Ahmad made a name for herself prosecuting terrorist suspects in New York, including Lawal Babafemi and Najibullah Zazi, the would-be al-Qaeda subway bomber. The authorities initially tracked down Zazi by following information from Ahmad's prosecution of Abid Naseer, a Pakistani man who had been plotting an attack on a shopping center in the United Kingdom. According to a 2017 New Yorker profile, Ahmad has prosecuted and won thirteen terrorism cases since 2009.