Aafaaq Ali Khan
Regional Director
EY Enterprises, Lahore
Pull Quote:
“The Flare panel had the opportunity to interview Aafaaq Ali Khan, the Regional Director at EY Enterprises in Lahore. In his talk, he highlighted his career journey, which started in 2000 as a personal assistant to a CEO. After that, he spent almost nine years in the telecom sector, gradually advancing from an office assistant to an Area Sales Manager. His senior sales positions in telecom, broadband, and logistics provided him with the experience to establish sales channels from the ground up and to manage substantial regional teams.”
Interview Transcript
Flare: Kindly share your professional journey and the experiences that shaped your career in the energy sector.
Aafaaq Ali Khan: My career began in 2000 as a personal assistant to a CEO, followed by nearly nine years in telecom, where I rose from office assistant to Area Sales Manager. Senior sales roles across telecom, broadband and logistics taught me to build sales channels from scratch and lead large regional teams.
I entered solar in 2019, leading regional residential sales, then co-founded a solar EPC company, serving as Director of Sales and Marketing and later COO. Currently, I am a partner and Regional Director at EY Enterprise, and from 2024 to 2026, I served as Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Solar Association.
One lesson connects it all: customers make expensive decisions on guesswork, while honest companies struggle to stand apart. That is why I founded EnergyGurus.Online.
Flare: What is EnergyGurus.Online’s objective and role in Pakistan’s energy sector?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: Our mission is simple: confidence, not guesswork. EnergyGurus.Online makes solar and storage adoption transparent and reliable by connecting customers with verified brands, certified installers, trusted information, quality checks, monitoring and dependable O&M.
The platform rests on four pillars: Awareness, Authenticity, Transparency and Accountability. Our podcast shares expert insights, while installers are verified through licence checks, site audits, project videos and customer testimonials. Monitoring and O&M services keep systems performing long after installation.
Pakistan’s solar market has grown faster than its trust infrastructure. We aim to close that gap by rewarding honest brands and installers while protecting customers. It is a purpose-before-profit project, and I welcome partners who share that vision.
Flare: As Regional Director of EY Enterprise, what are your priorities for supporting high-growth businesses across the region?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: EY Enterprise works in Solar EPC, Battery Energy Storage Systems and premium energy solution imports. My priorities are expanding beyond major cities, building global brand partnerships, strengthening our positioning, and developing revenue streams such as storage solutions and service contracts.
For growing businesses, energy is now a strategic cost. Helping them secure affordable, reliable power frees capital for expansion. My PSA experience helps me understand both the policy landscape and the standards customers deserve.
Flare: What opportunities offer the greatest potential for Pakistani entrepreneurs and SMEs?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: The energy transition is the clearest. Pakistan’s solar growth has been driven by households and businesses rather than mega-projects, creating opportunities in installation, storage, monitoring, maintenance, financing and training.
Battery storage is the next wave. As net metering gives way to net billing, self-consumption becomes more valuable and storage becomes central to the economics. Trust-based services, such as verification, monitoring and maintenance, are another opportunity, as customers increasingly ask who they can rely on for 25 years.
Flare: What are the major challenges facing Pakistani businesses, and how can they overcome them?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: Volatility comes first: currency swings, policy shifts and import costs. Businesses should build buffers, diversify suppliers and negotiate price protection with partners. Rising energy costs are the second challenge. Solar and storage turn an unpredictable expense into a planned one.
The third is a race to the bottom on price, which erodes quality across industries. The answer is to compete on trust: dependable after-sales service and verified quality. This is why PSA championed industry standards and certification, and why EnergyGurus.Online verifies installers rather than simply listing them.
Flare: How important is corporate governance in building investor confidence?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: It is fundamental. Investors value how decisions are made and whether the numbers can be trusted, not just the business plan. Growing businesses should separate ownership from management, maintain audited accounts, form an independent advisory board, document policies and report honestly to stakeholders, including when things go wrong. At PSA, the sector’s credibility improved when companies followed shared standards. We apply the same principle at EY Enterprise and EnergyGurus.Online. Governance is not bureaucracy; it enables businesses to outgrow their founders.
Flare: What would you advise young entrepreneurs seeking to build scalable, globally competitive businesses?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: Start with a problem you understand deeply. Build sustainably, as growth on weak foundations rarely lasts. Learn sales and distribution, where businesses are often won or lost. Engage with your industry body to help shape standards and understand your market. Above all, find partners and mentors who believe in your vision.
Flare: What role can public-private collaboration play in accelerating growth, investment and employment?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: A central one. At PSA, I saw that policies developed with implementing businesses are more practical, stable and trusted. Foreign investors value predictability above incentives. Solar has created work for thousands of technicians, engineers and sales professionals. Joint certification and training can turn this into a structured, exportable workforce. The private sector must also bring transparency, which is part of what EnergyGurus.Online offers.
Flare: What leadership qualities matter the most today, your vision for the next decade, and what message would you give to Flare readers?
Aafaaq Ali Khan: Integrity, adaptability, care for people and a long-term view matter the most. I built EnergyGurus.Online as a purpose-before-profit venture because sustainability matters more than speed. I envision a more transparent, professional and globally connected corporate sector, where clean energy and customer trust are key competitive advantages. Through EY Enterprise, we deliver solar and storage solutions; through PSA, I worked to strengthen standards; and through EnergyGurus Online, we are building trust into every solar and storage decision.
My message is simple: make decisions based on verified information, not guesswork, and build something that lasts. Pakistan has the talent, market and momentum to make the next decade its best.
