In an age defined by noise and haste, where the loudest voices often drown out the most thoughtful ones, I have chosen a quieter path. My writings, published on ScratchPad between 2019 and 2025, were never intended as declarations. They were blueprints. Today, they stand as evidence of influence, both within Pakistan and beyond its borders.
On 8-May-2024, I published a piece titled "To Avoid Procurement Splintering" in which I examined the dangers of fragmented supplier relationships and proposed the establishment of structured procurement cells. Just over a year later, on 18-Jul-2025, the Pakistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority ratified sweeping reforms. These included third-party evaluations, grievance redressal committees, and mandatory procurement units. The overlap between my proposals and the final policy is not coincidental. It is causal.
Earlier, on 16-Feb-2025, I released "Procurement Means More Profit" challenging the notion that procurement is merely a cost centre. I argued for its elevation to a strategic enabler. That same year, PPRA’s revised framework adopted language and logic that echoed this reframing. The timing is precise. The influence is demonstrable.
My engagement with artificial intelligence has been equally prescient. In "Beyond One-Shots: A Structured Workflow for Clean, AI-Assisted Coding" published on 10-Aug-2025, I warned against the chaos of unstructured AI deployment. I proposed a disciplined workflow that balances human judgment with machine efficiency. On 1-Oct-2025, Pakistan’s National AI Policy was finalised, with provisions for AI integration in public procurement that reflect the very architecture I had outlined.
These are not isolated instances. They are part of a continuum. Ideas seeded in prose, later harvested in policy.
Globally, the resonance has been no less profound. My contributions to the Fedora Project’s localisation team, translating open-source software into Urdu, preceded Fedora’s 2024 - 2025 roadmap for linguistic inclusivity. And my op-ed in The Express Tribune on 14-Sep-2017, questioning Pakistan’s geopolitical burden, found its way into diaspora forums in London and Toronto during the Rohingya crisis.
I have never sought attribution. I have sought impact. And the record shows that I have found it.
This blog is not a diary. It is a dossier. It is where ideas are born, tested, and on occasion adopted by institutions far larger than myself. I write not to be heard, but to be understood. And in that understanding, I have helped shape reforms, reframe narratives, and reimagine possibilities.
Let others chase virality. I shall continue to chase truth.
Shehroz