SAFAR 4.0 | Episode 3 | Ft. Iftkhar Ali | ENTERPRENEUR AND FOUNDER ALIQAN TECHNOLOGIES
May 5, 2025
April 22, 2025
From getting an MBA from IIM to quitting a cosy corporate life to become an entrepreneur, Iftkhar Ali is breaking all the barriers of disability.
“On the day of my convocation, when I received my degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta, the entire auditorium was applauding for me. I knew it was one of the greatest memories of my life, to be cherished forever,” recalls 36-year-old Iftkhar Ali, Founder of New Delhi-based ALIQAN Technologies.
Hailing from the beautiful city of Agra, life was not easy for Iftkhar, who was diagnosed with polio at the age of one. When it was time for him to make one of life’s most important decisions — choosing a career path — he was discouraged from aiming too high and denied admission into medical colleges because of his disability.
Today the founder of a two-year-old startup, Iftkhar even has it in him to employ someone who once told him even an MBA wouldn’t help him land a job.
Prior to launching his own IT solutions company, he had worked with HCL and TCS as a business analyst. He also worked with IMS India as Centre Operational Head and further went on to lead operations for another IT company for two and a half years. His entrepreneurial mindset restrained him from settling for a cosy corporate life, thus leading to the birth of a venture of his own.
Reaching this milestone was filled with hardships, with his disability being the most obvious one. Hailing from Agra meant career guidance was also hard to come by. When he approached a friend preparing for CAT for guidance, he was laughed at. Many around him said he wouldn’t get a job after MBA and that he should go for a reserved government job or open a medical shop instead.