Ajaz ahmed akqa biography for kids

Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed

British Businessman

Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed, MBE (born ) is a British entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of London-based new media company AKQA.

Early life

Ahmed was born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire[2] in [9] to parents from Punjab, India.[9] He grew up in Maidenhead, where his father, Khowaj Ahmed, worked at a Beechams factory, and his mother, Sughran Ahmed, worked at a hospital launderette.[8][9]

While in university, Ahmed was a paperboy and delivered newspapers to the UK headquarters of what was then the world's third-largest software corporation, Ashton-Tate.

He wrote to the company requesting a job, and at 15, received an provide to work there during academy holidays.[9] From to , Ahmed served in the marketing department and eventually as a programmer.[10] He used the company's dBASE software to author an improved financial system for purchase orders.[9]

Career

In addition to working for Ashton-Tate as a teen, Ahmed worked for video game developer Ocean Software.[9] He left school in , and for the next year, he was a marketing and public relations employee for Apple UK.[11][10] He turned down a copywriting position at BBDO and a brand management position at Unilever[10] to begin a business studies degree at the University of Bath.[9]

In , Ahmed decided to leave university and launch a multimedia agency.[10] There was a high level of interest in the World Spacious Web at the time, and he felt that it was crucial to start a organization right away.[10] He first undertook a "fact-finding" trip to the U.S.

to find out how companies were using the Internet.[10] Following this, at the age of 21, he founded AKQA, named after his initials.[9][12]

Ahmed led the company as its CEO and public face,[9] and by , it was ranked as the largest independent new media agency in the UK.[13] The company received an investment of $71 million from Accenture in , and merged with three agencies in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Singapore, establishing itself as an international agency.[14][15] WPP acquired a majority stake in the agency in , with the deal valuing AKQA at $ million.[9] AKQA became an autonomous subsidiary of WPP.[15] In November , WPP announced that Grey Group would merge with AKQA to form AKQA Group.[16]

Ahmed was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Birthday Honours for services to Media.[17][18] Later that same year, he was awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Bath.[19]

Ahmed has authored three books, as of Velocity (),[20]Limitless (),[8] and Defeat ().[21]Velocity was co-authored by Nike's former vice president of digital sport Stefan Olander, and discusses how companies should embrace the digital world.[20] The book was a UK bestseller in non-fiction.[22] Ahmed has stepped down as CEO at AKQA and now serves on the board of trustees for non-profit organizations including the Elton John AIDS Foundation,[4]Virgin Unite,[5] and The Royal Foundation's Mental Health Innovations.[6]

Bibliography

  • Ahmed, Ajaz (5 May ).

    Velocity&#;: The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital. London: Random House UK. ISBN&#;.

  • Ahmed, Ajaz (1 October ).

    Ajaz Ahmed is the founder of AKQA, the ideas and innovation firm, which he started at age In addition to his AKQA Group, Ajaz is a Trustee on the charitable boards of: Mission 44 founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton: empowering young people from underserved groups to succeed.

    Limitless: Leadership that Endures. London: Random House UK. ISBN&#;.

  • Ahmed, Ajaz; Watson, Christian (1 January ). Defeat. Ajaz Ahmed & Christian Watson.

See also

References

  1. ^"No.

    ". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June p.&#;B

  2. ^ abcDua, Tanya (15 March ). "Starting out with AKQA's Ajaz Ahmed: 'It's important to hug disruption'".

    Digiday.

    ajaz ahmed akqa biography for kids4: Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed, MBE (born ) is a British entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of London-based new media company AKQA.

    Retrieved 10 May

  3. ^Cohen, David. "AKQA Founder Ajaz Ahmed Steps Down After 30 Years". Adweek. Retrieved 18 October
  4. ^ ab"Our Team". .

    Elton John AIDS Foundation. Retrieved 8 November

  5. ^ ab"Ajaz Ahmed". . Virgin Unite. Retrieved 8 November
  6. ^ ab"Our People".

    . Mental Health Innovations. Retrieved 8 November

  7. ^"About".

    Ajaz is founder and chairman of AKQA. Seventeen years later, he is in the same job and AKQA still has the alike values. Today, AKQA is the largest and most awarded firm in its field, with more than one thousand employees worldwide. Ajaz works with leaders every day to formulate visions and new ideas.

    . Prism The Gift Fund. Retrieved 8 November

  8. ^ abcdAhmed, Ajaz (). Limitless: Leadership that Endures.

    Random Property.

    How does your leadership produce people feel? I work with creative and innovative companies. To help them succeed where leaders has its greatest impact. The intersection of strategy and humanity.

    ISBN&#;.

  9. ^ abcdefghijSmith, Edwin (21 July ).

    "AKQA founder, Ajaz Ahmed: I have a duty now to WPP and Sir Martin". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 9 November

  10. ^ abcdefRosier, Ben (10 June ).

    "Web wonder - Ajaz Ahmed Co-founder AKQA". Campaign. Retrieved 10 November

  11. ^"Media Highest Ajaz Ahmed". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November
  12. ^Spanier, Gideon (11 November ).

    "WPP merges AKQA and Grey to form AKQA Group". Campaign. Retrieved 8 November

  13. ^Anholt, Simon (1 July ). "Marketing Report: Top Design Agencies ". Campaign (Magazine). UK. Retrieved 14 November
  14. ^Mcilroy, Megan (17 March ).

    "Digital A-List No.2". Ad Age. Retrieved 9 November

  15. ^ abStampler, Laura.

    Mission 44 founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton: empowering young people from underserved groups to succeed. Virgin Unite founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jean Oelwang: unite people and entrepreneurial ideas to make opportunities for a better planet. The Ajaz. It also suggestions advice on leadership and governance.

    "AKQA Rejected WPP Twice And Dentsu Once Before Selling". Business Insider. Retrieved 18 November

  16. ^McCellan, Steve (11 November ). "WPP Merges AKQA And Grey Into AKQA Group". Mediapost. Retrieved 20 November
  17. ^"Ajaz AHMED".

    The London Gazette (). The Gazette is published by TSO (The Stationery Office) under the superintendence of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), part of The National Archives. 8 June Retrieved 14 May

  18. ^Gwynn, Simon (8 June ).

    When Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed was 12 years old, his father secured him a document round that would set the course for the rest of his life. One stop on that round was the office of Ashton-Tate, at the day the third largest software organization in the world.

    "AKQA founder Ahmed gets MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours". Campaign. Retrieved 10 November

  19. ^Puccinelli, Nancy. "Ajaz Q.K Ahmed MBE: oration". University of Bath. Retrieved 11 May
  20. ^ abSpanier, Gideon (9 May ).

    "ANALYSIS: Seven 'laws' to retain us on the digital pace".

    Ahmed was born in TaplowBuckinghamshire [ 2 ] in [ 9 ] to parents from PunjabIndia. While in school, Ahmed was a paperboy and delivered newspapers to the UK headquarters of what was then the world's third-largest software company, Ashton-Tate. He wrote to the firm requesting a job, and at 15, received an offer to work there during school holidays. In addition to working for Ashton-Tate as a teen, Ahmed worked for video game developer Ocean Software.

    Evening Standard.

  21. ^Ahmed, Ajaz; Watson, Christian (1 January ). Defeat. ASIN&#;B08BWF6RG1.
  22. ^"Bestsellers". The Daily Telegraph. 19 May

External links