U-RISE – Shaista Abdullah: From Biology to boardrooms, building a career through courage, curiosity, and showing up
By Fawzia Kara-Isitt
“Nothing was planned.”
It is perhaps not the answer many expect from a woman who would go on to build a career across consulting, telecommunications, banking, fintech, and national-scale digital transformation and payments leadership, but for Shaista, that honesty is precisely the point.
Her journey into technology was not mapped out through carefully calculated milestones or a traditional computer science degree. It began in biology, shaped first by curiosity rather than certainty. While studying in the United States, her fascination with technology quietly grew through earning minimum wages in university labs, library systems and early customer support roles. What initially appeared to be practical or temporary opportunities gradually revealed something more lasting: a genuine interest in how systems work, how people interact with them, and how technology could solve real human problems.
Returning to Pakistan with plans to enter the pharmaceutical industry and a fresh Master’s in Biology from the USA, Shaista instead found herself pivoting once again when those opportunities did not materialise. A role at an internet service provider (ISP) became an unexpected doorway into the digital world. What began in ISP sales quickly accelerated into leadership, international relocation, and then a new life in South Africa, a place that would profoundly shape both her career and identity.
Rather than resisting uncertainty, Shaista learned to move with it.
What followed was a career spanning more than one industry: consulting at Deloitte, strategic work in telecommunications, leadership in banking, and, later, fintech, all of which emerged not from rigid planning, but from openness to opportunity and a willingness to keep evolving.
“I just went along for the ride,” she reflects.
Yet beneath that spontaneity was something far more deliberate: adaptability.
Finding Her Voice Early
One of the most defining moments of Shaista’s career came early during her time at Deloitte, in the tense global aftermath of 9/11.
At a time when Islam was under intense scrutiny and often deeply distorted in public discourse, a senior partner insisted that she speak to colleagues about her faith. For Shaista, this felt deeply uncomfortable. As a young Muslim woman early in her career, the prospect of publicly discussing something so personal felt risky, exposing, and potentially isolating.
But she did it.
Speaking calmly and candidly about the Five Pillars of Islam, its humanity, and the misconceptions dominating headlines, she opened a dialogue that many around her had never experienced before.
That moment changed her. It was an awakening.
It taught her that authenticity was not something to suppress for professional survival – it could be one of her greatest strengths.
By choosing not to hide who she was, Shaista discovered that the very aspects people may feel pressured to suppress- faith, culture, identity, and gender – can become profound strengths when expressed authentically. That experience gave her the courage to keep showing up, speaking out, and using openness not only to foster understanding but to deepen both personal confidence and professional growth. This lesson would remain central throughout every stage that followed: identity, when paired with courage, can become a bridge rather than a barrier, as communication can become a strength in navigating complex professional spaces.
“Your authentic self and identity are not something to conceal in order to succeed — it can become one of your greatest strengths when used to create understanding.”
A Career Built on Reinvention
Shaista’s transitions across sectors and countries were not always easy.
Moving from South Africa back to Pakistan mid-career meant leaving behind financial security, familiarity, and professional comfort for uncertainty, family responsibility, and a dramatically different social landscape. Many questioned the decision. She did too.
But for Shaista, success had begun to mean something different. With both parents facing serious illness, she chose presence over prestige. The time she gained with them and weekends spent by their side during her father’s kidney disease and her mother’s repeated surgeries became, in hindsight, one of the most meaningful decisions of her life. She has no regrets.
That chapter became a profound reminder that reinvention is not always about climbing higher; sometimes, it is about choosing what matters most, and success shifted from money alone to meaning.
Today, as Chief of Merchants & Schemes Operations at 1LINK – Pakistan’s first payment system operator and the force behind PayPak – her work contributes to infrastructure that processes +-65% of Pakistan’s GDP by value and is owned by 11 banks in Pakistan.
Yet even at this scale, her philosophy remains deeply human: Technology is not just about process.
It is about people. How they use it. How it changes lives.
This perspective shaped major milestones, including leading digital banking initiatives whose timing proved critical just before COVID-19 transformed financial access.
Shaista also recognises that technology is already reshaping underserved communities by creating new pathways for inclusion and empowerment. She points to the rise of digital creators, entrepreneurs, and everyday users who are leveraging platforms once seen purely as social tools into real sources of income, visibility, and opportunity; finding ways to turn access into agency.
Leadership Through Service
Shaista describes herself not simply as a leader, but as a ‘servant leader’. This distinction matters.
For her, leadership is not about authority or hierarchy. It’s about creating the right conditions for others to flourish, recognising hidden expertise, nurturing potential, and enabling people to grow into spaces they may not yet believe they belong in.
Across industries often dominated by technical gatekeeping or assumptions about who “belongs,” particularly as a Muslim woman from a biology background, Shaista’s career reflects a refusal to internalise limitation.
“There will be a lot of people who will tell you that you cannot do something,” she says. “Don’t let that get into your head.”
Her story is a reminder that expertise is not always linear and that unconventional beginnings do not prevent meaningful leadership.
Growth, Fear, and the Power of Showing Up
Reflecting on her path, Shaista is candid about fear, particularly the fear of failure, self-consciousness, and hesitation that can prevent people from stepping into new opportunities.
If she could speak to her younger self, her advice would be simple:
“Stop being so self-conscious… SHOW UP.”
That message now forms the heart of her encouragement to others, especially women entering technology from non-traditional paths, from cultures that are not used to women in what is normally a man’s world.
“You do not need to know everything before you begin. You do not need perfect timing. You do not need permission.”
You need intent, courage, and the willingness to keep learning.
As Viktor Frankl wrote, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space.” For Shaista, much of her journey has been shaped in that space; in the decisions to adapt, to act courageously, and to transform uncertainty into growth.
For Shaista, growth has always been tied to continuous evolution, embracing new systems, new countries, new industries, and new versions of herself.
“Growth for me is synonymous with learning continuously, it’s also transitioned from ‘having money’ to having ‘satisfaction’ and enjoying what you do, if you do that, material wealth seems to follow.”
Final Words: Just Begin
Shaista’s U-RISE journey is not one of a straight path, but of resilience, reinvention, and repeatedly stepping forward before certainty arrives.
From biology student to digital transformation leader, from Pakistan to South Africa and back again, from self-doubt to courageous authenticity, her story reminds us that meaningful careers are often shaped less by perfect plans than by how we respond to the unexpected.
Her life reflects the power of curiosity, adaptability, and identity embraced rather than hidden. Most of all, it reflects the importance of showing up; fully, courageously, and authentically.
Because sometimes the boldest career move is not having all the answers.
It is simply being willing to begin.
Keep walking your winding path and saying yes to the unexpected. Show up, speak up, and trust yourself as your path unfolds. Every U-RISE begins with the courage to take that first step and grows each time we use our voice, create opportunity, and help others rise along the way.
References
Shaista Abdullah’s LinkedIn Page