Page 19 - Pakistan Link - April 26, 2019

COMMUNITY APRIL 26, 2019 – PAKISTAN LINK – P19
OPEN Forum 2019: Pakistani Entrepreneurs Summit in Silicon Valley

vance machine learning as well as ma-
chine cognition and understanding.
The question going forward is
whether AI will eventually be an en-
tirely new autonomous species or serve
to collaborate with humans in accom-
plishing higher level tasks in a variety
of fields ranging from retail and manu-
facturing to education and health care.
What eventually happens has huge
implications for productivity and labor
markets. Dr Ali Minai used the exam-
ple of Google translation of Urdu poet
Ghalib’s poetry to make the point that
AI today lacks nuance.

Philz Coffee
From left: Mudassir Sheikha (Pakistani Co-Founder of Careem), a section of the audience at OPEN Forum 2019, and Phil (Faisal) Jaber of Philz Coffee Philz (Faisal) Jaber sat for a fire-
side chat with Omar Siddiqui in the af-
n By Riaz Haq his personal and entrepreneurial needed to provide efficient and reli- delivery business with the growth of ternoon. Born in Ramallah in Palestine,
journey and the challenges he faced able service to their customers. They e-commerce as another major op- Faisal has become a fixture in San Fran-
PEN Forum 2019 drew along the way. His first-hand experi- approached Google but were told portunity for Careem. cisco over decades. As an 8-year-old
hundreds of Pakistanis ence of riding roof-tops of buses in the company is focused on markets in Palestine he sold coffee beans door-
Oand Pakistani-Americans Karachi stayed with him and even- in Europe and North America. ME- Artificial Intelligence to-door and spent afternoons at family
to Santa Clara Convention Center tually led to the choice of starting up NAP region was not a priority for The panel discussion on the cur- gatherings where his grandma shared
in Silicon Valley on Saturday April a ride-hailing service to ease public them. So Careem had to take it upon rent state, the promise and the future Turkish coffee.
20, 2019. This year’s conference transit problems in the MENAP re- itself to develop more complete and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) Philz’ is highly caffeinated coffee of
featured a keynote by Karachi- gion that covers Middle East, North reliable street level maps. “We not featured 5 AI experts, including three choice in Silicon Valley. It is an expen-
born Mudassir Sheikha, co-found- Africa and Pakistan. only had to build mapping infra- Pakistani-Americans: Professor Ali sive alternative to Starbucks and Pete’s.
er of Careem ride-hailing service. The first challenge Mudassir structure, we had to build our own Minai, Professor Irfan Essa and Batool Philz fame shot up after he served coffee
Besides, there were session on Sheikha and his fellow co-founders places database because Google was Arhamna Haider. All three are from at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s
artificial intelligence, blockchain Magnus Olsson and Abdulla Elyas not complete nor reliable,” Sheikha Karachi. Ali and Batool are both my surprise wedding with Priscilla Chan.
technology, financial technology faced was raising capital for their told the audience. As of February fellow alumni of NED University of Here’s how Forbes reported it:
and entrepreneurship. new venture. Although there is no 2019, Careem has mapped 45,000 Engineering and Technology. Batool, “Everyone who arrived that Sat-
Careem has recently been ac- dearth of capital in the Arabian miles of roads in MENAP region. In the sole woman on the panel, works as urday afternoon, including the couple’s
quired by Uber for $3.1 billion. The Gulf, the risk capital in the region addition, Careem has also had built a scientist at Amazon’s AI group. Irfan parents, was taken aback when they saw
attendees included entrepreneurs, tends to flow to Silicon Valley and its payment system that accommo- Essa teaches Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Chan in a lace gown and the Facebook
technologists, business executives, San Francisco startups like Uber dates cash payments. Georgia. Abbas Rafii and Ahmad Ab- chief in a navy-blue suit. Everyone, that
investors, lawyers, accountants and rather than to local entrepreneurs in Mudassir said that acquisition delkader, both CTOs of the Silicon Val- is, except Phil and Jacob Jaber. As the
others who make up the tech startup MEAP region. Initially the trio were of Careem by Uber is not the end ley companies they founded, were the purveyors of Philz Coffee, San Fran-
ecosystem of Silicon Valley. turned down by all five Middle East of his journey. Instead, it’s a new remaining two panelists. cisco’s alternative answer to Starbucks,
investors they approached. Some- chapter in his and Careem’s lives. Panelists said the artificial intel- father and son were among the few en-
Careem Co-Founder’s Key- how, they were able to persuade one He sees great potential for Careem ligence (AI) software today serves as trusted with Silicon Valley’s biggest se-
note of them to give them a term sheet to serve a region with 700 million tools to aid people in getting basic cret. On the day of the event they served
Mudassir Shiekha, born and that they accepted. people. Only 2% of them afford Ca- things done. Advances in sensor net- their signature drinks, which were such
raised in Karachi, Pakistan, gave the The second challenge was lack reem’s service today but he sees the works and availability vast amounts of a hit that Zuckerberg invited them to
morning keynote. He talked about of good maps that Careem drivers rest of the 98% as hid target. He sees data and neural networks will help ad- the postnuptial brunch the next day.”
Building Bridges in Divisive Times
n By Aijaz Zaka Syed So this has both been a coura-

istinguished author and geous attempt to assuage those fears
and concerns of the Europeans as
academic Akbar Ahmad’s well as objectively study the history
Dliterary pursuits have and place of Islam and Muslims in
played an exemplary role is help- modern Europe and the future of
ing dispel doubts and distrust be- this civilizational engagement.
tween the followers of two great As part of the project, Dr Ah-
faiths and civilizations mad and his team have been explor-
Dr Akbar Ahmad is a man of ing the length and breadth of the
many parts. Civil servant, diplomat, continent, observing the influence
author, filmmaker (creator of the bi- and impact of Muslims and Islam on
opic Jinnah) and teacher, he has also the white, predominantly Christian
served as Pakistan’s ambassador to continent.
the United Kingdom. Currently Ibn Along the way, we hear from
Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies some of Europe’s most prominent
and Professor of International Re- figures — presidents and prime
lations at the American University ministers, archbishops, chief rabbis,
in Washington, it is his extraordi- grand muftis, politicians and every-
nary insight into Muslim societies day people from a variety of back-
around the world and contribution grounds. Incredibly insightful and
as a scholar of Islam that truly sets fascinating as always, the study deals
him apart from his tribe. with themes of migration, faith,
Distinguished author of such Dr Akbar Ahmed (tenth from left) with students at the Woodrow Wilson Center, March 2018 identity and acceptance and are
groundbreaking books as Postmod- critically relevant to understanding
ernism and Islam, Predicament the underlying causes and historical ings, 2007), Professor Ahmad and America seeks to place the Muslim a fast-changing western civilization.
and Promise (1992), Living Islam drivers of violence and radicaliza- his team travelled for a year through experience in the US within the As part of exploring the ori-
— From Samarkand to Stornoway tion, as he most recently did in The more than 75 cities across the Unit- larger context of American identity. gins and reasons of the refugee in-
(1993), Discovering Islam, Mak- Thistle and the Drone: How Ameri- ed States — from New York City to And right now he is in the flux from the Middle East and the
ing Sense of Muslim History and ca’s War on Terror Became a Global Salt Lake City; from Las Vegas to midst of his most ambitious mission historical Islam-West conflict that
Society (2002), and Islam Today: A War on Tribal Islam (2013). Miami; from the large Muslim en- and study project aimed at the con- precedes it, he tries to shine the light
Short Introduction to the Muslim When he is not writing tomes clave in Dearborn, Michigan, to pre- tinent that has in the past few years on the many challenges confront-
World (2002) that came out in the like Living Islam — perhaps the dominantly white towns like Arab, attracted extraordinary numbers of ing Muslim societies with clinical
tumultuous post-9/11 era to un- most defining book on the issue in Alabama. The result was the mile- Muslim refugees from across the accuracy and academic objectivity.
derscore the pacifist and humanist the last decade of the millennium stone called, Journey Into America: Middle East and around the world. At the same time, he also points out
teachings of Islam, he is a living and — he is engaged in leading ‘hearts- The Challenge of Islam. The initiative, Journey Into that much of the violence that we
walking encyclopedia on contempo- and-minds’ missions and initiatives They visited homes, schools, Europe, had been launched at the see emanating from the Middle East
rary Muslim societies. like Journey Into America and Jour- and over one hundred mosques to height of the continent’s refugee is an inevitable consequence of the
Given the unprecedented dou- ney Into Europe with his team of see first-hand how Muslims live, crisis, when scenes of tens of thou- violence directed against the Islamic
ble-edged challenge of extremism students and researchers and even think and work every day in Amer- sands of Syrian and Middle Eastern world.
and Islamophobia facing Islam and family members, including his aca- ica and have enriched and contrib- refugees marching to Europe over- He may not be the first scholar
Muslims, it is only natural that Pro- demic daughter Dr Amineh A Hoti. uted to the American dream. The whelmed the continent, raising the to argue that Muslims are the chief
fessor Ahmad has constantly written Close on the heels of his criti- most comprehensive study ever specter of what many saw as a “new victims of terrorism, but he has cer-
and spoken about it, analyzing often cally-acclaimed Journey into Islam: done on the 8 million strong US Islamic invasion of the Christian tainly been one of the most
for the benefit of Western audiences The Crisis of Globalization (Brook- Muslim community, Journey into continent”. BRIDGES, P18
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