Ali Khataw, CEO of Incoteq Engineering and a Round Rock Chamber board member, is the featured guest on episode 96 of the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders Podcast, released October 20, 2026. The episode, “Ali Khataw | From Immigrant Entrepreneur to Community Leader,” is hosted by Bryan Eisenberg and traces Khataw’s path from arriving alone in the United States and enrolling at the University of Arkansas to launching Encotech in 1990 and leading a 45-person mechanical, electrical and structural engineering firm that has now operated for 35 years.
The conversation matters for Central Texas business observers because it connects the region’s growth to the decisions of a firm behind visible landmarks. Encotech has worked on projects including the Austin Central Library, the Butterfly Bridge and the Zachary Scott Theater, giving the podcast a concrete look at how a solo practice scaled into a multi-discipline operation serving major public and cultural projects.
Khataw also discusses leadership development, citing lessons from Leadership Austin’s 2009 class on collaborative thinking and community trusteeship and his time chairing the Austin Chamber of Commerce. He 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 Khataw credits with unlocking the firm’s growth. He further describes a firm-wide points competition proposed by principal Patrick Morrissey that rewarded volunteer hours rather than board seats or donations, an effort that earned Incoteq a small business win from Austin Gives.
The episode blends business strategy with humanitarian storytelling. Khataw speaks about his photojournalism in Oaxaca, Mexico, Pakistan, Cuba, Tanzania and Kenya, including an LFI magazine feature 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 he says reflect the human connection running through his career. He also 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.
Khataw speaks candidly about visibility, failure and the entrepreneur’s need to put ideas into the world, offering a core value his father taught him: “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.” The episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
