In this episode of What She Taught Me by Go Long, Jill Consor Beck talks to Shujaat Ahmad, a founder focused on helping people who are being left behind by AI. Shujaat's mother is a contradiction — relentless in service to others, but rigid and opinionated about fairness and gender roles — and by his own account, that paradox is what made him who he is: someone built for service, and someone now actively pushing back against the same rigidity as him and his wife raise their daughters. As the youngest child in the house, his job every night during Ramadan was to carry a tray of his mother's celebratory dinner to a neighbor, then a second tray to a guard or stranger on the street who had nothing to eat that day. Now, in his mid-40s, he's stopped staying quiet — telling Jill flat out, "we're going to not even sugar coat this... even if that means that there's a rift in the family because of it."

More about Shujaat:

• LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/shujaatahmad/

• Website — https://www.skool.com/chaiwithai/about

More about Jill & Go Long:

• Sign-up for Go Long's newsletter — https://golong.substack.com/subscribe

• Learn more about Go Long — https://www.golong.me/how-it-works

• Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/justgolong/

• Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/justgolong

• LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/go-long/

Jump to:

00:00 Introduction to Shujaat and Growing Up as a "Professional Immigrant"

02:21 His Mother as a Paradox of Service and Rigid Fairness

06:35 Three Things That Shaped Him: Service, Ramadan Meals, and What He's Unlearning

11:39 Raising Daughters Inside a Multigenerational Household

14:14 Backchanneling with His Daughters and Drawing the Line