Career in IT : Interview with Chief Technology Officer, Mohammed Owais

Mohammed has eighteen years experience across the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. During this time, he has worked with clients across more than twenty five countries such as Microsoft, DHL, PwC, Alshaya, Al-Futtaim Group, Jumeirah, Qatar Airways and GEMS education.

NAME : Mohammed Owais

LOCATION : Dubai

DESIGNATION : Chief Technology Officer

ORGANISATION : Cazar ​​

HAILS FROM : India (born and brought up in the UAE!)

Mohammed Owais would be keen to mentor students. Look out for opportunities to interact with him on our blog.​

Questions & Answers

ACADEMICS AND SKILLS:

Q1. What did you have to study to get into this line of work and where did you attend college? Were/are there other ways of qualifying for this profession? (Please specify if your educational qualifications were necessary to get into this line of work).

​Ans. Incidentally, I took an unusual route to this job. I started studying for a degree in Accounting, got bored and started a three-year diploma in software development (while continuing my degree). It was tough as it kept me busy for the whole day, but it made a huge difference to the way I work in technology – there’s a lot more emphasis on understanding the business. Normally, you’d take a 3-4 year degree course in computer science to start working in this profession. Alternatively, you can also sign up for a diploma or a series of courses in specific areas of IT – such as Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Cloud Infrastructure, etc. This approach works well if you already have a degree in another discipline and can allow you to specialize in an industry vertical. For example, there are several doctors and surgeons who have started learning about AI, so they can help implement it in their area of medicine. Experts say that most companies are going to become tech companies, so there is plenty of scope for a variety of skills.

Q2. Academically, what subjects should a student be good at to be successful in this job(during school and higher education)?

Ans. Traditionally, IT has required a good grasp of mathematics, but this is becoming less important with the huge variety of roles available in this industry now.​​​​

Q3. What skills should a student, aspiring for this profession, try to develop during high school and possibly at an undergrad level, to be good at it and possibly break the entry barriers for entrance exams and interviews they need to clear to get into a good college?

​Ans. The better colleges are now giving weight to skills beyond just academics. College (and life in general) becomes more fulfilling when you are experiencing new, different things all the time and eventually “connecting the dots” between them.​

For me, some of those things were design, economics and public speaking!

Q4. Would you like to give any tips or reminders to students aspiring for such a profession (these could be related to deadlines for entrance exams or subjects essential to study to get into this field or red flags to be aware of before dreaming about a profession)?

​Ans. ​ In my experience, two skills will give you a huge boost: firstly, a good understanding of business - wherever possible, try and learn how business works, regardless of which field you are going to work in. Secondly, good communication skills – it doesn’t matter how much you know about a topic if you cannot articulate that knowledge and put it into a business context (see previous point).

Q5. Which colleges/institutes/medicine schools would you recommend in your home country and globally for pursuing this profession?

Ans. We live in great times - online learning has completely transformed the way we learn and luckily, some of the best courses in the world are now available on the internet (many of them for free).

This can also be a great way to test your aptitude for a certain qualification. For example, if you think you want to learn Data Science, go to a MOOC provider, such as EDX, pick a few Data Science courses and try to complete them. Then ask yourself if you enjoyed them and if you see yourself doing this for a living.

ABOUT THE PROFESSION:

Q6. What are the day to day responsibilities of a professional in this field?

​Ans. *Varies quite a bit depending on level and specialization. At my level (head of department), I spend a lot of time at work looking after security of the systems, data center operations, designing new architecture, planning new features and releases, improving performance, etc.

Outside the office, I meet a lot of senior IT professionals as customers and potential clients. I also spend a good bit of time mentoring my team: making sure they are happy and challenged. ​

*Author's Note: Mohammed works for a company that provides recruitment marketing and smart technology solutions to their customers. Since technology would be a key contributor to business solutions that his company provides, his role as the Chief Technology Officer would be crucial to ensure client satisfaction and would directly impact the company's revenue.

Q7. What does it really mean to be working in this role? (Do you have a good work-life balance? Do you travel a lot? Do you often have to meet a lot of new people? Anything else of interest that you may like to add.)

​Ans. The higher up you go in the IT field, the less technical your responsibilities get. You become more accountable for business decisions and results. I travel roughly once a week and certainly get to meet a lot of people. I find that most people in the industry are usually introverted and it takes some effort to strike up an interesting and useful conversation. I have a great work-life balance and it’s something you can consciously develop.

Q8. What are the perks of being in this kind of a role?

​Ans. Travelling can be a bit inconvenient but it’s one of the best ways to expand your thinking. Hence, that's a big plus.

Also, I’m lucky to have a small-but-substantial R&D (Research & Development) budget, which allows our team to play around with some cutting-edge technology.

PERSONAL CHOICES:

Q9. How did you choose this profession?

​Ans.​ When I was studying, I spoke to quite a few people about which industries were doing better than others. Almost everybody pointed to the software engineering as a growing industry and so I decided to focus my efforts on it.

Q10. What do you love about your job and what do you dislike?

​Ans. I love what I do for a living and I’ve realized that many people are not that lucky! I like the fact that I can experiment with different things and every day is a learning experience. On the downside, the industry moves very rapidly and you constantly need to keep up. If you don’t invest in your own education, it’s very easy to become obsolete in just a few years. I have tackled this challenge of learning by teaching others. I started a user group where others can learn new concepts and techniques for free.

Q11. Where did you start and where have you reached today? (Position/organisation you started off with and where you are working now).

​Ans. I first started with a small IT company, which built systems for government companies, as an onsite support analyst (someone who sits at the customer’s office and helps troubleshoot our system).

Within a few months, I was moved to the development team and in two years I was made Team Leader.

Then I joined Cazar, the company I’m currently working with, as Systems Analyst. A year later, I was promoted to Head of R&D. 5 years after that I become Director of Technology and 3 years later, I was made CTO(Chief Technology Officer). I can attribute a lot of my success to the two points I mentioned in question 4.

MYTH Vs REALITY

Q12. Is there any myth you’d like to break about your profession that over-glamourises or de-glamourises it?

Ans. A lot of people assume you must be great at maths to be good at IT. Today, the industry spans many different skills, most of which don’t need mathematics. And even programming requires less and less math these days. Far more important is the ability to solve problems in creative ways.

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