Thought Behind Things

Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi

TBT is Pakistan's fastest-growing podcast show covering conversations around Art, Culture & Technology. Tune in thrice a week to be a part of our community! We upload every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

  1. 2d ago

    How an Aga Khan Doctor Built an AI That Detects Disease From a Phone Photo ft. Dr. Fahad Umer | TBT Podcast

    Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here:https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/applyMuhammad Faizan Khan on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mfaizankhan2020/Join the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming:https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=inner-circle&utm_content=p88fJjb7feYRead the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building:https://muzamilhasan.com/thesisMy website:https://muzamilhasan.comCan a simple smartphone photo detect early-stage oral cancer in rural Pakistan—and why do billion-dollar Western AI models fail when diagnosing Pakistani patients? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Dr. Fahad Umer, Associate Professor and Dental Surgeon at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), who went from having zero coding background to building global healthcare AI models used across 131 countries.When clinics shut down during the 2020 lockdown, Dr. Fahad ignored a notification to play Ludo Star and decided to explore how Artificial Intelligence could solve Pakistan’s massive healthcare divide. We discuss how his team trained computer vision models deployed with health workers in Mithi (Tharparkar), how their free platform OPGenius automates dental X-ray diagnostics for patients and doctors worldwide, and why non-technical professionals (like doctors, teachers, and domain experts) are in the best position to build meaningful AI solutions. We also explore how Pakistan’s massive healthcare data and surplus solar energy could turn the country into a regional hub for AI research.

  2. 4d ago

    "ChatGPT is Just the Beginning" - Pakistani AI Architect on the Next 5 Years of Tech | TBT Podcast

    Are we standing on the edge of a "Digital Lockdown" triggered by rogue Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here:https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/applySports Vector, the company's website:https://sportsvector.coMuhammad Saad on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/muhammadsaad32170/CricTier, the cricket product:https://crictier.comJoin the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming:https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=inner-circle&utm_content=gr-UGAol3KURead the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building:https://muzamilhasan.com/thesisMy website:https://muzamilhasan.comAI agents and what happens when 9 out of 10 traditional jobs get automated overnight? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Muhammad Faizan Khan, Senior AI Architect at UK-based Secure Agentics and Founder of OPAG, to uncover the terrifying reality of AI cybersecurity, prompt hijacking, and workforce replacement.Everyone in Pakistan is rushing to "vibe code" and sell AI agents on WhatsApp and n8n, but less than 1% understand how easily these systems can be hijacked. We discuss the recent wave of global cyber alerts—from OpenAI agents hacking Hugging Face and PHP backdoors threatening 70% of the internet, to how a single malicious WhatsApp message can trick your AI agent into leaking your company's entire database. I also share how I personally replaced my 10-person team (costing Rs. 10 Lakh/month) with 9 autonomous AI agents running for just $300 (Rs. 75,000/month), live-test Faizan’s open-source security repo (Adrian) on Claude during the episode, and explore the terrifying future of Edge AI in autonomous drones and humanoid robots.

  3. 5d ago

    How a 24-Year-Old Pakistani Built an AI That Decodes Babar Azam in 1 Click ft. Muhammad Saad | TBT

    Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here:https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/applyJoin the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming:https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=inner-circle&utm_content=aoOpiBgpnokRead the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building:https://muzamilhasan.com/thesisMy website:https://muzamilhasan.comDo you really need a Computer Science degree to build a deep-tech AI company, or is the "scope khatam hai" narrative just an excuse? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with 24-year-old Saad, a Mechanical Engineer and Founder of Sports Vector & CricTier, who secured a $154,000 (Rs. 4.3 Crore) grant to revolutionize Cricket and Padel analytics across Pakistan and Qatar.Traditional sports broadcasting requires six expensive cameras and manual analysts to track a single cricket ball. Saad and his co-founder Hamza built a Computer Vision engine that extracts ball-by-ball line, length, bounce, and player weaknesses using just ONE camera. We do a live screen-share decoding Babar Azam’s stats and generating an instant AI bowling plan against him. Saad also breaks down how he learned tech by sitting with freelancers from midnight to 4 AM, why he built 40 failed apps before finding product-market fit, how they are cashing in on Pakistan's massive Padel boom, and why a $20 Claude subscription has officially killed the traditional "Pre-Seed" funding round.

  4. Nov 3

    The Death of SaaS: Why AI Startups Are Secretly Pivoting Back to Services ft. Qasim Ali Khan | TBT Podcast

    Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here: https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/apply Join the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming: https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle Read the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building: https://muzamilhasan.com/thesis My website: https://muzamilhasan.com Has AI turned software building into a "Saddar Bazaar" price war—and if anyone can build an app in a weekend using Claude or Replit, how do you actually sell it? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Qasim Shamim Ali Khan, a LUMS alumnus and tech sales veteran based in Canada who currently works in sales and growth at Rubi AI, a Toronto-based AI Go-To-Market (GTM) intelligence startup founded by former Salesforce Canada leadership. Everyone in tech right now is obsessed with building, but 99% of builders are completely clueless when it comes to distribution and selling. We dive deep into why traditional B2B cold outbound and free SaaS trials are dead, why the "$50/month SaaS" dream has commoditized, and why smart AI startups are quietly pivoting back to high-ticket services, implementation partnerships (like ClickHouse and Langfuse), and Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE). We also break down the difference between a lazy LLM wrapper and deep CRM workflow integration, why North American founders aim for $20M–$30M single-feature acquisitions instead of billion-dollar moonshots, and how Pakistani engineers can survive the 2026 Big Tech layoff wave across Microsoft and Meta. If you're a founder, software engineer, or freelancer trying to figure out how to monetize what you build in the AI era, watch this until the end!

  5. Oct 31

    I Burned $15,000 on Google AI (The Harsh Reality of Tech Startups) ft. Anas Shaikh | TBT Podcast

    Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here: https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/applyJoin the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming: https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circleRead the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building: https://muzamilhasan.com/thesisMy website: https://muzamilhasan.comAre soaring Meta WhatsApp costs and bloated cloud bills killing the Pakistani SaaS dream, or are founders just building their AI agents wrong? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Anas Sheikh, founder of conviyo, to discuss how he scaled a solo conversational AI startup to $10,000 MRR by fundamentally changing how businesses talk to their customers.While the tech world debates if "SaaS is dead," Anas proves that SaaS margins are dead unless you solve real problems. We dive into the harsh reality of bootstrapping, how Convio accidentally burned $15,000 in Google Cloud credits (costing $5.80 per chat!), and how they engineered the cost down to just 7 cents. Anas also breaks down Meta's new predatory WhatsApp pricing and how his team built WhatsApp Flows to bypass the friction of web chats. If you want to see what it actually takes to build, pivot, and scale a lean AI startup in Pakistan, watch this until the end!

  6. Oct 29

    Is ChatGPT Making Students Dumb? The Harsh Reality of AI in Education ft.Ansar Moughis | TBT Podcast

    Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here:https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/applyJoin the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming:https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=inner-circle&utm_content=oMZwH8mOPzIRead the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building:https://muzamilhasan.com/thesisMy website:https://muzamilhasan.comLearning AIDE AI :www.learningaide.ai Moughis Linkedin:www.linkedin.com/in/AnsarmoughisWill Artificial Intelligence eventually replace human teachers, or is it the ultimate tool to save our broken education system? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Ansar Moughis, Founder and CTO of AIDE AI, an EdTech startup that uses advanced LLMs to automatically grade messy, handwritten student exams and provide deep learning analytics.Teachers spend up to 10 hours a week just grading papers. Ansar explains how Aide AI eliminates this redundant work, allowing educators to step back into the role of true mentors. We dive deep into the technical challenges of bypassing traditional OCR for handwritten text, the economics of running an AI SaaS in Pakistan for just Rs. 5 per page, and the harsh reality of students using ChatGPT to cheat. We also discuss Aid AI’s rapid global expansion into Riyadh and Silicon Valley, proving that Pakistani tech founders can build products for the world. If you are interested in the future of EdTech, AI automation, or building a global SaaS, watch this until the end!Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Guest Introduction1:17 Elevator Pitch: Automating Paper Grading for Teachers2:09 Market Size: Teachers and Students in Pakistan3:27 How the Product Works and Handwriting Recognition8:19 Student Practice Platform and Analytics10:30 Pricing and Teacher Costs in Pakistan13:59 Selling to Schools vs Teachers17:27 Staying Sticky: Assessments Focus and Integrations21:23 Analytics, Parent Chatbot and Personalized Testing24:24 AI Cheating and Rethinking Assessments28:21 Accelerators: Antler, Plug and Play and GOAL31:26 Building for Pakistan vs the World33:15 Humans in the Loop: Teachers Will Not Be Replaced35:50 Closing Thoughts on Education as a Long-Term BetInstagram: https://instagram.com/muzamilhasanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muzamilhasan

  7. Oct 28

    Why 90% of Pakistani Startups Fail (The Toxic Reality of Our Ecosystem) ft. Hassan Zulfiqar Munj | TBT Podcast

    Are you tired of being ghosted on LinkedIn, or frustrated by the toxic "middle layer" of the Pakistani startup ecosystem? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Hassan Zulfiqar Munj, founder and CEO of Leap AI, to discuss how he used AI tools like Lovable to build a revolutionary networking platform designed specifically for founders.Hassan isn't a traditional software engineer. Coming from a background in traditional family business, opening CrossFit gyms, and running art galleries, he realized that the biggest bottleneck for entrepreneurs isn't just money—it's genuine, intent-based networking. We dive deep into the harsh realities of Pakistani traditional businesses, why the "Seth" culture refuses to digitize, and how Leap AI is using agentic AI to match founders with mentors, investors, and opportunities without the noise of traditional social media. If you want to know how non-technical founders are using AI to build real products, watch this until the end!

  8. Oct 27

    Is AI the Dajjal? The Untold Truth About Islam & Artificial Intelligence ft. Shahbaaz Khan | TBT

    Want to be a guest on Thought Behind Things? Apply here: https://muzamilhasan.com/podcast/apply Join the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming:https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=inner-circle&utm_content=5CCpOoZWZqs Read the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building: https://muzamilhasan.com/thesis My website: https://muzamilhasan.com Is Artificial Intelligence inherently biased against Muslims, and could it be the ultimate theological threat? In this episode of the Thought Behind Things podcast, I sit down with Shehroz Khan, Project Head at Ilmverse (a global initiative by SISL, Al-Qasimi University), to discuss how they built a trusted Islamic AI companion using 8.5 million pages of authenticated religious texts. While frontier AI models like ChatGPT and Claude are powerful, they are built with Western worldviews and often fail to provide culturally or religiously accurate counseling for Muslims. We dive deep into the dangers of relying on Western AI for Islamic knowledge, the monumental task of scanning and cleaning centuries of Fiqh and Hadith into a RAG pipeline, and the controversial debate: Is AI the Dajjal? We also discuss why democratizing Islamic scholarship is the only way to bypass fake scholars and gatekeepers who exploit the masses. If you want to know how the Muslim world is preparing for the intelligence era, watch this until the end!

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About

TBT is Pakistan's fastest-growing podcast show covering conversations around Art, Culture & Technology. Tune in thrice a week to be a part of our community! We upload every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Information

  • Creator
    Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    607
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 394258
  • Show Website
    Thought Behind Things

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