The pace of technology is accelerating, but one thing remains constant. Companies endure when their leaders focus on people before products.
This year, Nisum celebrates 25 years, a milestone that invites reflection on what truly sustains a technology company over time. In a landscape shaped by disruption, hype cycles, and rapid innovation, longevity is rare. Endurance is even rarer.
Recently, MSN highlighted insights from Imtiaz Mohammady, CEO of Nisum, on why people-first leadership will outlast any tech boom. His perspective is grounded in two and a half decades of building a company through market shifts, economic downturns, and waves of new technology.
These are the leadership lessons he believes matter most today.
1. Lasting success starts with people, not technology
Technology evolves constantly. New frameworks, tools, and methodologies will always emerge. But a company thrives when its leaders invest in people, build trust, and create a culture where individuals feel valued and responsible.
Imtiaz has seen that teams move faster and with greater conviction when they operate from a foundation of trust and shared purpose. Innovation becomes a natural output, not a forced initiative.
People first is not a soft leadership style. It is a long-term strategy.
2. Sustainable growth beats hypergrowth
Many leaders in tech feel pressure to scale quickly. Hypergrowth looks impressive from the outside, but it often compromises stability, culture, and decision quality.
From Nisum’s early years, Imtiaz rejected growth at any cost. Instead, he chose a model of deliberate, sustainable expansion. Slow enough to stay in control, fast enough to seize opportunity.
This approach helped the company navigate the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, and the volatility of recent years.
Real growth is measured in resilience, not speed.
3. Culture is the real operating system of a company
Strategies change. Markets shift. Technology resets. Culture is what holds the organization together.
Over 25 years, Imtiaz has seen that culture drives behavior more effectively than any process document. It guides decisions when no one is watching. It shapes how teams respond to pressure. It determines how clients experience the company.
A people-first culture is not an HR initiative. It is an executive responsibility.
4. Leaders must know when to walk away
One of the hardest lessons in leadership is recognizing when a partnership, opportunity, or client relationship no longer supports long-term success.
Imtiaz has faced situations where walking away from a major revenue stream was the right decision, even if painful in the short term. Those decisions strengthened the company’s integrity and opened the door to more aligned opportunities.
Knowing when to say no is essential for building a company that lasts.
5. Innovation is a shared responsibility
Innovation does not belong to a single team or function. It emerges when every person in the organization is encouraged to observe problems, think creatively, and propose solutions.
Imtiaz believes that leaders must create space for experimentation, risk-taking, and continuous learning. Technical excellence matters, but innovation happens when people feel ownership and psychological safety.
A people-first company is naturally an innovation-driven company.
Leadership that lasts
Twenty-five years have taught us that endurance in the tech industry has little to do with the latest technology and everything to do with the people who build, support, and lead together.
Nisum celebrates this anniversary, reaffirming the principles that shaped its journey. We continue to work side by side with our clients in long-term partnerships and to build solutions that generate real results. And we do it guided by an approach that puts people at the center of everything.
Building Success Together is more than a slogan. It is our way of working and the foundation of the next 25 years.
