Samad Saleem, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DigiTrends, has announced his candidacy for a seat on the PASHA Central Executive Committee for the 2026 to 2028 term. Saleem says he has scaled DigiTrends into a company operating across five countries, has led PASHA initiatives in the past, and, according to his campaign material, represents Pakistan’s IT industry on committees related to the World Intellectual Property Organization and on artificial intelligence related committees of the International Chamber of Commerce. (Note: WIPO membership is held by member states rather than individuals, so this likely refers to a committee, working group or advisory capacity rather than formal WIPO membership; this could not be independently verified and is presented here as the candidate’s own description.) He has framed his candidacy around giving corporate members stronger regulatory backing, better access to high end talent, and more direct entry into GCC and North American markets.
His manifesto opens with a call for high impact corporate advocacy, proposing to unite large IT exporters into a unified voice against policy unpredictability, with the goal of securing stable tax frameworks and direct representation in the country’s national IT strategy discussions. On foreign exchange matters, he wants to advocate for simplified foreign currency retention accounts, easier profit repatriation, and streamlined cross border mechanisms for mergers and acquisitions that would let corporate technology firms scale overseas without unnecessary friction. His third point addresses what he describes as a high end talent void, proposing industry led university curricula focused on producing engineers who are ready to deploy in areas such as artificial intelligence, fintech and enterprise architecture.
Read: PASHA CEC Elections 2026: Every Candidate Contesting
The remaining two points of his platform focus on infrastructure and international market access. Saleem wants to lobby for enterprise grade digital infrastructure guarantees that would protect corporate exporters from internet disruptions and cybersecurity bottlenecks capable of putting international client service agreements at risk. His final commitment centers on establishing dedicated PASHA business to business corridors, corporate trade delegations, and government to government alignment aimed at helping Pakistani enterprises capture larger contracts across the GCC and North American regions.
Saleem’s candidacy comes as PASHA members prepare to vote on September 17, 2026, for the ten open seats of the Central Executive Committee, with two additional reserved seats for women entrepreneurs to be filled the following day by the newly elected committee. Based on the Election Commission’s regional structure, voting is expected to be coordinated across Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi, where PASHA maintains its secretariat and regional offices. Voting will take place through secret ballot between 9 am and 5 pm, with original CNIC or passport required for identity verification at polling stations. The complete final voters list for the 2026 elections is available on the PASHA final voter list, and more information about Saleem’s professional background can be found on his LinkedIn profile.
Computerworld is profiling every candidate contesting the 2026 PASHA CEC elections. View the manifestos and candidate profiles here on CWPK. Profiles are drawn from published campaign material by PASHA Election Commission. Public manifestos for all CEC contestants can be found here.
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