Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed

Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed, (born May 1973) is a British internet entrepreneur, business magnate, author and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder and CEO of multi-national digital agency AKQA. 
Born and raised in Buckinghamshire, Ahmed dropped out of a business degree at the University of Bath in 1994 to start AKQA. He worked in England's "Silicon Valley" in a number of related roles from 1988 to 1994. He co-founded AKQA in 1994 with designer James Hilton.
In 2018, Ahmed was recognised with an MBE for 'services to media'.
== Early life ==
Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed was born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire in May 1973. His father, Khowaj Ahmed, worked at a Beechams factory, while his mother, Sughran Ahmed, worked at a hospital launderette.
In his high school years, Ahmed took a job as as a local paperboy, which included delivering newspapers to the UK headquarters of dBASE developer Ashton-Tate|Ashton-Tate. It was here. that Ahmed began his notable career, when he was offered work experience, aged 15, returning regularly in school holidays, eventually using the company’s software to author an improved financial system for purchase orders. Ahmed later worked at other local tech firms, Ocean Software, a UK computer games specialist and, after leaving school, spent a year working in marketing and public relations for Apple_Inc.|Apple
After turning down jobs offers in copywriting and brand management, Ahmed opted to read business studies at the University of Bath.
== AKQA ==
It was at the University of Bath, where Ahmed realised the early World Wide Web was the Technological convergence|convergence of media and technology Apple had predicted whilst he worked there. Ahmed recalls, he instantly recognised the commercial potential of the web. after being shown a digital photograph of model Cindy Crawford a friend had downloaded from America. He soon dropped out of the business degree, to start-up digital agency AKQA.
Ahmed co-founded AKQA in 1994 at the age of 21 with designer James_Hilton_(designer)|James Hilton, quickly establishing a reputation in the early days of digital brand agencies. At that time, emerging corporate websites were built as ‘wiktionary:brochureware|brochureware’ – static promotional material converted directly from existing printed brochures into a website. Ahmed identified the web as a software platform for interactive marketing campaigns and later pioneered the first mobile platform specialist agency specifically for advertising and marketing. AKQA were the first to create an approved online used-car directory for BMW and the first to create a site which broadcast live radio on the web for Virgin Radio. Twenty years after Ahmed founded AKQA, the agency was awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2014, the UK’s most prestigious award for business success.
The name, AKQA, derives from Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed's initials; It does not come from the phrase 'all known questions answered' as originally reported in The New York Times, before correction.
After growing the business through mergers with companies from North America and Singapore AKQA was sold to WPP for $540m with Ahmed retaining the position of CEO.
== Personal Life ==
Ahmed serves as a trustee on the charitable boards of Virgin Unite, Elton John Aids Foundation, Mental Health Innovations (The Royal Foundation), J.K Rowling's Lumos and Prism The Gift Fund. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and is an Enterprise Fellow for The Prince’s Trust. He has authored / co-authored several published books, notably 'Velocity'
Ajaz has appeared in The Sunday Times Power List, the Sunday Times Rich List and the Top 100 E Millionaires and was added to Debrett's list of the 500 most influential people in the UK in 2017.
Ahmed was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to Media. In his acceptance speech, Ahmed declared that being a father was the best position he'd ever been granted - words later quoted by Sir Richard Branson
== External links ==
*AKQA's official website
== References ==
Category:1973 births
Category:Living people
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire