Having built and managed software delivery teams in Lahore, I see considerable opportunity in Pakistan. I also know that hiring developers is not the same as building an organisation that consistently delivers.
An office, a recruitment plan and competitive salaries are only the beginning. The harder work is developing leadership, establishing shared understanding and creating an operation that customers can trust.
Some challenges are familiar to anyone managing distributed teams. Others require an understanding of local working practices and business conditions. For someone who has spent years working abroad, even strong personal ties to Pakistan do not automatically provide that understanding.
These are the areas I would pay closest attention to.
Build a delivery organisation, not just a development team
First, decide what the hub will own. Providing developers who work under a customer’s direction is different from taking responsibility for an entire product.
The second model requires ownership of requirements, architecture, testing, deployment and support, not simply development capacity. Those responsibilities need to be clear, even when a small team initially shares them.
Recruit for judgement as well as technical knowledge. Ask candidates to investigate a problem, explain a trade-off or discuss something they have supported in production.
Invest early in local leadership. You need people who can manage performance, challenge unrealistic expectations and make decisions without referring everything to the founder.
The overseas organisation has responsibilities too. It must provide business context, accessible decision-makers and timely feedback. A capable offshore team cannot compensate indefinitely for unclear priorities.
Make sure “yes” means understanding and commitment
One challenge I have encountered in Pakistan is a tendency for some people to agree too readily, particularly when responding to a client or senior colleague.
Sometimes they have not fully understood the requirement. Sometimes “yes” means “I will try”, rather than “I have assessed this and can deliver it”. More seriously, someone may recognise that a deadline is unrealistic but agree because challenging the request feels uncomfortable.
In my experience, a reluctance to disappoint or question authority can contribute to this. But management can either reinforce that behaviour or help people move beyond it.
Clear English does not necessarily mean clear understanding.
Rather than asking, “Do you understand?”, ask someone to explain the expected outcome in their own words. What will be delivered? What does “complete” mean? What assumptions and dependencies sit behind the estimate?
“Ready by Friday” could mean coding is finished, testing is complete or the feature is available to customers. Those are different commitments.
Make respectful disagreement acceptable. “We can deliver the core workflow by Friday, but the integration needs another three days” is a useful professional assessment.
Pair that openness with accountability. An estimate that proves wrong despite reasonable assessment is different from a promise made while known obstacles remain unspoken.
The standard should apply equally to sales, management and engineering: challenge before committing, and communicate early when a commitment is at risk.
Understand local working patterns and the calendar
Agree working arrangements with the people doing the work, rather than importing assumptions from another country.
Where employees combine Friday congregational prayers with lunch, plan for a longer midday break and schedule meetings accordingly. Discuss daily prayer breaks, Ramadan arrangements and leave around religious occasions openly and respectfully.
These are considerations to accommodate, just as the team must understand its overseas customers’ holidays and working hours.
There is also a distinction between predictable availability and genuine last-minute changes. Pakistan’s 2026 official holiday calendar from the Cabinet Division identifies some religious festival dates as subject to moon sighting. Additional holidays can be announced at short notice: the Cabinet Division notification declaring 28 May 2024 a public holiday was issued on 27 May.
Such changes can disrupt a release or customer workshop. Maintain a shared calendar, confirm which announcements apply to your operation and agree how critical commitments will be handled.
Be equally clear about international working hours. Supporting North American customers should not quietly become a full local working day followed by another evening of meetings. Define collaboration windows and separate ordinary development work from on-call support.
Plan for disruption before it affects delivery
Assess connectivity, backup power and alternative working arrangements for the actual location. Test them rather than accepting an assurance that a backup exists.
Political developments also deserve attention within business continuity planning. The UK’s travel advice, updated in September 2026, records road closures, transport disruption and temporary interruptions to mobile and internet services associated with previous protests in affected areas.
Assess the risks relevant to your location, prioritise staff safety and establish who will communicate with customers when disruption occurs.
Working from home is not a complete contingency plan unless people can connect securely and reliably. Nor should a customer first hear about a delivery problem when the promised deadline arrives.
Take ISO 27001 seriously, beyond the certificate
I strongly recommend considering ISO/IEC 27001:2022, not simply to obtain certification, but to implement it in letter and spirit. The standard sets requirements for a risk-based information security management system, including its maintenance and continual improvement.
For a software delivery hub, I would expect this to translate into everyday practice: controlled access to customer systems, managed devices, appropriate staff checks, security awareness, incident handling and prompt removal of access when someone leaves.
My recommendation is to engage an experienced security consultant who works with the organisation throughout the year, rather than appearing only before an audit.
That person should challenge gaps, help teams adopt workable controls, follow up on corrective actions and keep security on management’s agenda. Policies need to reflect how people actually work, and people need to understand their responsibilities.
However, the consultant should support internal ownership, not replace it. Leadership must remain accountable, with a named person responsible for coordinating the work.
The certificate should reflect how the organisation operates, not a temporary effort to pass an audit.
Build quality, careers and continuity into delivery
Agree what “done” means before work begins. Code review, testing and release preparation belong within delivery, rather than being optional activities squeezed in afterwards. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre similarly places peer review, testing and protection of development and deployment environments within secure engineering practice.
Apply that discipline to AI-assisted development too. Engineers remain responsible for understanding, reviewing and supporting the work they ship.
Invest in people alongside processes. Early-career engineers need mentoring; experienced colleagues need meaningful responsibility and progression. Clear expectations and fair management should be part of the retention plan.
At the same time, prepare for departures. Share knowledge, document important decisions and avoid leaving critical systems dependent on one individual.
Ask the same question about yourself: can the team continue making sound decisions when the founder is unavailable?
Budget for the operation, not just salaries
A salary comparison is not a complete business case.
Include leadership, recruitment, testing, equipment, software, premises, connectivity, backup power, training and professional support. Allow for onboarding, leave and time between assignments.
Put competent finance and HR administration in place. Understand banking and payment processes before relying on them, and obtain appropriate advice on employment, contracts and taxation.
Salary expectations also deserve attention. An employer accustomed to discretionary annual increases in an overseas market may encounter different expectations in Pakistan. In my experience, the expectation of a yearly increase can be strong, particularly when everyday living costs are rising.
For an employee, that conversation may be about maintaining their standard of living rather than receiving a reward for additional responsibility. Separate cost-of-living considerations from performance-related increases and promotions, while being clear about what the business can sustainably afford.
In future articles, I will explore banking and international payments, inflation, rising fuel and energy costs, and their impact on operating budgets, salary expectations and retention.
My recommendations
For anyone considering an offshore software delivery hub in Pakistan, these would be my priorities:
- Start small and define ownership. Give a properly supported team a bounded piece of work. Establish who owns requirements, technical decisions, acceptance and support before expanding.
- Invest in leadership and development. Assess practical judgement, mentor junior colleagues and build progression. Do not make the founder the permanent answer to every problem.
- Validate understanding before accepting commitments. Ask teams to explain scope, assumptions and dependencies. Make early escalation and respectful disagreement part of professional accountability.
- Plan around real availability. Agree working hours, maintain holiday calendars and prepare for short-notice changes. Test continuity arrangements rather than assuming they will work.
- Make security an ongoing discipline. Consider ISO 27001 seriously, retain appropriate specialist support and keep ownership inside the organisation. Adoption matters more than appearances.
- Measure delivery and budget honestly. Look at quality, predictability, customer outcomes and management effort, not just headcount or hourly rates. Include the full cost of sustaining the operation.
A practical starting point
For me, the opportunity in Pakistan is not simply about lower operating costs. It is about building dependable engineering capability while creating meaningful careers for people who deserve the opportunity to develop.
For businesses considering this path, I am happy to share what I have learned and help think through the options. Establishing an independent hub may be the right decision. Starting with an existing delivery team can also provide a way to learn before taking on the full responsibility of running an operation.
Where there is a suitable fit, teams within my businesses can provide that smaller starting point.
The important thing is to build confidence in the people and the delivery model before making a larger commitment.
For related context, see my work in technology leadership and delivery, my approach to delivery planning under uncertainty and security by default. If you are considering an offshore software delivery hub in Pakistan, get in touch to discuss the options.