Pakistan-Based Learning Startup Launches PrepFastPM to Help Address the Project Management Skills Gap
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Projects can have funding, technology and executive support and still struggle to deliver. One recurring challenge is the capability of the professionals responsible for turning plans into outcomes: planning work, managing uncertainty, leading teams, engaging stakeholders and making sound decisions when projects move away from the original plan.
That capability challenge is becoming more important as economies invest in infrastructure, technology, digital transformation and organizational change.
Research published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2025 found that only half of projects surveyed met its modern definition of project success, while 13% failed outright and another 37% delivered only part of the expected results. In separate research, PMI estimates that the world could face a shortage of up to 29.8 million project professionals by 2035.
South Asia is among the regions where the pressure could be most pronounced. PMI projects demand for project professionals in the region could increase by between 68% and 91% between 2025 and 2035.
Against this backdrop, Pakistan-based professional learning startup Seekhna Sikhao has launched PrepFastPM, a digital platform designed to help working professionals prepare for the globally recognized Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification.
The initiative is led by Syed Mujeeb ur Rehman, Founder of PrepFastPM, and seeks to reduce some of the cost, time and accessibility barriers faced by professionals preparing for the PMP examination.
“Every failed project has a cost, but the cost is not always limited to money,” said Syed Mujeeb ur Rehman. “Projects consume time, organizational attention and human effort. When the people responsible for managing them have not been adequately prepared for complex decisions, risk, stakeholders and changing circumstances, the consequences can extend far beyond a missed deadline.”
According to Rehman, PrepFastPM was created around a simple question: how can a working professional develop and demonstrate project management knowledge without having to choose between a demanding job and a rigid training schedule?
“There is considerable talent in Pakistan, but professional development must become easier to access,” Rehman said. “Someone managing a project in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar or a smaller city should be able to prepare against the same professional standards without carrying an 800-page book everywhere or structuring their life around a weekend classroom. PrepFastPM puts structured preparation, study material and exam practice into a format that professionals can use around their own schedules.”
PMP certification is one of the established international credentials available to experienced project professionals. PMI describes the credential as validating project leadership experience and competence, while its 2025 global salary survey found that PMP-certified respondents reported median salaries 17% higher than non-certified respondents across the 21 countries surveyed.
Engr. Ahad Nazir, PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner and project management expert, said the wider issue goes beyond obtaining a credential.
“Pakistan does not simply need more people carrying project management certificates. It needs professionals who can actually manage projects,” Nazir said. “That means understanding how to define outcomes, challenge assumptions, manage risk, negotiate competing stakeholder expectations, use evidence for decisions and respond when reality does not follow the project plan.”
He said certification can play an important role when it is treated as part of professional capability development rather than an end in itself.
“PMP provides a structured body of professional knowledge and requires candidates to engage with predictive, adaptive and hybrid approaches to delivery. But certification alone does not create competence,” Nazir added. “Good preparation should develop the candidate’s judgment. The real test is whether a professional can take that knowledge into a difficult project environment and make better decisions.”
That distinction has shaped the positioning of PrepFastPM.
Rather than functioning only as a question bank, the platform brings together self-study material, scenario-based questions, mock examinations and structured preparation resources within one digital environment. It has been designed for professionals studying alongside full-time employment and other commitments.
The platform focuses on:
* Structured preparation around the current PMP examination framework;
* Scenario-based questions that test project-management judgment rather than simple recall;
* Mock examinations and practice tools to help candidates identify areas requiring further preparation;
* Integrated reading and study resources to reduce dependence on multiple disconnected preparation sources; and
* Self-paced access for professionals who cannot commit to fixed classroom schedules.
The timing also reflects changes taking place within the project management profession itself. Project managers are increasingly expected to combine technical delivery knowledge with leadership, business understanding and the ability to operate across predictive, agile and hybrid environments.
“The project manager of today cannot just maintain a schedule and update a risk register,” Nazir said. “Organizations are asking project professionals to understand value, strategy, technology, sustainability, people and uncertainty at the same time. Professional development has to move in the same direction.”
For Rehman, the longer-term ambition is to make PrepFastPM part of a broader effort to strengthen Pakistan’s pool of internationally competitive professionals.
“If Pakistan wants to compete in technology, engineering, infrastructure, consulting and the global services economy, professional competency cannot remain optional,” he said. “We want PrepFastPM to help professionals invest in themselves, strengthen their project-management capability and compete for opportunities both within Pakistan and internationally.”
PrepFastPM is now available at prepfastpm.com.
