Ahad holds an MA in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University and served as a Visiting Research Fellow with the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford.

His research examines the entanglements between militarization and humanitarianism, the political dimensions of aid, and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in conflict-ridden nations, with a particular focus on Afghanistan.

Ahad previously worked for the Office of the Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and as a researcher and project lead at the Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies.