At just 31 years old, Mahe Zehra Husain became Pakistan’s youngest female tech CEO, leaving a significant mark in the industry. Having founded an online marketplace for female artists and a real estate business that sells sustainable homes, Husain says she’s faced many challenges to get to where she is today. The winner of the Silver Stevie Award for Best Female Entrepreneur in Business Services (2022), Women in IT Asia Award – Next Generation Leader (2021) and the Enterprising Women Award (2021), Husain says the journey to becoming a leader and pioneer in male-dominated industries is a tough one, which forces you to be strong for everyone—clients, teams and customers alike.
“It’s always nice to be recognized, especially when being at the top can feel lonely. You have to keep everyone’s morale up, be always smiling, always steady,” she reflects. “Sometimes, you just need that pat on the back. It can look glamorous from the outside, but we all need validation sometimes.”
Husain has always loved building beautiful things that solve problems. Whether it’s a smartphone application, an art course, or smart, sustainable housing in the Pakistani mountains, aesthetics and functionality have always been key to her creative process.
When women lead, they create spaces where others feel empowered and safe.
Since she was a little girl, growing up in the huge bustling city of Lahore, Pakistan, Husain has been fascinated by numbers, but she also had a passion for art. While she pursued a formal education in mathematics, data science, and operations research, art remained a constant in her life. “I could never pick one or the other,” she explained. “I’ve chosen the act of creating beautiful, meaningful products.”
Growing up, Husain’s parents travelled a lot for work, so she was home-schooled along with her sister and two brothers – or, as she likes to put it, “self-schooled.” Left alone with their books, they had to figure out their syllabus, plan their day, and prepare themselves for exams without being spoon-fed by their parents. This experience taught her invaluable skills, especially self-reliance. “That gave us a lot of confidence and taught us how to teach ourselves,” Husain recalls. These lessons would shape the way she approaches her business and leadership today.
Husain joined FiveRivers Technologies in 2010. What was a small software development firm grew to an eight-figure company over 14 years, competing with top software firms in Pakistan. FiveRivers explored cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, earning both national and international recognition.
Husain’s experience at FiveRivers gave her the confidence she needed to support a cause that is close to her heart: empowering creative women in Pakistan to support themselves through their art. In 2022, Husain launched Pakistan Creates, an online marketplace for women artists to sell directly to their customers. “Pakistan Creates is the perfect combination of all my loves: technology, art, problem solving, and empowering women,” says Husain. Through this venture, she’s helping artists, students, and creators gain fair value for their work, cutting out middlemen who had previously underpaid them.
Building communities
Husain stepped down as CEO of FiveRivers in June 2024 to focus on real estate. Through her company Kinetic Developers, Husain is working on a sustainable housing development in the Murree Hills of Pakistan in the northern areas of Pakistan. Known for its beauty, Murree is a hill town close to the capital, Islamabad, and perfect for vacation and summer homes. The homes are designed to maximize energy efficiency and harmonize with nature and will be ready in 2027. “We’re looking at the technology side, making the houses as smart and sustainable as possible, but we’re also designing them to blend into the landscape. I want the mountains to be the showpiece, not the home,” Husain explains.
At Kinetic Developers, Husain is building a diverse team by hiring staff from various industries—such as food and beverage, banking, and the arts—with the belief that diversity drives innovation. “You’re never really done with the training,” she says. “The only way to keep learning is to put yourself in different situations and with different kinds of people.”
Working in both technology and real estate, Husain says she’s often found herself in male-dominated environments – or as she calls them, “boys’ clubs.” “In the art world, I find plenty of compassionate women, but in tech and real estate, it’s a different story,” she admits.
You’re never really done learning; growth comes from diverse experiences and perspectives.
Husain is leading change in her own companies by creating a safe space for women. Policies such as remote work for newlywed women needing to relocate to follow their husbands and extended time off for personal challenges such as fertility and raising a family help to create a supportive culture, she says. “When you have a woman-led tech organization, women feel safe—they know they have someone to go to,” says Husain.
Throughout her career, Husain has emphasized the importance of self-reliance, a lesson learned from her childhood. She instils this value in her team at Kinetic Developers, cultivating a culture where employees are encouraged to take initiative and learn independently. Reflecting on her father’s advice, she says, “Sometimes, you will have good teachers, but other times you will not. So, you have to learn to be your own teacher.”
Story by Manuela Callari
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