A Little About Apel Mahmud — A Journey of Learning, Building & Growing

He Didn't Start at the Top

Apel's story in tech actually goes back to 2006. Long before "bZm Graphics" existed, he was just... doing the work. Hands-on, in the trenches, learning the craft of photo editing and production the way most people in this industry do — one project, one client, one late night at a time.

From there, he moved up — Senior Team Manager at TradeXcel Graphics, then Head of Production at bVcreatives Inc. Not overnight jumps, just steady steps, each one adding a bit more responsibility and a bit more perspective on how this industry actually works from the inside.

Then Came bZm Graphics

In 2015, Apel co-founded bZm Graphics — and honestly, this is the part most of us know best because, well, we're living it. What started as a small team has grown into a 250+ person organization working with e-commerce brands and studios all over the world.

But here's what's genuinely interesting if you zoom out: watch how Apel's own role kept changing as the company grew.

• He started by doing the work himself
• Then it became about building the team around him
• Then building the systems and processes that let that team actually scale
• And eventually, building a business that could hold its own globally

That's not a small shift. A lot of people are great at one of those. Being good at all four, in sequence, is rare.

Working Across Border

Building a business that serves clients like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, and other global names doesn't happen by accident. It takes years of proving, project after project, that a team based in Bangladesh can meet the same standard as any studio in New York or Amsterdam — same turnaround, same consistency, same trust.

That's the experience Apel brings to the table. Working across time zones, markets, and expectations for nearly two decades taught him what it actually takes to compete globally — not just do good work, but build the systems and discipline behind it that make good work repeatable at scale.

It's also exactly why "Global Market Growth" and positioning "Bangladesh as a Global ICT Hub" aren't just talking points for him — they're things he's already spent years working toward, one international client at a time.

He Didn't Stop at One Company

Turns out, once you get good at building something from scratch, it's hard to stop. Alongside bZm, Apel has also co-founded G8 Agency (software and digital transformation) and Cybery Limited (a design studio focused on automotive and real-estate graphics). Different industries, same instinct — spot a gap, build a team, build the systems, grow it into something real.

What's Next: AI Meets E-Commerce Ops

These days, the conversation has shifted toward AI — and it's not just industry hype for Apel. He's actively steering things toward AI-powered solutions that make e-commerce operations faster, smarter, and more scalable, while still keeping actual human expertise at the center of it all. Which, if you know him, tracks — he's never been the "replace the people" type, more the "give people better tools" type.

Now, He's Stepping Into Something New

After almost two decades of building, learning, and figuring things out in this industry, Apel has decided to run as a candidate for Director (General Category), BASIS Election 2026–28, with voting set for September 26, 2026.

If you've followed the arc of his career, this feels like a natural next step — not a pivot, more like the next rung on the same ladder. Someone who's gone from doing the work, to leading a team, to building systems, to running multiple businesses, now looking to bring that same experience to the broader industry.

His campaign is built around five key agendas:

• Global Market Growth — helping local ICT businesses compete for and win international clients
• Member Value & Support — making sure BASIS membership translates into real, tangible support for businesses
• AI & Digital Transformation — pushing the industry to adopt AI-driven tools and workflows, not just talk about them
• Future-Ready ICT Talent — building the pipeline of skilled people the industry will need to keep growing
• Bangladesh as a Global ICT Hub — positioning the country as a serious, trusted player in the global tech and digital services market

None of these are abstract goals for him. They're extensions of what he's already spent years doing — building teams, systems, and businesses capable of holding their own internationally. He's just looking to bring that same playbook to the industry level.