When Wajid Gulistan founded Rapidev in 2016, the company’s name was meant to describe its function: rapidly operationalizing hardware and software projects without sacrificing quality. Nearly a decade later, that founding idea has expanded into Rapidev Group, a Pakistan-rooted technology conglomerate with operations spanning defense, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, and clean energy across more than a dozen countries.
Before founding Rapidev, Gulistan worked as a General Manager at the National Radio Telecom Corporation of Pakistan, gaining early grounding in communications infrastructure that would shape the company’s future direction. He studied at the Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering (CASE) in Islamabad. Rapidev has since become, by its own account, Pakistan’s first and only company certified at CMMI Maturity Level 5 — the highest tier of the widely recognized process-improvement framework — and has built a portfolio the group describes as exceeding 40 hardware and software solutions and 50 patents.
Under Gulistan’s leadership, Rapidev has organized its work around sister companies with distinct mandates: Owlsense handles AI-driven open-source intelligence and reputation-monitoring tools; Rapiguard focuses on secure tactical communications; 3POL develops sustainable and climate-tech systems, including industrial air-purification and smog-mitigation technology; and Rapics builds safe-city and public-safety infrastructure. The group has represented Pakistan at international forums including the World Defense Show in Riyadh, GITEX Global in Dubai, and the Asia Clean Energy Summit.
In early 2026, Rapidev Group acquired Edversity, the Pakistani edtech platform, folding its technology-education programs into the wider group’s ecosystem and extending its footprint into Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. The move reflects Gulistan’s broader strategy: pairing indigenous, defense-grade engineering capability with efforts to build the talent pipeline that sustains it, positioning Rapidev as a homegrown alternative to imported security and infrastructure technology.
