Ahmad was born in Balkh, he was the son of Nizam al-Mulk, and a Georgian princess, who was the niece or daughter of Bagrat III of Georgia.
When Ahmad arrived to the court, Muhammad I appointed him as his vizier, replacing Sa'd al-Mulk Abu'l-Mahasen Abi who had been recently executed on suspicion of heresy.
Ahmad was vizier for four years in which he in 1107/1108 accompanied Sultan Muhammad I during his campaign in Iraq, where his army managed to defeat and kill the Mazyadid ruler Sayf al-dawla Sadaqa ibn Mansur, who bore the title "king of the Arabs".
In 1109, Muhammad I sent Ahmad and Chavli Saqavu to capture the Ismaili fortresses of Alamut and Ostavand, but they failed to achieve any decisive result and withdrew.
During the same year, the Abbasid caliph al-Mustarshid deposed and imprisoned his vizier Amid al-dawla Jalal al-Din Hasan ibn Ali.