Rooted in Pakistan. Open to possible futures.

Dr. Salman Ahmed Khatani

Futurist · Academic · Author

Strategic Foresight · Futures Literacy · Responsible AI

Exploring how people, institutions and societies can navigate AI, uncertainty and alternative futures — grounded in Pakistan, South Asia and the Global South.

Memory / Place / Possibility
Original abstract river study
Dr. Salman Ahmed Khatani

Thinking from here.Karachi, Pakistan
Research · Learning · Public ideas

Futures signal
A question to carry

What assumptions are shaping the future we expect?

What becomes possible when tomorrow is not treated as inevitable?

Whose knowledge is missing from the future we are designing?

What future becomes visible when we change the question?

01 / 04

01 / Intellectual compass

Five ways into
the futures conversation.

Connected ideas. Different starting points.
Choose a question worth exploring.

Futures Literacy

Recognising how our assumptions about tomorrow shape what we see and do today.

It creates room for alternatives, helping learners and institutions move beyond a single expected future.

What changes when we imagine more than one tomorrow?
Explore Futures Literacy

Related reading: Pakistan 2035

Strategic Foresight

Exploring change, uncertainty and alternative futures to inform decisions in the present.

Horizon scanning, scenarios and backcasting help institutions test plans before circumstances test them.

Which assumption would make our current strategy fragile?
Explore Strategic Foresight

Related reading: Beyond AI Literacy

Responsible AI

Considering the consequences, limits and responsibilities of how artificial intelligence is designed and used.

AI choices affect people, institutions and opportunities. Human judgment and governance belong in those decisions.

Whose perspective is missing from this AI decision?
Explore Responsible AI

Related reading: The AI Skills Race

AI Literacy

Understanding, evaluating and using AI with an awareness of its capabilities and limitations.

Tool familiarity is only a starting point. Critical judgment and the ability to keep learning matter as tools change.

What should we understand before we trust this output?
Explore AI Literacy

Related reading: Beyond AI Literacy

Future-Ready Education

Learning that combines human judgment, AI literacy and the ability to explore uncertain futures.

Education can help people participate in shaping change, connecting local experience with wider possibilities.

What should learning make possible for the next generation?
Explore Future-Ready Education

Related reading: Pakistan 2035

Looking at changing livelihoods and institutions? Explore the Future of Work.

02 / Thinking from place

Memory can widen
the futures we imagine.

Futures thinking is not placeless. Pakistan's histories, cities and lived realities are part of the intellectual starting point.

Mohenjo-daro / Contemporary speculative study
Pakistan · Memory · Possibility

A city is a question across time.

Mohenjo-daro offers a point of departure for thinking about inheritance, public life and the choices societies leave to future generations. The illustration is contemporary and speculative, not a historical reconstruction.

What would future generations learn from the world we leave behind?
Explore the Futures Practice Lab

03 / Selected ideas & writing

Ideas for a world
still taking shape.

View all writing
Medium · AI Literacy

Beyond AI Literacy

Why Strategic Foresight is a missing capability for the AI age.

Read on Medium
Substack · Futures Literacy

Pakistan 2035

Why we need Futures Literacy before the future arrives.

Read on Substack
ICMA · Jul–Aug 2026 · DOI

Governing AI Before It Governs the Numbers

A practical agenda for finance leaders on AI governance, controls, accountability and human judgment.

Open DOI

Essays and commentary · Original sources linked. Explore the insights directory.

International portfolio

Research, foresight and public work across borders.

Dr. Khatani’s international record spans funded university partnerships, paid foresight and research assignments, global jury service, international network leadership and the convening of futurists across 19 countries. Recent work includes expert contribution to SOIF’s Playing with Time, research consultancy with 4CF in Poland, NGFP–Young Voices judging, and collaborations linking Iqra University with international partners.

Selected independent signals and source-linked records:

Book · 2026

AI Designing Tomorrow

A Guide to Futures Literacy, AI Wisdom, and Purposeful Living

A book connecting the capacity to imagine alternatives with the judgment needed to live and lead in an AI-shaped world.

Explore the book

Speaking & public scholarship

Ideas in public.

Keynotes, panels and conversations on strategic foresight, Futures Literacy, responsible AI, future-ready education and Pakistan's place in emerging futures.

04 / Current research

Readiness begins
with better questions.

Research connects intellectual exploration with the institutions and people who live with change.

Explore the research archive
Research Initiative — Work in Progress

Pakistan AI & Futures Readiness Index 2027

How can we study people’s and institutions’ readiness for AI and uncertain futures in Pakistan’s higher education?

Study Protocol in Development · Version 0.1. The instrument separates People Readiness from Institutional Readiness. No national results have been collected.

  • AI Literacy
  • Responsible AI
  • Futures Literacy
  • Governance
  • Future-Readiness

Protocol Version 0.1 · Source copy from Fiker Futures Academy, 26 September 2026. View research status and references.

06 / Work with me

Bring foresight into
the decisions that matter.

Selected collaborations where research, facilitation and future-focused thinking can create practical value.

02

Strategic Foresight

Horizon scanning, scenarios, Futures Literacy Labs and facilitated strategic conversations.

Explore foresight →
03

AI & Future-Ready Education

Responsible AI, AI literacy and future-readiness for universities, schools and learning organizations.

Explore education work →
04

Research Collaboration

International and interdisciplinary collaboration across foresight, AI, organizations and education.

Explore research →

For speaking, research and strategic collaboration: connect directly with Dr. Salman Ahmed Khatani. For training programmes and institutional delivery, explore Fiker Futures Academy.