As a proud Pakistani who has followed our technology journey with great interest, April 21, 2026, remains a landmark day for me. Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced a major strategic partnership with Cursor, the powerful AI-powered code editor developed by Anysphere. One of its four co-founders is Sualeh Asif, a brilliant 26-year-old from Karachi, former Pakistan International Mathematical Olympiad champion, MIT graduate, and Chief Product Officer of the company. Since founding the company in 2022 with his co-founders and MIT graduates, Michael Truell (CEO), Aman Sanger, and Arvid Lunnemark, Sualeh has turned Cursor into a vital tool used by millions of developers at Nvidia, Adobe, Uber, Shopify, and other major players. The start-up has already hit $1 billion in annual revenue and was valued at $29.3 billion in November 2025.
The deal is extraordinary: SpaceX now holds the right to acquire the entire Cursor company later in 2026 for $60 billion. Even if they choose not to exercise the option, they will still pay Cursor $10 billion for the ongoing collaboration. This partnership aims to combine Cursor’s advanced AI coding capabilities with SpaceX’s massive Colossus supercomputer (linked to xAI) to push the boundaries of next-generation AI. For me, this is far more than a business success, it is living proof of what Pakistani talent can achieve on the global stage when given the right opportunities.
This high-profile achievement is not a one-off miracle. It rests on the strong foundation of Pakistan’s broader IT and AI boom. In FY 2024-25, our Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) exports reached a record $3.8 billion, an 18 percent increase from $3.2 billion the previous year. Some reports including full freelancer earnings put the combined total at $4.6 billion with 26.4 percent growth. This made IT Pakistan’s third-largest foreign exchange earner after textiles and rice, delivering a healthy 75 percent trade surplus. The momentum has only grown stronger. In the first nine months of FY 2025-26 (July 2025–March 2026), exports stood at $3.39 billion, up 20 percent year-on-year. The first seven months delivered $2.61 billion (+19.78 percent). December 2025 marked a historic high with $437 million, the first time ever crossing $400 million in a single month, while March 2026 added $413 million (+21 percent). The government’s target of $5 billion for the full year is clearly on track.
Supporting these impressive numbers is our massive talent pool. Pakistan is home to 2.37 million active freelancers, one of the largest in the world. In the first nine months of FY 2025-26, they earned $856 million (+50 percent year-on-year), with the first half alone contributing $557 million (+58 percent). We rank as the 4th fastest-growing freelance market globally (+47 percent growth in Q2 2025). Many young Pakistanis are now using AI tools to earn $3,000 and above per month. We also have more than 30,000 registered IT companies, a domestic IT market already exceeding $1 billion, and in 2024 alone our developers launched 1,053 mobile apps.
Pakistan’s global standing in talent is equally remarkable. We now rank 16th out of 193 countries in the Global Outsourcing Talent Index 2026, placing us in the top 9 percent worldwide. We stand ahead of the United Kingdom (29th), China (37th), France (73rd), and Germany (84th). Our score of 97/100 in cost competitiveness combined with high rankings in raw talent availability, especially in self-taught AI, blockchain, and digital skills, makes Pakistani talent highly attractive. With a median age of around 23, we possess one of the world’s youngest populations and over 85 million people in the labor force, including millions of English-speaking graduates. This demographic dividend, paired with high-quality yet cost-effective talent, positions Pakistan as a compelling alternative for Western and Gulf companies seeking to diversify away from traditional hubs like India or Eastern Europe.
I am particularly encouraged by the role of forward-looking government initiatives. The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been a game-changer, acting as a “single-window” super body that fast-tracks visas, foreign exchange rules, and approvals for foreign tech investors. It has already notified 32 Special Technology Zones equipped with tax incentives, reliable power, and high-speed connectivity, specifically designed for AI, semiconductors, chip design, and advanced software. These efforts, along with large IT parks (including the flagship one in Islamabad’s G-10), 10,000+ E-Rozgaar training centres, and policy reforms, are creating an enabling environment that directly supports our export growth and long-term vision of $10–18 billion in IT exports by 2028–2030.
What moves me most is the inclusive nature of this boom. The Special Communication Organization (SCO) is transforming remote Gilgit-Baltistan into a promising tech hub. Through high-speed fiber rollout, Software Technology Parks, IT labs in valleys like Frano and Narr Khaplu, and Pakistan’s first Freelancing Hub in Gilgit (housing 14 IT companies and 45 individual freelancers), SCO has trained more than 10,000 students in AI, machine learning, e-commerce, freelancing, and software development. This has created over 7,000 direct jobs and empowered 1,500-plus freelancers in the region. Gilgit-Baltistan freelancers alone now earn $15 million annually, significantly more than the $3.5 million revenue of local IT companies. Between 3,000 and 4,000 active freelancers operate there on global platforms. This shows that no part of Pakistan is being left behind.
Pakistan is also building strong regional and international partnerships. Growing interest from Gulf countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, along with collaboration with China through CPEC’s digital corridor, adds further momentum. The Cursor-SpaceX deal itself beautifully highlights our ability to attract top-tier global tech giants from the Elon Musk ecosystem.
Undoubtedly, efforts towards improving the consistency of our infrastructure and retention of our talent at home are ongoing, but it is clear that things are moving in an entirely positive direction. With our youthful and talented population, progressive policies at SIFC, outreach programs at SCO, and competitive global presence, we are moving from being just a good service provider to being an innovative partner.
The case of Sualeh Asif moving from Karachi to having the possibility of clinching a deal worth $60 billion is not unique, but it serves to demonstrate the spirit and determination of an entire generation of Pakistanis. I have high hopes for my country, and at the same time, I feel very proud of it. We are not merely observers in terms of what is happening in the world as regards to artificial intelligence and other forms of technology.
