About The Recursivist
Recursion (n) : A process that solves problems by breaking them into smaller versions of the same problem.
In Pakistan and across the Middle East and North Africa, failure is recursive. It feeds on itself. Global signals produce bad policy. Bad policy creates bad incentives. Bad incentives produce worse policy. Worse policy causes diplomatic frictions. The loop repeats.
The Recursivist is someone who spots the loop, finds where it breaks, and fixes the pattern.
What This Is
This newsletter is for people who change their minds when the facts change.
I write essays based on the work I do with governments, funds, multilaterals, and institutions across Pakistan and the Gulf. You do not need a title to read it. If you want to understand how power, policy, tech, and capital move in these places, you are welcome here.
What You’ll Find
The Recursivist started as my journal. There's no fixed theme. You'll find:
Analysis on where different domains (like technology, policy, and capital for example) meet
Case studies from emerging markets
Frameworks for reading incentives and informal power
Useful context for high stakes decisions
Some humor because serious work doesn’t have to be humorless
Thoughts on productivity, careers, economics, global conflicts, and honest rants when warranted
Why Subscribe
If you are tired of commentary that floats above reality, this is for you.
I write about how decisions travel through systems, where they stall, and who can move them. I also track early signals from places most people ignore until they become everyone’s problem.
About Me
I am an advisor who learns fast on purpose.
My work spans policy, markets, tech, and security across Pakistan and the GCC because the same pattern shows up everywhere: systems reward the wrong behavior, then everyone acts surprised by the result. I map the incentives, find the choke points, and help teams ship outcomes.
For advisory work:
✉️ shehryar@nyu.edu | Connect on Linked[in]
