Like many success stories, our journey to create the AP Teams Stories was inspired by our team’s passion for technology, which has guided them through life from the very beginning to the present day. Each edition brings with it something new – a personal story, interesting facts about the country our consultants come from, their experience in the AP, as well as tips and tricks for those who want to become part of our team. Today we bring you the story of Kamran Khalil, Program Architect at AP, from Pakistan.

Read on to hear from Kamran, who experienced everything from struggles to finish university, founding his own online business, working for various companies in the US and Europe, building an app with nearly 1.5 million downloads, to starting a role at Authority Partners.

AP: Tell us a bit about yourself

KK: I come from a small village in Pakistan. I struggled a lot with my studies. The educational system is not well designed, as it is mostly focused on memorizing books, rather than learning with understanding, at least before you get to university.

Luckily, I had good grades and was able to enroll in a good computer science university. I crawled through four years of graduation. I nearly got out of the university multiple times as I couldn’t afford it, even though it was the cheapest one in the country. I learned two useful things there that changed my life – mathematics and programming basics.

Technology has always been an essential part of my life. It gives me both satisfaction and happiness because I know I create user experiences that improve lives worldwide. Also, I am passionate about traveling, trying new foods, and meeting new people. This year has not been favorable for travel, but I made good friends in Authority Partners. I look forward to meeting them in person soon.

AP: What is the most exciting thing about your country

KK: Pakistan offers many exciting and interesting things. It has five peaks above 8000 meters, including the second-highest mountain globally. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to visit even the basecamp of any of them, but I hope to soon. Besides, Pakistan has a lot of food with complex combinations of spices and is relatively cheap compared to other countries. Tourism is not significantly developed in Pakistan. However, I hope this will change in the future, considering that some YouTubers have visited Pakistan and worked on its promotion. I would really like to host anyone who has a desire to visit Pakistan.

AP: How did you initially get interested in technology?

KK: To be honest, my interest in computer science started with games. I soon realized that I could create things on machines that people could benefit from. I first started making animated memes on flash when I was in eighth grade. I even tried to sell some animations and got scammed. My dad used to run a small photo studio, so I learned to edit photos, and then I created scripts to automate some parts of editing and watermarking.

Luckily I was admitted to computer science school because it was the first time I was really interested in studying. I loved calculus and solving problems from the very start. While doing my graduation, I also started an online clothing store funded by some friends and used my knowledge and skills with technologies to automate and improve processes. Still, the idea failed miserably as we didn’t know much about manufacturing or keeping the supply chain smooth. Afterward, I worked for a few years with one company on HealthCare EHR systems in the US. After that, I worked as a consultant for many companies from the US and Europe and various enterprise-level apps.

I loved creating apps in my spare time. Even one of them had almost 1.5 million downloads until Google removed it due to new policies and restrictions, continually changing. I gave up on that because, in the meantime, I connected with great clients and later with Authority Partners.

AP: What’s your role at Authority Partners?

KK: At Authority Partners, I started as a Senior Software Developer. Soon the management put trust in me, and I was promoted to a team lead. I got a fantastic team, and just when I started to feel comfortable leading the team, I was promoted to the Program Architect. In the new role, it will be challenging, but that’s how we learn best.

What I love about Authority Partners is that it gives you the opportunity to work with a variety of people and teams. Whatever role you have in the company, you communicate with different teams on a daily basis. This really allows you to upgrade both soft and technical skills.

AP: Why did you decide to apply to work at Authority Partners?

KK: When I heard about Authority Partners, I did some research, read the reviews, and realized that this is one exciting place you can be. For me, the most interesting thing is the organizational structure and how effectively the processes are implemented.

AP: How did the recruitment process go for you?

KK: I liked the whole recruitment process, from the initial technical test, the screening interview, to the actual technical interview. My colleague Admir interviewed me, and that’s when I found out about development processes in AP, which made me even more interested in becoming part of the AP team.

AP: What do you wish you’d known when you started the process?

KK: From this point of view, I believe I had enough information.

AP: What was your path to success in AP?

KK: I feel that my success came with my commitment and proactivity. Whatever I did, I felt responsible for it. If something I was working on failed in any step, I tried to be there to fix it. Obviously, not everything can be under your control when working on large systems, but that is when people/communication skills come in. I am happy that the AP provides a lot of opportunities to improve communication skills.

AP: What inspires you to come in every day?

KK: The people I work with inspire me more than anything else. Everyone on my team is beyond words when it comes to technical skills, and I have never seen anyone more dedicated to work than our Program Architect, Merima. Besides, the fact that I create something that positively affects so many people worldwide inspires me to come to work every day.

AP: Do you have any tips to share with those planning to apply for a job at Authority Partners?

KK: To everyone who wants to become part of the AP team, I want them to be yourself and be open to ask questions and learn more about the AP. Also, I think they should take the opportunity to tell the interviewer what their interest is and how they envision their role.

AP: Thank you for sharing your story!