Ali Khataw: From Immigrant Entrepreneur to Community Leader
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In Episode 96 of Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders Podcast, host Bryan Eisenberg sits down with Ali Khataw, CEO of Incoteq Engineering and a Round Rock Chamber board member, for a conversation that spans immigrant entrepreneurship, engineering innovation, humanitarian photography, and community leadership.
Khataw traces his path from arriving alone in the United States and enrolling at the University of Arkansas to launching Encotech in 1990. Over 35 years, he has grown the firm into a 45-person mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering practice whose projects include the Austin Central Library, the Butterfly Bridge, and the Zachary Scott Theater. Along the way, he has served on boards across Central Texas, including chairing the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
The episode also explores Khataw’s lesser-known work as a photojournalist. He has documented communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, Pakistan, Cuba, Tanzania, and Kenya, including a feature for LFI magazine on transgender communities in Pakistan. He describes photographing a blind Oaxacan sculptor for a Tono magazine piece titled “Hands That See,” and weeping on a street in Oaxaca while documenting Semana Santa—moments that reflect the human connection threading through his career.
Khataw speaks candidly about visibility, failure, and the entrepreneur’s need to put ideas into the world. Reflecting on the core value his father taught him, he tells Eisenberg: “If money is lost, nothing is lost because you can always make it up. If health is lost, something is lost. But if integrity is lost, everything is lost.”
On practical leadership, Khataw recounts advice from former Goodwill Industries CEO Jerry Davis, who challenged him to take a 10 to 15 percent pay cut, stop designing, and focus on business development—a pivot that unlocked Incoteq’s growth. He also describes a firm-wide points competition proposed by principal Patrick Morrissey that rewarded volunteer hours (not board seats or donations), earning Incoteq a small business win from Austin Gives.
Looking ahead, Khataw previews an upcoming workshop trip to Tanzania and Kenya with Fair Trade Safaris CEO Saurabh Katipal, where proceeds will support a wildlife conservation group working with elephants, plus education funding for a young woman in Tanzania.
Produced by Round Rock Studio, Rock Solid spotlights the entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and corporate leaders shaping Round Rock, Texas, and the broader Central Texas economy. Episode 96 with Ali Khataw is available now wherever podcasts are heard.