IT families: Ikbol Hasanov and Nasiba Nosirova

Iqbol Hasanzoda, 25 years old, city — Dushanbe, senior software engineer, LinkedIn

Nasiba Nosirova, 24 years old, city — Dushanbe, IT project manager, LinkedIn

About Us

Nasiba. I have been working at Alif Bank for over four years. Currently, I am the project manager for projects such as mini-applications within the Alif Mobi super-app, the bank's websites, and ticketing systems developed by my team.

We met Iqbol at work in a funny situation: the power went out in the office, and I went to another office where he also went. We talked about work and interests, he offered to give me a ride home, and after that, we started communicating. A year later, we got married.

Iqbol. I am a senior developer in the Core Banking System (CBS) team, working on automating banking systems at Alif Bank. Recently, I took on a new position and became a team lead. I knew Nasiba from the beginning: she was active, and I often saw her in bank videos. We sometimes crossed paths at work, but I really started getting to know her only after the incident with the power outage.

How we entered the IT field

Iqbol. I remember getting my first computer and how obsessed I became with it. I liked studying it, working on it, and discovering different features. When I entered university, friends told me about Alif Academy, where a frontend development course was launching. I wanted to take on something challenging, so I signed up. I was invited for an interview, and I began studying frontend. Later, Alif Bank was hiring developers, and I decided to try. I tried, passed all stages, and started working as a junior frontend developer. Then, while balancing studies and work, I began learning backend. I moved to the credit committee automation team, and later to the CBS team. In January of this year, I became the team lead for this project and team.

Nasiba. Initially, my path in the bank started with the credit committee. I knew this department was not my final destination, so I was constantly searching for myself. After changing departments, I moved to marketing as a content manager. My job involved interacting with product managers, designers, and developers to create a new website managed by marketing. It was during this time that I developed a new interest in IT. Everything pointed toward a change in my specialization. At that time, the team lead, Khushang Mirzo, seeing my interest and curiosity, offered me to lead Scrum, and that’s when my work in IT began.

Family traditions

Nasiba. We got married in July 2024. We love weekends when we can spend time at home, away from the hustle and deadlines. Also, Iqbol is a big movie fan, and every evening after dinner, we are obliged to watch a movie from his list. The division of responsibilities is always different — we see if we have the energy, as it is fashionable to say, "in the zone." We try to help each other as much as possible.

Iqbol. Once a month, we go out to eat somewhere, often on these days we go to our favorite restaurant in the city center, or to a pizzeria. By tradition, in the evenings, we cut fruits, put on a movie, and spend our evenings like that.

Combining household chores and work

Nasiba. Of course, sometimes it is difficult, and sometimes it brings joy. Especially at times when we come home tired after a hard workday. You need to cook dinner, set the table, and then clean up — but these difficulties were in the beginning. Now I have organized my household and do everything on time, so it is easy for me to handle chores.

Iqbol. Working in IT sometimes requires working in the evenings and on weekends. This is especially common within my project. I always try to spend time with my family between work: going somewhere, and in the evenings, I ask how her day went. Fortunately, everything is going great so far.

Recommendations for a happy life

Nasiba. We are a young family; I don't think we can give valuable advice since we are at the beginning of our journey ourselves, but from this small experience, I understood: respect, the ability to hear and listen to each other, attention to your partner, and the desire to make them happy through your right actions — are the most important things in any relationship.

Iqbol. After almost a year of relationship, I can say that the most important thing in a relationship is the ability to hear your partner, respect each other's preferences, interests, and opinions. Also, I understand that Nasiba loves emotions, and I always try to please her.

How IT families differ from others

Nasiba. Probably, IT families always know that they need to move forward, constantly develop, and not stand still, because our profession requires it, and in IT, it is impossible without this. The world changes quickly, and if you do not develop, you can lose your relevance. We know how to motivate ourselves, and we find it easier to cope with household problems because we often face complex cases at work.

Iqbol. We always have something to talk about, and we understand each other. We can advise each other because we are both in the IT world. Such couples probably never get bored, and if something happens with projects on a weekend, we understand each other because it is part of our work. Also, we try to introduce a practice of giving feedback and resolving some omissions on the spot, not expecting that the partner will always guess our thoughts.