Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world, with women making up 49.6 per cent of its population. Despite this, the country ranks among the lowest globally in terms of gender equality. Women’s mobility is constrained by a range of factors, including restrictive social norms, safety concerns and the fear of harassment, particularly when travelling alone at night. In many urban areas, access to safe, reliable and affordable public transportation remains limited, reducing women’s opportunities to pursue education, employment and other activities outside the home. Safety remains a major concern, as incidents of harassment, catcalling and assault on various modes of transportation contribute to women feeling unsafe during their daily commutes. This situation is even more challenging for low-income and marginalised women, who often cannot afford expensive private transportation.

Maha Shahzad is the founder and CEO of BusCaro, a mission-driven mobility startup addressing one of Pakistan’s most urgent challenges: providing safe, affordable and accessible transportation, especially for women and low-income workers. A self-taught entrepreneur and proud college dropout, she entered the workforce out of necessity, taking on odd jobs before finding her footing in Pakistan’s tech ecosystem. Her career took off in 2013 with the launch of Foodpanda, where she helped propel Pakistan from one of the company’s weakest regional markets to its second-best-performing market. After a stint in New York’s fashion industry, she returned to Pakistan to join Careem, driven by a personal passion to fix the country’s broken mobility landscape.

Her next chapter was with Swvl, where she led operations in Pakistan - starting with Islamabad, then expanding to Karachi and eventually taking charge of the nationwide business. Under her leadership, Pakistan became one of Swvl’s strongest markets globally. When Swvl shut down, Maha launched BusCaro with just one bus, inspired by a flood of messages from users desperately seeking a reliable commuting solution.

Today, BusCaro operates more than 900 buses across three cities and serves over 20,000 riders every day. Her story is a powerful rebuttal to gatekeeping in tech, proving that you don’t need a degree from a prestigious institution to build something that matters. You simply need the determination to show up and solve a real problem.

In this exclusive interview, Maha shares her journey with our readers. Read on…

You! Tell us about your early days?

Maha Shahzad: I grew up between Pakistan and the United States, so my early years exposed me to two very different worlds. My educational journey has been somewhat unconventional. I attended college in the United States but was unable to complete my degree because I had to make practical decisions. During my college years, I worked to support myself and commuting became a huge part of my life. It was time-consuming, expensive and often unsafe.

At the time, I did not think of it as a business idea. I simply knew how exhausting it was to plan your day around whether you could get from one place to another safely. Later, when I returned to Pakistan, I realised that millions of people, especially women, were facing the same struggle every single day.

You! What motivated you to start BusCaro and when did you launch it?

MS: BusCaro came from a very real gap that I could not ignore. When Swvl shut down, people started reaching out and asking how they would get to work, school or university the next day. That really stayed with me.

For many people in Pakistan, safe and affordable commuting is not a convenience - it is the difference between being able to study, work and participate in daily life, or staying home.

I wanted to build something that was practical, structured and sustainable. We started working on BusCaro in the summer of 2022. We began with one bus and a small team, but the purpose was always big: to make daily commuting safer, more affordable and more dependable for women, families, students and employees.

You! What do you like most about your work?

MS: What I love most is that the impact is very human. We are not solving an abstract problem. Every ride means someone reaches school safely or gets to work on time. There are difficult days, of course, but when you hear from a woman who says she feels safer travelling to work, it gives meaning to all the pressure. That feeling is very special.

You! What’s the greatest risk you have taken as an entrepreneur?

MS: Starting BusCaro itself was the greatest risk. I launched it at a time when the mobility sector in Pakistan had become very uncertain. Global funding was slowing down, several startups had shut down and many people felt that transport was too difficult a business to build. But I felt that if the problem still existed, someone had to solve it. We did not have unlimited capital or perfect conditions. We had to be disciplined from day one, focus on our customers and make the economics work. It was risky - professionally, financially and emotionally.

You! What has been your most career-defining moment - one you are especially proud of?

MS: One of my most career-defining moments was putting the first BusCaro bus on the road. It may sound small compared to funding rounds or other major milestones, but that first bus represented everything. It meant we had chosen to act instead of waiting for someone else to solve the problem.

Another moment I am very proud of was crossing the milestone of millions of bookings, because each booking represents a real person who chose to trust us. For me, the pride is not only in the numbers. It is in the fact that millions of commutes were made safer, more structured and more peaceful. That is the kind of impact I have always wanted to create.

You! What has it been like being a woman in a leadership position?

MS: Gender is not something I use to define my capabilities or my achievements. At the same time, I do not ignore the fact that I am a woman or that bias still exists in society. For me, however, that has only motivated me to work harder, perform better and build environments where ability, execution and impact matter more than gender. My hope is that we continue moving toward a point where these labels become less relevant and leadership is judged simply by the quality of the work and the value it creates.

You! What kinds of challenges have you encountered in a male-dominated environment?

MS: In male-dominated spaces, people may not expect a woman to understand operations, finance, transport or negotiations at the same level as a man. Sometimes, you have to speak twice before you are heard once. There are also cultural expectations about how women should behave, how assertive they should be and how much space they should take up. I have faced moments when others doubted my abilities, but I try not to let that define the room. Instead, I focus on facts, numbers, execution and consistency. Over time, performance becomes the strongest answer. When the work speaks for itself, perceptions begin to change.

You! What is the most important advice you can give to women?

MS: You do not need permission to be ambitious. You need discipline, courage and the ability to keep going even when things feel uncomfortable. Surround yourself with people who tell you the truth but do not make you feel smaller. There will always be fear, criticism and doubt, but your job is not to eliminate fear completely. Your job is to move forward despite it.

You! In your opinion, what are the main issues faced by Pakistani women today?

MS: One of the biggest issues is still access - access to safe transport, quality education, fair work opportunities, financial independence and supportive environments. Mobility is a huge part of this. If a woman cannot travel safely, she cannot fully pursue her education, work, earn or grow.

Another issue is the pressure to constantly justify one’s choices. Women are often expected to balance everything perfectly while still not asking for too much. We need systems, families and workplaces that make it easier for women to participate rather than creating additional barriers.

You! Any lessons learnt the hard way?

MS: Many. One lesson is that passion is important, but discipline keeps you alive. In the beginning, you can be driven by belief, but a business needs strong numbers, clear systems and honest decision-making. Another lesson is that not everyone will understand your vision in the beginning

and that is okay. I received many rejections while building BusCaro, but I learnt not to take every “no” as a final judgment.

You! What is the philosophy you live by?

MS: A lot of my learning has come from working, observing, building, failing and trying again. I became very self-taught in many ways. I believe that a degree should not be the only measure of a person’s ability. Curiosity, ownership, judgment and the willingness to learn matter just as much.

You! Do you think the general mindset of our society is changing towards working women?

MS: Yes, I do think it is changing, although the pace is uneven. More families are encouraging their daughters to study and work. More workplaces understand that women are not just entering the workforce; they are adding real value. We are also seeing more women in leadership, technology, entrepreneurship, sports and public life.

However, change is not complete. There are still many women who have to negotiate for basic freedoms, safety

and support. I think the next step is to move from simply accepting working women to actively enabling them. That means providing safer transport, better childcare, flexible workplaces and respect for women’s ambitions.

You! What does a typical day look like for you?

MS: My day usually starts early because commuting starts early. By the time many people are leaving home, our operations are already active. I check numbers, service levels, route issues and customer feedback. The day then moves into team meetings, partner conversations, investor updates, hiring, problem-solving and sometimes field visits.

No two days look exactly the same. Some days are highly strategic, while others are

completely operational. That is the nature of building a mobility business. I try to

stay close to both the data and the ground reality. Numbers tell one part of the story, but riders, parents, captains and clients tell the rest.

You! How do you unwind?

MS: I unwind through travel, music, poetry and quiet time. My work can be very fast-paced, so I truly value moments that allow me to slow down and feel present. Music and poetry give me space to reflect, while travel helps me reset and see things from a fresh perspective. At home, my biggest indulgence is quiet time - being able to disconnect for a while without calls, meetings or constant decisions.

You! What is your most treasured possession?

MS: I do not think my most treasured possession is a traditional object. It would probably be the messages and stories we receive from riders, parents and customers. I save some of them because they remind me why we started. A parent saying they feel safer sending their child to school, or a woman saying her commute has become easier, means a lot to me. In difficult moments, those messages remind me that the work is bigger than the stress of the day. They keep me grounded and grateful.

You: How do you maintain a balance between family life and work?

MS: I think work-life balance is a bit of a myth, especially when you are running a company. There is no perfect balance every day. Some days, the business needs to come first and on other days, you have to put yourself, your home and your family first.

You: What are your future plans for expanding your work?

MS: For BusCaro, the mission is still much larger than what we have achieved so far. We want to deepen our work in the cities where we already operate and expand into more areas where safe and affordable commuting remains a major challenge. The goal is not just to add more buses; it is to create a dependable mobility system that families and organisations can trust. That is what excites me most about the future.