SYED ALI
Redmond
Summary
Dynamic systems-oriented leader with over 15 years of experience in philanthropy and digital public infrastructure, specializing in the design, governance, and scaling of national platforms that promote equity and empower women while enhancing health and economic outcomes for families and children. Currently serving as a Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, leading multi-year strategies that unite governments, funders, multilaterals, and private-sector entities around inclusive finance, social protection, and public-sector reform frameworks. Proven ability to integrate gender and inclusion into large-scale system designs has resulted in significant advancements in women's financial agency, maternal and child health outcomes, and crisis response for vulnerable populations. Recognized for visionary strategy development, ecosystem building, resource mobilization, and adaptive leadership in complex environments across low- and middle-income countries.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Program Officer, Inclusive Financial Systems – Pakistan
Gates Foundation
Seattle, WA
05.2016 - Current
- Developed and led a multi-year financial inclusion strategy focused on strengthening Digital Public Infrastructure that has resulted in increasing financial inclusion from 17% (2017) to 35% (2024), advancing toward a National Financial Inclusion (NFIS) 2030 target of 75%.
- Led the design, implementation and scale of Raast, Pakistan’s Inclusive and Instant Payment System (IIPS) fully aligned with LevelOne Project Principles (L1P), serving over 50 million unique users with $210 B in throughput. Led governance, stakeholder alignment, procurement (25+ vendors) via World Bank’s Two Envelope process, and ISO 20022-based standards integration with Open API Gateway.
- Executed Raast use cases (Bulk, Person-to-Person, Person-to-Merchant), scaling from 2.2 M to 5.6 M daily transactions: supporting government employees salary disbursements / vendor payments and creating Raast Payments Pakistan as a public digital utility.
- Initiated Buna-Raast regional remittance system with 6 GCC countries, targeting $2 B+ shift from informal to formal channels and reducing transaction costs by up to USD 25 aligned with SDG 10.C i.e. to bring the cost per transaction under 3% for migrant workers.
- Led Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Digital Transformation, unlocking $5.1 B incremental tax revenue and $35 M in fraud prevention via national tax digitization that would set the country to increase Tax-to-GDP ratio from 8% to 17% (highest in the region) by 2028.
- Supported design of Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program for 14 million poor households (ranked 4th globally by the World Bank), providing direct support to vulnerable communities during COVID-19.
- Drove a national initiative transitioning 11M women beneficiaries of Pakistan’s $2B Benazir Income Support Programme (40% of the population) from restricted Limited Mandate Accounts to fully functional bank accounts and mobile wallets, empowering them with full financial agency to save, transact, and manage funds independently for the first time.
- Partnered with the State Bank of Pakistan to help design and implement Banking on Equality, a national gender strategy focused on closing the gender gap through women economic empowerment.
- Contributed to National Savings digitization for 7 M+ users (51% women) with savings deposits over $33 B, integrating with biometric ID and Raast via open APIs.
- Launched Pakistan Digital Stack (Digital Nation Pakistan) strategy and supported enactment of Digital Nation Act in December 2024.
- Led a cross-program team to design FATA immunization-linked Conditional Cash Transfer program, securing $60M in funding from Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency) to improve health outcomes for pregnant and lactating mothers with strong focus on targeting polio immunization to increase from 20% to 70%.
- Supported creation of Pakistan’s Cashless / Digital Economy committee headed by the Prime Minister that oversees the digital economy agenda. The PM is convening these meetings on bi-monthly basis which has created a strong national momentum for an inclusive digital economy that works for everyone.
- Enabled in-country capacity through Karandaaz Pakistan, building institutional leadership for digital finance.
Head of Mobile Financial Services
CM Pak (China Mobile)
Islamabad, Pakistan
05.2013 - 04.2016
- Rebranded and scaled Timepey services, increasing market share from 0.1% to 8% within one year.
- Led a team across mobile and OTC financial services; awarded Star Performer and Most Productive Department honors.
Vice President, Head of Mobile Account & Remittances
UBL Omni
Karachi, Pakistan
10.2011 - 04.2013
- Pioneered industry’s first L0 (low KYC) accounts and non-personalized ATM cards; improved operational KPIs, launched Urdu IVR and CLM unit.
- Designed nationwide training program and improved agent liquidity and transaction flows with LSA model.
Assistant Manager Payments (G2P & B2P)
Telenor (Easypaisa, Financial Services)
Islamabad, Pakistan
02.2011 - 09.2011
- Launched Benazir Income Support Program digital cash delivery in KPK and designed salary disbursement solutions for businesses.
Assistant Segment Manager – Postpaid
Telenor Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan
02.2009 - 02.2011
- Led postpaid segment growth, increasing monthly billed revenue by 78% and reducing churn through retention campaigns.
Assistant Segment Manager – Corporate & SME
Warid Telecom (Singtel)
Lahore, Pakistan
12.2007 - 02.2009
- Launched USB broadband and Blackberry in record time; spearheaded SME/Corporate co-branding strategy.
Account Manager
Style Textile (Nike Account)
Lahore, Pakistan
01.2002 - 01.2004
- Grew Nike exports from USD 27M to USD 40M over two years through optimized production and forecasting.
Education
Master of Marketing -
London Metropolitan University
UK01-2007
Skills
- Team collaboration
- Project strategy
- Data analysis
- Problem-solving
- Attention to detail
- Excellent communication
- Change management
- Product development
- Analytical thinking
- Team building
- Strategic planning
- Project management
Certification
- Project Management Professional (PMP), Business Management Consultants USA
- Change Acceleration Process (CAP) Coach, GE
- Marketing Management – LUMS
- Advanced MS Excel – PSTD
- Public Speaking & Time Management – LMU
PERSONAL DETAILS
Fluent in English & Urdu
HONORS & RECOGNITION
High Impact Award – Gates Foundation (2017–2024), Star Performer of the Year – CM Pak (2014), Outstanding Performance Award – Telenor (2010)
Timeline
Senior Program Officer, Inclusive Financial Systems – Pakistan
Gates Foundation
05.2016 - Current
Head of Mobile Financial Services
CM Pak (China Mobile)
05.2013 - 04.2016
Vice President, Head of Mobile Account & Remittances
UBL Omni
10.2011 - 04.2013
Assistant Manager Payments (G2P & B2P)
Telenor (Easypaisa, Financial Services)
02.2011 - 09.2011
Assistant Segment Manager – Postpaid
Telenor Pakistan
02.2009 - 02.2011
Assistant Segment Manager – Corporate & SME
Warid Telecom (Singtel)
12.2007 - 02.2009
Account Manager
Style Textile (Nike Account)
01.2002 - 01.2004
Master of Marketing -
London Metropolitan University