 million when he left. when I left, it was uh 25 million, right?
  65. He worked at Confiz for almost eight years. I worked at Confiz for almost eight years.
  66. He says he thinks a very large IT services company is needed. I think that we need a very large IT services company.
  67. He says Sri Lankan expats have created businesses worth more than a billion dollars. Even uh Sri Lankan expats have created billion dollar plus.
  68. He says he could not build that company himself and was too late to become an entrepreneur. now I can't build that company, right? Too late, not an entrepreneur.
  69. He says it took him a year and a half to assess how serious Systems was about its growth. So it took me one and a half years to assess how serious systems is about their growth.
  70. He planned a six-month transition at Confiz before moving to Systems. So it was around six months of transition, make sure that Confiz itself is stable
  71. He joined Systems Limited in November 2021. So I joined uh systems uh back in November 2021.
  72. He was first looking for a mentor, not a job at Systems. At that time there was no intention ke system mein aa jana hai, right? I was just looking for a mentor.
  73. He says he met Asif Akram, whom he found to be a great mentor. Ran into Asif Akram, started meeting him, found him to be a great mentor.
  74. He says many Silicon Valley CEOs rely on mentors. a lot of Silicon Valley CEOs and C-level executives, they don't can't operate without a mentor
  75. He says mentorship is uncommon in Pakistan because few mentors are available. It's not fashionable in Pakistan because there aren't any mentors available.
  76. He says Systems was ideally placed. I think system was ideally placed because they were already at the at the at the place where.
  77. He says that, because of security and a lot of other things, large organizations want to play it safe. So because of security, because of a lot of other things, these large organizations, they want to play it safe, right?
  78. He says the party is not going to last for too long, and that they are very cognizant of it. we are very cognizant of the fact the party is not going to last for too long.
  79. He says IT services revenue depends directly on how many people a firm has. is a very direct correlation between the number of people you have and the revenue you can pump out.
  80. He says companies focused on excellence will keep winning business. companies that actually focus on excellence, they will win continue to win more business.
  81. He says a lot of technologies have evolved to a point where the metaverse is now possible. a lot of technologies have evolved to a point where metaverse is now possible
  82. He says Systems' brand attracts a lot of talent. system being a brand company, a lot of talent is attracted
  83. He says Systems is in a better position to provide high quality talent and win business away from other competitors. so we are in a in a in a better position to provide high quality talent and get business away from other competitors
  84. He says selling became easy during COVID. So selling became easy during COVID, right?
  85. He says people who graduated in 1995 now hold key positions in many organizations. So it's no coincidence that people who graduated in 95 are now in in key positions in lot of these organizations
  86. He says Pakistan was slightly better placed to capitalize on this. So that is one of the reasons why Pakistan was slightly better placed to capitalize on this.
  87. He says Systems was still a company at that time, but it was not clear where it was heading. And at that time, uh Systems was still a company, but it wasn't clear um where they're heading, right?
  88. Both of his parents have passed away. by that time both my parents had passed away.
  89. Kashif Manzoor is Senior Vice President at Systems Limited. Senior Vice President Systems Limited Kashif Manzoor