LAHORE: The National Incubation Centre (NIC) at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has formed its advisory board, chaired by Saleem Ahmad, a senior adviser at Afiniti, the world’s largest applied artificial intelligence company.

He will bring extensive leadership and expertise in entrepreneurship to both the NIC Lahore and NIC Quetta, says a press release.

Mr Ahmad is an alumnus of Lums, LSE and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and brings over 25 years of experience in investing and managing private equity, hedge and venture funds globally. Other members of the board are Dr Ayesha Khanna, the co-founder and CEO of ADDO AI; Zehra Hyder Ali, the founder and CEO Ghonsla; Ali Mukhtar, the founder and CEO Fatima Ventures and Ahmed Hussain, the director and chief strategy officer at Service Sales Corporation.

Dr Alnoor Bhimani, the dean of the Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lums, will continue to provide oversight as the NIC’s interim director.

The NIC offers incubation and acceleration programmes for innovative businesses.

The centre’s vision encompasses the creation of stronger linkages with Lums’ centres, academic programmes, faculty and students.

The renewed vision for NIC focuses on developing high impact solutions for Pakistan in the areas of agriculture, education, environment, financial inclusion, health, and applications based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2020