# Adnan Lawai

> Adnan Lawai is the co-founder and CEO of Folio3 Software and a founding partner of Mentors Fund. An MIT-trained electrical engineer with experience at General Instrument, Silicon Graphics and Clickmarks, he moved to Pakistan in 2005 to lead Folio3, building a career across software engineering, international delivery and entrepreneurship.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Folio3 Software
- **Organizations:** Folio3 Software, Mentors Fund, Clickmarks, Silicon Graphics, General Instrument, MIT Media Lab, Folio3 Software UK Limited
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MS in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Folio3 Software, established in 2005., Founding partner of Mentors Fund., Led Silicon Graphics’ involvement at the MPEG-4 forum.

## Career timeline

- **—** — Graduate research at MIT Media Lab; subsequently worked at General Instrument.
- **—** — Member of Technical Staff at Silicon Graphics, working in digital media and advanced graphics and leading its involvement at the MPEG-4 forum.
- **—** — Chief Technology Officer at Clickmarks, responsible for technical direction and key technical sales and marketing activities.
- **2005** — Co-founded Folio3 with Umair Khan and moved to Pakistan to lead the business.
- **2007** — Panelist on global entrepreneurship at OPEN Silicon Valley’s June 16 gathering in Palo Alto.
- **2009** — Featured in Jehan Ara’s In the Line of Wire interview, published January 26.
- **2015** — Featured speaker at Startup Grind Karachi on July 25.
- **2017** — Became a founding partner of Mentors Fund.
- **2019** — Appointed a director of Folio3 Software UK Limited on May 20.
- **2023** — Folio3 announced the acquisition of AzroNet Business Systems in September.
- **2026** — Signed Folio3’s June 9 memorandum of understanding with Pakistan Petroleum Limited to explore AI applications.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Folio3 Software, established in 2005.
- Founding partner of Mentors Fund.
- Led Silicon Graphics’ involvement at the MPEG-4 forum.
- Folio3 ranked 12th in the Pakistan 25 winners document published in 2011, reporting 89 employees in 2009.
- Led Folio3 during its acquisition of AzroNet Business Systems in 2023.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — On June 9, Lawai and PPL CEO Mohammad Khalid Rehman signed an MoU in Karachi to explore AI in upstream oil and gas operations and enterprise functions.
- **2025-02** — Shared a hiking outing with mountaineer Asad Ali Memon; the original LinkedIn image timestamps date the post to February 2025.

## Links

- Website: https://www.folio3.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adnanlawai/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/adnanlawai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/adnan-lawai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23