In a world where innovation defines the speed of progress and nations' fate, particularly their banking, media and telecommunications industries, Pakistan's business sector remains stubbornly resistant to transformation.

While global markets have evolved through digital reinvention and technological disruption, many of Pakistan’s most visible private sector giants have not moved meaningfully beyond cosmetic modernisations. The stagnation isn't due to a lack of resources or talent. The problem lies in leadership, more precisely, its entrenched nature.

Across several high-impact industries, CEOs and top executives have occupied their positions for over 15 years, often across multiple companies in the same sector. While continuity can be a virtue, in Pakistan's case, it has translated into a kind of strategic paralysis. A generation of corporate leaders, comfortable in their command and rarely challenged, has failed to foster the kind of dynamic, risk-tolerant environment that innovation demands.

Nowhere is this more visible than in the banking sector. Pakistan’s banks are among the most profitable entities in the country, with double-digit returns on equity year after year. But profitability should not be confused with progress. Most banks still rely on traditional revenue models, interest income from government lending, rather than services that support entrepreneurship or technological advancement. Branchless banking and fintech integration have been slow, fragmented and primarily driven by regulatory push rather than internal initiative. Microfinance banks like Easypaisa and JazzCash may have introduced digital wallets, but the big banks have failed to develop meaningful APIs or ecosystems that enable startups and SMEs to thrive. The average commercial bank is still a bureaucratic........

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