Tell us about your journey from Bangladesh to Munich, and the founding of Mulytic Labs.

It was 2008. As a fresh CSE graduate from BUET, I was frantically applying to universities all over the US, which I thought was the place to be back then.

In my haste to send off all the American applications, I had forgotten about my European Masters in Informatics (EuMI) application. To my surprise, I received an email from them in which they wrote me requesting me to forward my CV and all other necessary documents.

Soon, I received an email offering me the prestigious Erasmus Mundus scholarship, which would be awarded as a double master’s degree.

Thereafter, I was admitted into the Bioinformatics Masters’ program at the University of Trento, Italy. 

There, under the direct supervision of Professor Alessandro Quattrone, director of CIBIO, Trento, I worked on computational prediction of RNA structural motifs, which are responsible for posttranscriptional regulation. 

Then a year later in 2009, I began my second master’s in Embedded Systems at RWTH Aachen, Germany – which is widely recognized as the “MIT of Germany.”

I had an offer to join Professor Oberamaisser and his PhD team in Siegen. The agenda was to work on a European Union project named Horizon 2020, which is the largest ever European funding program for research and innovation.

My plan all along had been to return to Bangladesh upon completion of my degrees, but rejecting this offer would be madness. That day, I returned to Aachen, and discussed the issue with my beloved wife Mouree. She was in agreement. This was not a project I could pass up. 

So, I began working as the Middleware Reliability Expert of the project, the first-ever open platform based on technology for e-health. 

Then, in February 2012, my son Muaaz was born, changing my life forever. It was then that I realized the true purpose and meaning of all of my effort: my family. 

In 2013, I moved to Munich and joined Teradata as a Root Cause Analysis Specialist.

Despite my successes, however, I still felt restless. I felt that I was missing something, although I did not know, or could not guess what that was.

As I ruminated on my abilities, I got a call from Tesla. They wanted me to build the architecture of the BMS of their Powerwall of Solar City, and I accepted. But two and a half months later, I was gone, joining Volkswagen as the head of its DataLab.

On December 16, 2016, an auspicious day, on the victory day of my beloved motherland, Mulytic Labs was born. 

It started as a tech company with a complete remote setup, all in the IT cloud. But even at the very beginning, you couldn’t classify us as a start-up; we already had over 10 clients.

How do Mulytic Labs use data science to enhance business?

Our goal at Mulytic Labs is to provide innovative big data analytics solutions to the world’s largest automotive companies, and we already have Audi, Renault and Mercedes on our client roster. 

We also provide big data analytics solutions to the energy sector-related companies located in the EU. 

We are currently working with the German government on a large-scale electrification project in Munich.

Mulytic Labs offers a wide range of services, but they can be summed up as: natural language processing, predictive analytics, cybersecurity, centralized logging mechanism, cloud computing, web and mobile development etc.

What parts of Mulytic Labs’ operations are based in Bangladesh?

The Offshore Development and Operations Hub (ODOH) of Mulytic Labs is located in Dhaka. The Bangladesh operations run 24/7 for all our clients. We provide services like data analysis, cloud engineering, and natural language processing. Interested clients can avail our services by contacting our website.

Around 60% of the operations team is made up of women, and the operations are entirely led by women. 

You had a brief stint at Volkswagen. What role did you play there?

I was the CTO at Volkswagen’s highly specialized research centre, DataLab. My responsibilities involved handling strategy formulation, product management, new market development, scaling operations, and businesses.

What role did you play in A2i?

I was the pro bono national consultant expert at automotive and energy. I was also the reviewer of AI Strategy in Bangladesh.

You have had an illustrious career. What is your proudest moment?

During the 2016 IAA Automotive Fair, I found out that a software diagnostic system designed by me had been adopted by Audi for their A6 system.

Can you tell us a little bit about the cloud migration project in Munich?

Cloud migration is a crucial aspect of the Munich Electrification Project, which is defined by the implementation of a smart city framework strategy. The aim of this project is to make Munich carbon-neutral by 2050. 

In cloud migration, the electricity consumption and energy management data of all Munich residents are compiled, then presented in a scalable manner on a cloud platform. 

Mulytic Labs is working to allow all relevant stakeholders access to this data with strict standards for data privacy. Through this project, Mulytic Labs will be assisting the German government with accommodation of scale, accessibility, and optimal utilization of data, responding to an increased demand for renewable energy by Munich dwellers.

Mulytic won the Munich Electrification Project in November 2020. 

Where does Bangladesh stand in regards to adopting cloud migration? What are its prospects and drawbacks?

Cloud computing is currently one the most hyped IT innovations that promises potential opportunities for business and social innovation as well as modernizing ICT. For developing countries like Bangladesh, this technology can provide clients with a cost-effective and convenient means of managing vast IT resources.

As the information technology industry goes through a major shift, founded on the Internet as a platform, new opportunities for Bangladesh are open to employing technology at a lower cost and with much greater ease and success than in the past.

Bangladeshi companies can certainly benefit from using cloud services to develop and implement enterprise resource planning systems and customer relationships management.

The obstacles to implementing cloud services in Bangladesh must also be acknowledged. The main concerns relate to security and privacy. 

There are also financial and legal aspects to consider, not to mention the need to bring about relevant changes in organizational structure. 

The lack of existing standards for cloud computing in Bangladesh, coupled with possible government sanctions, might also hinder the implementation of cloud services in Bangladesh.

What does Digital Bangladesh mean to you?

When I envision Digital Bangladesh, I think of the need to create the ties between tech and sustainability. Without that, we cannot gain the necessary insight into the world nor build our future.

Digital Bangladesh must be dynamic, modern, innovative, technical and at the same time humane. Smart use of technology in Bangladesh can save money and bring efficiency to our energy consumption, increase production levels and move us towards sustainability.

What was your feeling when you won the Best energy-focused web and mobile app development company 2021 award?

I couldn’t believe it! We just came back from Paris after a weeklong summer holiday and found a special delivery left at the company postbox in Munich. We were so surprised as we were not expecting anything. 

Both of my kids opened that package as usual, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! The precious award was there inside a blue posh package. My Mulytic Labs GmbH had won the “Best Energy Focused Web and mobile app development company of 2021” award by BUILD. Cue lots of screaming and my partner in crime, Mouree, jumping on me in celebration!

It was unbelievably awesome; I still feel emotional when I think about it now, as it’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It’s wonderful to receive not just recognition, but public recognition for something I have done and – in this case – something that I took a risk to do. 

People have now listened to my story, looked at my business and believed that it is something good. It’s easy to focus on challenges, issues and negative situations that I have to deal with, but reflection is vital to any business. 

Not only does it make me feel proud, but it also helps me figure out what I do well and why so that I can carry on doing it and use it to shape my business or career for the better. 

It’s also a huge learning curve. Whether I win or not, I have always asked for feedback so I can do more of what is good and introduce changes to make it even better. I’ve learnt from the judges, the other category winners and our fellow finalists. 

I find it fascinating to hear about other people and their businesses, and I also love helping people with my ideas and experience – collaborating with others in a similar position to share advice, expertise and thoughts to help each other succeed.