This is Ibrahim. Creating active allyship.

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Welcome to episode 9 in our interview series, This is my IBM.

This week, I chat to Ibrahim Zulfiqar, Healthcare and Life Sciences Associate Consultant in IBM Consulting. Ibrahim talks about his growing experience as a project manager, his passion for IBM’s Diversity and Inclusion agenda and how he’s a bit of a dare-devil in his spare time. 

Hi Ibrahim, lovely to talk to you today. Can you tell us a bit more about your role at IBM?

I am a scrum master and project manager. This involves running the delivery and daily scrum activities across two projects in the personalised messaging space.

And when did you join IBM and what led you to work here?

I’ve just passed my two-year anniversary, three including my placement year, and I am officially rolling off the graduate scheme this month. I joined IBM to deepen my business acumen as this was a key component of my Biotechnology with Enterprise degree. IBM represented a great opportunity to get real work experience in one of the largest global companies.

Can you tell us a bit about what are you working on right now? Can you share how this project is making the world work better?

I am currently working on delivering two projects for a financial services client. One is centred around adding additional functionality to the mobile banking app, and the other is to further deepen customer banking personalisation. Both projects focus on putting the customer first and understanding how we can improve customer experiences in using the bank’s services.

What is the most exciting project you’ve worked on during your time at IBM?

Coming from a scientific background, it has to be a healthcare project with Genomics England which I worked on as a Technical Business Analyst. I learnt about APIs and ultimately building a platform to enable doctors and medical practitioners to better track patient DNA and compare it to a database of other samples and flag up potentially cancerous or mutated genes. It was exciting to work on and make a difference to our end users.

Imagination and creativity are really important to us as IBMers. Can you think of when you last used your creativity to inspire change?

Alongside the project work, I also work as part of a media team, producing, directing, and editing videos to raise awareness as part of our D&I agenda and for our Business Resources Groups and communities. One recent deliverable I worked on was a video shared widely for our Carers community that was published on IBM UK and Ireland’s LinkedIn page for Carers Week.

What has been the most surprising aspect of life at IBM?

The range and scope of the graduate scheme. I’ve been able to undertake a variety of roles in different areas, sectors and industries in order to build up a credible amount of experience and expertise in a relatively short space of time. It’s been a great start to my career.

What have you learnt about yourself during your time at IBM?

I’ve built confidence in leading and maintaining teams. I have led over seven teams to success in their relevant areas during my time here at IBM. Management is a skill that I believe I’ve always had, but at IBM I have been able to refine this skill and vastly improved in my short time here. This has ultimately helped me understand the career pathway I’m aiming for going forward as a Delivery Lead.

As well as the day job, are you involved in any other initiatives within IBM/outside of IBM? If so, please tell us a bit more about them.

I am passionate about ensuring the reflection room spaces that we have available across UK and Ireland and beyond meet the needs of our colleagues and have been involved in identifying opportunities for renovations. As I mentioned before, I am also part of a media team supporting our D&I agenda in UK and Ireland.  And last year, I was involved in running interactive allyship workshops for our Associates community in IBM Consulting, aiding over 500 IBMers across the organisation on their journey towards becoming upstanders.

Who inspires you?

My parents inspire me, as does my faith. I’m also always inspired when I witness fellow early professionals and the younger generations making a difference in the world.

Other than what you do for work, what do you enjoy doing outside of work? Do you have any hobbies?

Charity work, especially when there’s the opportunity to travel to other countries to support charity efforts. And the occasional crazy activity, like bungee jumping or skydiving!

What’s the most exciting thing happening in your life right now?

I am applying my passion and skills in videography to storytelling and digital media. I am excited to have finally kicked off my videography business.

Learn more about IBM’s Diversity and Inclusion campaign, Be Equal > https://www.ibm.com/impact/be-equal/

Learn more about careers at IBM > https://www.ibm.com/careers/uk-en/early-career/entry-level/

Learn more about IBM Consulting with Genomics England, nominated as an MCA Awards finalist in 2023 > https://www.mca.org.uk/consulting-case-studies/ibm-consulting-with-genomics-england