Previous Occupation: Business Analyst at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) 
Present Occupation: Senior Manager at Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd (Times Group)
Sector: Pre-ISB: IT consulting; post-ISB: media and entertainment
Work Experience: 8 years
Interests – Professional/ Personal: Strategy, business development, and new media.

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
My father is an elected government official and my mother is a homemaker. My sister is a doctor who is doing her Master’s in medicine and training to be a psychiatrist. We grew up in Delhi but are originally from a place called Giridih in Jharkhand. 

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2004, I joined TCS and worked on various consulting projects, primarily in the financial services industry. I spent a couple of years consulting for a French insurance company's China and East Asian operations and subsequently spent a couple of years in their offices in the UK as well. Then I moved to the US to work on an assignment where we designed the loan origination system of one of the largest banks in the world, which was deployed across all their branches in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Post-ISB, I joined Publicis Groupe in a strategy role in one of their communications agencies where I worked for about a year. Subsequently, I moved into my current role at Bennett Coleman (The Times of India Group) in the Response Team, which is the advertising arm of the organisation.

Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
The night of graduation is a special memory. Having my family on campus at the actual ceremony was a great feeling. After that was the graduation party at '08 Lounge and it seemed as if no one wanted to leave the party even at 7 am. As the sun came up, we all bid our final goodbyes to campus and, needless to say, there were hugs and tears and it was quite an emotional scene.

In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?
My time at ISB has changed my outlook towards learning about things that I don't know much about. For instance, I didn't know much about global finance, at least in my estimation, before the MBA. Although I am a curious person by nature, it wasn't something I read much about. But the year at ISB spurred me to learn this to some degree, through certain courses as well as in general. Going to ISB at the back of the financial meltdown made it an all the more intriguing subject to learn about. I find that this pattern repeats itself in other areas of my life now, where I try to learn as much about whatever subject I find useful for my work or my life in general. 

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
The key motivation for me in pursuing an MBA was to change careers. Coming from the technology industry, I wanted to shift into media and entertainment and ISB made this possible for me. It opened doors that would have remained closed, had it not been for my MBA from ISB and that is something invaluable.

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Intense.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
There are too many to mention really: the all-nighters at the LRC, the dash to submit assignments into the drop-box at the crack of dawn, Solstice weekend, watching the sun rise over the dam and making it to breakfast at Goel. I feel it’s all the little things that make the year so different from any other year of your life that are always the highlights. 

Word of advice for the current class?
As clichéd as it may sound, there is life outside the classroom and the LRC! I didn't graduate top of the class or anything but I made some really good friends — friends for life — at ISB. I have a tonne of amazing memories and if I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. Whatever you do, don't get caught up in the hubris and take the year for what it really is — an opportunity to meet, build relationships with, and learn from some amazing people. 

What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
I really enjoyed “Organisational Behaviour,” especially the bits and pieces on behavioural economics. I enjoy reading about it and try to keep up with whatever books I can find on the subject in my free time. 

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
No, there wasn't really any one mentor but I look up to a lot of professors and staff at ISB who make the school what it is.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
I was involved with the Alumni Affairs Committee while at ISB. That is something that I can and do continue to support. In addition to that, sharing my general experience post-ISB is a way I could contribute and help set the right expectations for current students.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I have been lucky to have found a team that is open to new ideas as well as a senior management that is all about experimentation. Coming up with new ideas and having the freedom to execute them is the best part of my current role.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
The newspaper industry, at least in the West, hasn't been in the news (oh, the irony!) for smashing revenue records and is considered by many to be on its last legs. However, recent investments by Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos in the form of acquisitions mean that they see some potential in the industry that perhaps others do not. According to me, India is a very different market. The newspaper industry has huge potential in India and as literacy grows, so will the newspaper industry. In a lot of smaller towns and villages, it is still a matter of pride to get a newspaper delivered to your home. In urban areas, although the pace of growth is slower and media consumption patterns are migrating to digital, the key will be on how to monetise great content. The consumption medium might change to tablets or mobile but people do pay and will continue to pay for good content.   

 

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