# Waqas Khan Pitafi > Founder and CEO of DevBatch. Sixteen years building one engineering services firm, from Pakistan, now in Dallas. Writing on building durably, operating as a craft, and the long arc of Pakistan. Source: https://waqaspitafi.com/ --- Sixteen years, one company # I run [DevBatch](https://devbatch.com) from Dallas. I write here on building companies, investing in operators, and raising a family. Read what catches you. Everything I publish stays here, at the same address, for as long as I am able to keep it up. [Start with the writing](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings) [Read the journey](https://waqaspitafi.com/journey) Founded DevBatch, 2010 Based Dallas since 2024 Written 11 essays · 12 notes ![Waqas Khan Pitafi at CES, in a cream blazer with an industry-attendee badge](https://waqaspitafi.com/portraits/waqas-1.jpg) ![Waqas Khan Pitafi speaking at a podium beneath a chandelier at a technology event](https://waqaspitafi.com/portraits/waqas-3.jpg) ![Waqas Khan Pitafi speaking at the University of Central Punjab convocation](https://waqaspitafi.com/portraits/waqas-5.jpg) ![Waqas Khan Pitafi speaking with a microphone at a DevBatch company event](https://waqaspitafi.com/portraits/waqas-4.jpg) ![Waqas Khan Pitafi in a sunlit room, full-length portrait](https://waqaspitafi.com/portraits/waqas-2.jpg) The book ## [The Verification Advantage](https://waqaspitafi.com/the-verification-advantage/) Free to generate, paid to verify. How AI is reshaping software engineering, and where durable advantage moves next. [Read it free](https://waqaspitafi.com/the-verification-advantage/) [PDF](https://waqaspitafi.com/the-verification-advantage/the-verification-advantage.pdf) [Starter kit](https://waqaspitafi.com/the-verification-advantage/starter-kit/) [![](https://waqaspitafi.com/images/book/the-verification-advantage-cover.jpg)](https://waqaspitafi.com/the-verification-advantage/) The record ## Recent writing [All writing →](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings) 1. [ July 6, 2026 ### What four thousand monthly salaries actually mean I am not an inventor. I am not building something the world has never seen. I run a services firm, and the way I think about its impact is through the salaries it has paid out, one month at a time, for sixteen years. 3 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/4000-kitchens) 2. [ June 22, 2026 ### The uneducated engineer Three buckets of education, and the one we have stopped filling. Why I think the modern engineering profession is graduating brilliant people who are still uneducated. 3 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/uneducated-engineer) 3. [ June 16, 2026 ### پاکستان کو چائنہ جیسی ترقی سے کون روک رہا ہے؟ ایک کاروباری شخص کا خاکہ کہ پاکستان اگلے بیس سال میں چین جیسی ترقی کیسے کر سکتا ہے، تسلسل، انسانی سرمائے، شاگردی، تارکینِ وطن اور اعتماد کے ستونوں پر۔ 9 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/pakistan-ko-kaun-rok-raha-hai) 4. [ June 16, 2026 ### Who Is Holding Pakistan Back? A founder's blueprint for how Pakistan could engineer a China-style rise over the next two decades, across continuity, human capital, apprenticeship, the diaspora, and trust. 7 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/who-is-holding-pakistan-back) 5. [ June 15, 2026 ### چین کی ترقی کا سفر ایک کاروباری شخص کا چین کی ترقی پر تجزیہ: نقل کرنے والی قوم کیسے ایجاد کرنے والی قوم بنی، انسانی سرمائے کی نظر سے۔ 9 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/china-ki-taraqqi) 6. [ June 15, 2026 ### How China Rose A founder's firsthand analysis of how China moved from the world's factory to a leader in quality and innovation, told through the lens of human capital. 6 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/how-china-rose) 7. [ June 13, 2026 Your first hundred blog posts will not be very good. Your first thirty talks will not be very good. Your first fifty essays for the newsletter will not be very good. Mine were… Note ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/notes/first-100-blog-posts) 8. [ June 10, 2026 I am older now. I have driven a Mercedes for cash, and I now drive a car with two hundred and twenty thousand kilometers on it. My favorite food is masoor ki daal. My pants are… Note ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/notes/nothing-really-matters) 9. [ June 8, 2026 ### Lessons in namaz for your startup Five times a day, every day, for as long as I am alive and conscious. The structure is its own lesson. 3 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/lessons-in-namaz) 10. [ June 6, 2026 A dream is not what you see in your sleep. A dream is what does not let you sleep. If the thing you are working on is not keeping you up at night, you are not working on the right… Note ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/notes/dream-not-sleep) 11. [ June 4, 2026 ### How to Adopt AI in a Mid-Market Business Two public playbooks, one sector asymmetry, and a five-step framework for owners facing a generational technology shift. 18 min ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/how-to-adopt-ai-in-a-mid-market-business) 12. [ June 2, 2026 If you cannot say no, at least learn to say "give me a hundred years, I will come back to you." It is the same answer in practice. It is gentler in form. It buys you time to think… Note ](https://waqaspitafi.com/writings/notes/100-years-no) Next step ## Want the argument in full? The Verification Advantage is the long version of what most of these essays circle. Free in the browser, or take the PDF. [Read the book](https://waqaspitafi.com/the-verification-advantage/) [Send me a note](https://waqaspitafi.com/connect)