IBA Karachi, Bank Alfalah, and Stanford Life Design Lab work together to promote design thinking in Pakistan.

IBA Karachi, Bank Alfalah, and Stanford Life Design Lab work together to promote design thinking in Pakistan.

The Design Thinking Program was introduced in Pakistan through a partnership between Bank Alfalah and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. This ground-breaking project, in association with Stanford Life Design Lab, is to provide senior executives and management specialists with the effective instruments and perspective of Design Thinking.

Key stakeholders from both organisations attended a curtain-raiser ceremony hosted at the flagship Bank Alfalah Islamic Branch at Sky Tower to officially launch the collaboration.

Design thinking is an approach that has been shown to stimulate creativity and problem-solving. It focusses on comprehending user demands, coming up with innovative ideas, and creating prototypes. Businesses that use this model frequently see notable increases in sales, client happiness, and staff engagement.

Excitement for the partnership was conveyed by Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director of IBA Karachi: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Bank Alfalah and Stanford Life Design Lab to introduce Design Thinking to our students and the business community.” Our alumni will leave this program with the knowledge and abilities need to lead and innovate in the future.

Having realised that Design Thinking can change lives, Bank Alfalah is leading the way in this effort by being the first company in Pakistan to integrate the curriculum into senior management. Bank Alfalah hopes to promote an innovative culture and improve its capacity to provide outstanding client experiences by collaborating with IBA Karachi and utilising Stanford Life Design Lab’s knowledge.

“We are excited to collaborate with IBA and Stanford Life Design Lab to bring Design Thinking to Pakistan,” said Atif Bajwa, president and CEO of Bank Alfalah. “This collaboration is in line with our goal of fostering innovation and generating value for customers,” he said. We are certain that by empowering our leadership team with Design Thinking abilities, we will be able to stay on the cutting edge and produce outstanding outcomes.

“Design Thinking is a powerful tool that can help us better understand our customers’ needs and develop solutions that meet their expectations,” said Dr. Muhammad Imran, Group Head of Bank Alfalah’s Islamic Banking Group, emphasising the value of innovation in the banking sector. Our goal is to use this methodology to develop cutting-edge financial services and products.

This collaboration between Stanford Life Design Lab, IBA, and Bank Alfalah represents a critical turning point in Pakistan’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. Through the promotion of an innovative and creative culture, this partnership will aid in the growth and development of the nation’s economy.