In an interview with Startup Pakistan, Zeeshan Bukhari shared insights into his journey in the IT industry and the founding of Bitaffix. He discussed his experience spanning over 17 years and his passion for driving digital transformation. As the Co-Founder of Bitaffix, Zeeshan detailed the company’s vision and strategy, particularly in empowering businesses across sectors like banking, insurance, and public administration to thrive in the digital age.

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your journey in the IT industry.

I commenced my professional journey in 2006. I am a passionate & realistic individual capable of expediting work from concept to final output who is flexible enough to integrate with environment to provide best possible outcome. As a proficient and highly skilled IT professional, I have accumulated more than 17 years of extensive experience in mission-critical banking environments. This includes nearly 13 years of international exposure, encompassing 10 years in the United Arab Emirates and 3 years in the United Kingdom. During this time, I actively participated as a member of the IT Infrastructure Architecture, core Banking Implementation and Project Delivery team.

I had the honour of being the first person from Pakistan to receive an ITIL Master certification, ranking 65th in the world.

HEC and DUHS awarded me the PeopleSoft Implementation Leadership Award in Pakistan in 2008; It was the state’s first ever PeopleSoft campus solution implementation.

In 2022, We co-founded Bitaffix, a culmination of my years of experience and passion for driving digital transformation. Bitaffix represents our commitment to revolutionizing business processes through seamless integration and automation. As the Co-Founder, I’m deeply involved in shaping Bitaffix’s vision and strategy, particularly in empowering businesses across sectors like banking, insurance and public administration to thrive in the digital age.

I’ve won the All-Pakistan Health Technology Innovation Competition in 2023 and to be chosen as the best from a pool of revolutionary-minded innovators across the country.

My journey in the IT industry has been incredibly fulfilling and I’m excited to continue leveraging technology to drive positive change and innovation.

What is business process automation, why do need we need and how to identify a right process to automate?

Business process automation (BPA) is a transformative approach to streamlining workflow efficiency by leveraging advanced technology to automate manual processes. It empowers organizations to automate repetitive tasks seamlessly across various systems, enhancing productivity and driving greater agility in achieving business objectives.

The need for business process automation arises from the desire to optimize operations, reduce costs and improve overall efficiency. By automating routine tasks, organizations can free up valuable time and resources, allowing employees to focus on more strategic initiatives and innovation. Moreover, BPA ensures consistency and accuracy in processes, minimizing the risk of errors and enhancing overall quality.

Identifying the right processes to automate is crucial for maximizing the benefits of BPA. A strategic approach involves following these steps and considering other relevant factors, organizations can effectively identify and prioritize processes for automation, ultimately driving greater efficiency, productivity and success as

1. Assessing-Repetitive-Tasks – Identify tasks within your organization that are repetitive, rule-based and prone to human error. These tasks are prime candidates for automation as they can yield significant time and resource savings.
2. Evaluating-Complexity – Consider the complexity of each process and its potential impact on overall efficiency. Processes that are straightforward and well-defined are typically easier to automate and yield faster returns on investment.
3. Stakeholder-Input – Seek input from key stakeholders, including employees who are directly involved in the processes being considered for automation. Their insights can provide valuable perspective on pain points, bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement.
4. Alignment-with-Organizational-Goals – Ensure that the processes selected for automation align with your organization’s strategic objectives and priorities. Focus on automating tasks that directly contribute to achieving business goals and enhancing overall competitiveness.
5. Starting-Small – Begin with smaller, manageable processes that offer quick wins and demonstrate the value of automation to stakeholders. Starting small allows you to build momentum and gradually expand automation efforts over time.

How good is overall market of BPA?

The market for Business Process Automation (BPA) is thriving, driven by increasing demand among organizations to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and strengthen compliance.

Market research firm Markets and Markets predicts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5% for the global BPA market, reaching a value of USD 24.4 billion by 2027. Organizations across industries are prioritizing BPA to streamline operations, automate repetitive tasks and improve agility in response to market changes.

• Could you delve deeper into the prevalent challenges within the industry and elaborate on how Bitaffix is ingeniously addressing them?

Bitaffix emerges as a transformative solution that empowers businesses to embrace automation, drive efficiency and thrive in today’s digital landscape. In the realm of business process automation (BPA), numerous hurdles persist, from operational inefficiencies to apprehension surrounding the adoption of novel technologies. Bitaffix adeptly confronts these obstacles with its innovative features and methodology. By addressing challenges such as

1. Operational-Inefficiencies – Bitaffix offers a comprehensive platform that streamlines operations through automation, combatting manual processes that drain resources and impede productivity. Its built-in marketplace serves as a centralized hub, seamlessly integrating data and processes to eliminate manual transfers and enhance efficiency.
2. Resistance-to-Change – Bitaffix tackles reluctance towards new technologies by providing a user-friendly interface and low-code customization features. This empowers users of all technical proficiencies to effortlessly create and adapt workflows, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
3. Integration-Complexity – Bitaffix simplifies the integration process with its unmatched flexibility. Seamlessly connecting with any database and third-party APIs, it ensures compatibility and ease of implementation, overcoming the complexities associated with integrating BPA solutions into existing systems.
4. Scalability – Bitaffix’s microservices architecture facilitates seamless scalability, allowing the platform to adapt to evolving business needs without compromising performance. Each service operates independently, ensuring fault isolation and facilitating rapid feature deployment as businesses expand.
5. Environmental-Impact – Bitaffix aids organizations in transitioning towards a paperless environment, reducing their environmental footprint by up to 20%. Its multi-platform support and user-friendly UI/UX further encourage digital adoption, promoting sustainability initiatives within enterprises.

What is your unique selling point?

Our unique selling point lies in our ability to offer a low-code enterprise business process automation platform tailored specifically for financial institutions. Unlike traditional solutions, our platform provides 100+ templates, 50+ integrations and incorporates AI-driven customization, reducing skill requirements and implementation time. This allows us to streamline operations, improve efficiency and enhance the customer experience, ultimately setting us apart from competitors.

Let us know from where you started and what is the roadmap of your product where do you see yourself in next few years?

We embarked on the Bitaffix journey with a vision to revolutionize both enterprise automation and the financial technology landscape, addressing the challenges faced by businesses and financial institutions alike.

Our roadmap encompasses expanding our platform’s capabilities, enhancing user experience and penetrating new markets. In the next few years, our goal is to emerge as a leading player in the business process automation industry, serving diverse clients globally while scaling our operations and solidifying strategic partnerships.

Through continuous innovation and a customer-centric approach, we aim to drive digital transformation and efficiency across sectors, propelling us towards sustained growth and success.

How does Bitaffix empower IT professionals and business users alike to create, adapt and automate workflows with minimal coding?

Bitaffix empowers both IT professionals and business users to create, adapt and automate workflows with minimal coding through its intuitive low-code platform.

By providing a user-friendly interface, low-code customization options, a template library, built-in marketplace and robust training and support, Bitaffix empowers both IT professionals and business users to create, adapt and automate workflows with minimal coding, fostering collaboration and innovation within organizations as

1. User-Friendly-Interface – Bitaffix features a user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of workflow creation and customization. With drag-and-drop functionality and visual design tools, users can easily build workflows without extensive coding knowledge.
2. Low-Code-Customization – The platform offers low-code customization features, allowing users to tailor workflows to their specific needs without delving into complex coding. This flexibility enables quick adjustments and adaptations to evolving business requirements.
3. Template-Library – Bitaffix provides a library of ready-to-go templates, covering a range of common business processes. Users can leverage these templates as starting points for their workflows, reducing the need for extensive coding from scratch.
4. Built-in-Marketplace – The platform’s built-in marketplace offers a variety of pre-built integrations and applications that can be easily incorporated into workflows. This streamlines the automation process and reduces reliance on custom coding for integrating third-party tools.
5. Training-and-Support – Bitaffix offers comprehensive training and support resources to assist users in navigating the platform and utilizing its features effectively. From tutorials to documentation, users have access to the resources they need to succeed with minimal coding.

Tell us about other co-founders?

Beside myself Bitaffix’s co-founders include Abdul Waris and Sohail Younus.

Abdul Waris, the Technical Co-Founder & CEO, brings over 25 years of experience in full-stack enterprise software to Bitaffix. His journey began with notable achievements at a young age, including developing a Water Level Monitor at 14 and crafting a SAP Operating System in Assembly language by 18. With a rich background in technology and innovation, Abdul led projects spanning Banking, InsurTech, IoT, EduTech and MarTech before co-founding Bitaffix. Whereas, Sohail Younus, serving as the Co-founder & CSO, boasts 17+ years of expertise in Banking, Finance and Insurance. His skill set encompasses Linux administration, business development, sales, collaboration and presentation. At Bitaffix, Sohail plays a pivotal role in driving operational excellence and strategic growth initiatives.

Together, we form a dynamic team, each complementing the other, united by Bitaffix’s vision. Our collective commitment drives the revolution in enterprise automation and fuels Bitaffix’s success in the market.

How do you think Bitaffix can help Pakistan’s public, health and banking sector?

Bitaffix’s influence within Pakistan’s public, health and banking sectors surpasses mere automation. Serving as a catalyst for transformative change, Bitaffix propels efficiency, transparency and innovation throughout these sectors. With a keen focus on addressing distinct pain points and challenges within each domain, Bitaffix fosters fundamental improvements and drives meaningful advancements.

1. Public-Sector Modernization – Bitaffix’s automation capabilities streamline bureaucratic processes within government agencies. By automating tasks such as procurement and document management, Bitaffix reduces paperwork, minimizes processing times and enhances transparency. This modernization not only improves operational efficiency but also fosters greater accountability and responsiveness to citizens’ needs.
2. Healthcare Transformation – Bitaffix revolutionizes healthcare delivery by offering innovative solutions tailored to the Pakistani context. For instance, the Pregnancy Life Cycle solution not only digitizes maternity care but also utilizes AI algorithms to predict and prevent pregnancy complications. Additionally, Bitaffix’s AI-powered WhatsApp chatbots provide personalized clinical decision support, ensuring efficient healthcare delivery even in remote areas.
3. Banking Sector Efficiency – In the banking sector, Bitaffix optimizes processes such as loan origination and account management. By digitizing internal operations and transactions, Bitaffix reduces manual effort, minimizes errors and enhances customer service. Moreover, its multi-platform support and user-friendly interface encourage widespread adoption, facilitating the transition towards a paperless environment and promoting sustainable banking practices.