Pakistan has spent decades making its case in Washington through the buzzwords of security. This month, its embassy set its sights on another blueprint: 16 technology companies, four American cities and a pitch to some of the world’s most demanding corporate buyers. Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh calls the turn “from CT to IT,” replacing counterterrorism with information technology as a more durable basis for Pakistan-US relations.
The October 16-23 Pak-US Tech Connect roadshow took Pakistani executives through Silicon Valley, Dallas, Washington and Chicago. Around 20 Pakistani firms exhibited at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 13-15. Another day-long business networking event was hosted in Washington, DC, where 16 Pakistani technology companies met American business representatives to develop lasting commercial relationships.
Working with the Ministry of IT, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), consulates and entrepreneurial network OPEN Global, the mission arranged business-to-business outreach rather than another circuit of ceremonial speeches. The Chicago stop was attached to OPEN Chicago’s annual conference, putting the delegation before enterprise decision-makers considering their 2027 technology requirements.
Ambassador Sheikh deserves credit for pushing an embassy into the business of market access. The delegation ranged from Systems Limited and 10Pearls to NETSOL, CureMD and Arbisoft, companies familiar with overseas delivery. Two startups, Swich and Heyeve.ai, represented newer bets on financial technology and AI-enabled legal training. The mix offers something beyond an appeal to cheap labour–evidence of businesses able to pitch products.
At Dallas, the ambassador advertised Pakistan’s “potential, prowess, promise, and profitability.” In Washington, he argued that the bilateral relationship should shift “from CT to IT.” His broader proposition was equally plain: “Each time Pakistan and the United States have come together, we have produced results.”
Pakistan’s Washington mission puts technology on the diplomatic agenda
The commercial stakes are considerable. PSEB chief Faisal Jeddy told the Dallas gathering that the United States accounts for about 57 per cent of Pakistan’s IT exports. He estimated annual output at 70,000 IT and computer-science graduates and average annual export growth of roughly 21 per cent over four years. September 2026 receipts reached $435 million, Pakistan’s second-highest monthly tally, while July-September exports totalled about $1.25 billion. The market exists, but the question is how much value Pakistan can retain from it.
Nor was this itinerary conceived overnight. PSEB reports $10.9 million in generated business and 20 leads from its 2024 Stanford conference. Its 2025 roadshow also produced a reported $9.7 million in prospective business and 78 leads, with seven memoranda of understanding and six contracts.
Sheikh had also proposed a “Digital Trinity” in 2024: a three-way partnership between American technology, Saudi investment and Pakistani technical talent. Pakistan hopes to use relationships in Washington and the Gulf to build an economic constituency around its workforce.
There are encouraging signs on the American side. In February, US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker brought representatives of American ICT companies together with Pakistani officials to discuss cloud services, data centres, cybersecurity and AI. At an August roundtable held in Lahore, she described Pakistan as an “important partner” and identified scope for closer technological ties.
Still, the Americans invited to buy Pakistani technology are also pointing out the shortcomings of the sales pitch. Even Oracle senior vice-president Sofyan Yusufi told participants in Washington, DC, “If you survive in the Pakistani market, you can survive anywhere,” and urged attention to business culture, skills and women’s representation. Imran Aftab of 10Pearls raised the quality of education. Companies cannot depend indefinitely on low hourly rates when AI is already changing routine programming work.
There is a strategic reason to diversify without pretending counterterrorism has ceased to matter. Security cooperation can tighten or loosen with every regional emergency. Software contracts depend on a different discipline: whether customers receive what they bought, on time, and choose to renew. An enduring constituency of American buyers would give the relationship ballast between the next rounds of strategic disagreement.
Islamabad must also confront an awkward official assessment. The US Commerce Department’s February 2026 country guide identifies internet shutdowns, weak intellectual-property enforcement, complex regulations and proposed data-transfer restrictions as obstacles to American commerce. A state selling reliability abroad cannot treat connectivity as expendable at home.
For now, Sheikh has shown an uncommon determination to make commercial diplomacy a regular duty rather than an occasional embassy event. The doors are being opened. Whether Pakistani companies can keep the business–and Islamabad can sustain the conditions for it–is the test of this promising turn from CT to IT.
The writer is OpEd Editor (Daily Times) and can be reached at durenayab786 @gmail.com. She tweets @DureAkram.