As a pracademic, I have over 25 years of civil service practice experience in Bangladesh, which has culminated in the publication of two books on development aid from Routledge (2018, 2024), as well as numerous articles and book chapters. My research interests, which include development aid, developmental states, public administration, and governance in developing countries like Bangladesh, have been furthered by my role as the Secretary-General of the South Asian Network for Public Administration and as an adjunct Research Associate at the Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp. I am also one of the editors of the forthcoming special issue of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Administration (Taylor & Francis) and the upcoming book Elite Capture in Public Policy Asia: Safeguarding Democratic Governance under the SANPA-Springer book series. I also worked with the UNDP Bangladesh Country Office as a policy specialist advocating for aid effectiveness. Over the decades in the civil service, I have developed an insider's perspective on governance and development in developing countries, which has the potential to bring new knowledge to governance and development research.