Pakistan’s export story has long been written in textiles, agriculture, and remittances. But now, global giants from Amazon to Alibaba are entrusting Pakistan with their customer support, IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS), and business process outsourcing (BPO) operations. Behind this quiet shift stands the team from The Resource Group (TRG), led by Hasnain Aslam and Mohammed Khaishgi – whose mix of innovative commercial models and operational discipline has placed Pakistan on the global outsourcing map.
From commodities to code
Textiles still make up more than 50% of the country’s exports, and inflows from remittances exceed $30 billion. IT and related services exports are smaller in number at $4 billion in 2025 inflows but this is the fastest growing segment of Pakistan’s export mix. And the potential is huge. By comparison, India commands roughly $200 billion annually from IT and related services with nearly 5 million employees, while the Philippines generates $35 billion with about 1.5 million workers.
Pakistan’s footprint may be modest for now – but the trajectory is unmistakable. Pakistan’s IT and IT enabled services export industry employs nearly 400,000 professionals. TRG-related businesses and their subsidiaries have helped bring some of the world’s largest companies to Pakistan, including some of the world’s leading consumer brands. Those businesses alone employ over 10,000 people and contribute over $100 million a year in foreign-exchange inflows.
From US boardrooms to Lahore and Karachi call centers
Pakistan’s entry into this highly competitive sector was far from inevitable. Countries like India and the Philippines built their dominance over decades, aided by policy support and favorable perception. Pakistan faced the opposite: challenging infrastructure, uncertainty, and global skepticism kept coming up despite the quality of its human capital.
This is where innovative thinking mattered. TRG acquired or built up a network of US-based portfolio companies whose commercial operations and management teams were based in the United States, all while having their service delivery provided from offshore locations such as Pakistan or other similar locations such as the Philippines. With these US-based front-ends, TRG’s portfolio companies were able to develop close relationships, based on trust, with their US-based clients.
With such relationships in place, there was greater credibility for principals such as Aslam and Khaishgi to make the case to corporate America that Pakistan could deliver at par with traditional outsourcing hubs, but at lower cost and with higher quality – at a time when perception was the biggest barrier. These relationships laid the foundation for Pakistan’s first contracts.
Operationally, the other half of the equation, was rigor and discipline. TRG’s leadership brought in best-of-class management within their portfolio companies to instill a culture of high performance in delivery centers: strict compliance, low attrition, continuous training. TRG’s portfolio companies have demonstrated how a more leaned-in business model abroad combined with disciplined execution at home can reposition Pakistan on the global outsourcing map.
Inflection point
A turning point for TRG’s operational presence in Pakistan came during the pandemic. While other locations such as India and the Philippines locked down, Pakistan remained relatively open. For some of the largest clients of TRG’s portfolio companies – which needed capacity at all costs given that the economy had moved to a digital platform – outsourcing to Pakistan became a calculated necessity. According to executives familiar with the outsourcing decision, results ‘exceeded expectations.’ Based on the success of the initial launches in Pakistan during the pandemic, several Fortune 500 companies followed suit.
The economics reinforced the momentum: over 25%-35% cheaper than other competing locations, with lower attrition rates, stronger English fluency and neutral accents, and a reputation for higher service quality. As one U.S. executive remarked: “Pakistan’s services remain cost-competitive – even compared with emerging AI solutions – while offering higher English fluency and neutral accents than other traditional outsourcing markets.”
Talent and demographics
Pakistan’s demographic dividend is central to the story. Nearly 60% of its 240 million citizens are under 30, and the country produces more than 30,000 IT and engineering graduates annually. English fluency, neutral accents, and cultural familiarity with Western markets strengthen the proposition. A vast diaspora in North America and Europe has amplified visibility. In the United States, those networks were pivotal in building trust with policymakers and corporate leaders. This is not incidental—it is part of the “soft power” strategy that Aslam and Khaishgi pursued deliberately by building TRG.
Competing in the age of AI
The global outsourcing market, worth an estimated $260–280 billion, is under pressure from generative AI. Gartner projects that up to 30% of customer service roles could be automated by 2030. Rather than forcing companies to choose between humans and machines, Pakistan is in a position to become part of a hybrid model: automation where it makes sense, supported by highly affordable, English-speaking teams that provide escalation and act as guardrails against AI mistakes. This adaptability is where Pakistan can win.
Here again, the TRG portfolio’s focus on “future-proof delivery” has given Pakistan an edge: sell not just cost savings, but adaptability and quality.
The Road Ahead
For Pakistan to scale from $4 billion today toward the Philippines’ $35 billion industry, the country will need to focus on strengthening perception, infrastructure, workforce training, and AI adoption. But the foundation is laid.
The potential upside is significant. Industry estimates suggest that if Pakistan were to capture even 5% of the global BPO market, it would yield $13–14 billion in annual exports – a figure comparable to today’s textile exports.
Proof, not promise
The lesson from Aslam and Khaishgi is that commercial approach matters. By building credibility in the United States, quietly lobbying in boardrooms, and then delivering excellence in Karachi, the companies that were part of TRG’s portfolio turned perception into reality.
What began as a bet on Pakistan is now a proven model – one that can be scaled. The lesson is clear: advocacy abroad, execution at home. That combination has turned perception, created a new reality, and given Pakistan a credible seat at the global outsourcing table. Today, when Pakistan’s IT story is told in markets such as the United States, it is not about instability or geopolitics. It is about a committed team of sponsors, a disciplined workforce, and a country now emerging as a credible destination at the frontier of the digital economy.
