The majority of Kaiyan's work has been in the development consulting field for 2 US-based management consulting firms; J.E. Austin and Chemonics. In a technical capacity I’ve worked on analysing sectors, identifying gaps, designing and implementing interventions and gauging results. More specifically, I’ve worked directly with SME's in the agriculture and industrial/manufacturing sectors to increase their competitiveness in either the local or the export market.
One of the his most unique experiences has been designing, managing and implementing a pilot initiative that sought to integrate ICT into value chain development. Under the pilot, I’ve led the effort to increase access for farmers to key agriculture information directly through their mobile handsets and also to provide financial services to low income groups. The hypothesis has been to increase financial inclusion for people at the bottom of the pyramid and strike partnerships between key stakeholders in the ecosystem to increase uptake of mobile money in Pakistan.
He also designed and launched the DFID funded Innovation Challenge Fund (ICF) implemented by Karandaaz Pakistan. The program supports innovation and entrepreneurship following a rounds based approach. ICF1 looked at improving international remittances products while ICF2 focuses on supporting women entrepreneurs by partnering with incubators and accelerators. As Competitiveness Enhancement Lead at USAID SMEA, i designed and implemented one of the largest SME digitisation program including 37% Women Led businesses - helping them increase their sales, create jobs and increase exports.
Kaiyan Yousaf is an expert in digital for development, competitiveness strategy, business growth and have very recently started working on Viamo's Generative AI product proposal development.
Website: Viamo.io