Meher Afroz
PGPMAX Founding Class





Tell us a little about your family background/ history. How has it influenced you?
I was born and brought up in Jamshedpur. My dad was a professor in Physics and fun at home was about doing science projects and active devices experiments. My mother was a homemaker and she instilled a core value of determination and zest. I was introduced to computers at the early age of 11 when my dad was doing his PhD at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The computing time was scarce and the cost of an error was so high, programmers in those days would spend a lot of time doing dry-runs to ensure they do not have compilation errors. I assisted him in doing dry-runs of the algorithms. So when my school introduced computer science in its curriculum, I was the first to enroll. I later went on to study Computer Engineering and started my career as a Systems Trainee in Tata Steel.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
The solid base at Tata Steel, propelled a career in companies like General Electric and Microsoft. In GE, I was nominated to the prestigious EIMP (Experienced Information Management Program), and worked on projects including developing a strategy for managing rights for television and cable network of NBC Universal Organization, USA and the CRM Strategy for GE Commercial Finance, Europe.

In my 10 years at Microsoft, I have had several roles including General Manager of Product & Services IT wherein I lead projects that were critical to Microsoft’s success - building the next-generation product activation systems, and overhauling how Microsoft licenses software to OEMs, reducing piracy and wasted dollars from archaic business processes.

After graduating from ISB, I took my current role of Chief of Staff for the VP of Strategic Enterprise Services IT at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond. I lead the business and workforce transformation of a 1500 person shared service organization with a budget of 250M. I am responsible for the strategy and approach for enabling Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud in the operations of Microsoft. In my role, I partner with industry and product groups to influence product road maps for enterprise scenarios.

How do you think your time at ISB has contributed to your career and personal growth?
The PGPMAX course helped me get a broader perspective on running a business. The pedagogy provided exposure to different types of industries and business scenarios. These have come in handy in understanding customers and overcoming business challenges. The esteemed faculty and cohorts are part of my network and I lean on them for help and support.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
The Chief of Staff is a unique role and not very prevalent in India. It is strategic role in an organization. The incumbent is a top level adviser who is part confidant, part all-around strategic consultant and part liaison for the leader. While this has been a key position in politics, many top companies in the US have these positions. In Microsoft, it is usually offered as a growth position to provide broad exposure to an individual.
I enjoy the variety of business challenges and learning opportunities the role has provided me.

Briefly describe a typical day at work, in a way that illuminates the kind of challenges and opportunities your role involves.
A typical day at work has all the flavours of the job. For instance, last Wednesday, I started with discussing the potential strategy refresh for the next fiscal year with the VP. My next meeting was to evaluate the next steps of our workforce plan. The next few hours were spent in running the monthly business review of the division where I reviewed the performance of the division as it relates to fiscal accountability and strategic initiatives like cloud adoption, customer engagements, new technology adoption etc. Later in the day, I prepared the strategic focus areas for the new fiscal year followed by a meeting with a GM to advise him on the next steps of his program. I ended the day by working on communication plan for the division and the VP.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Are there any trends that you can identify?
The industry is going through a major shift and there are several trends in play. Internet of Things, Computing Anywhere, Cloud Computing, and Advanced Analytics are a few. We are moving towards a convergence of Operations Technology and Information Technology. The proliferation of devices is causing an explosion of data. The dependence on technology is like never before and every company is a technology company. The ability of harnessing the power of technology and data will be a key differentiator in the future.

What was the main highlight or most memorable aspect of your programme at the ISB?
The time I spent with my cohorts at school and during the internal immersion trips is perhaps the most memorable aspect of my time at ISB. We are still connected although the technology that we use to stay connected keeps evolving. It started with emails, then moved to Facebook. WhatsApp seems to be holding fort at this time.

If you could offer a word of advice to the current class at ISB, what would it be?
Make the most of every moment at ISB. Focus on the learning and building relationships with the faculty and your peers. Those relationships will go a long way in shaping your experience during school and after you graduate.

How do you feel you can contribute to ISB?
I am willing to invest my time to the growth of ISB. While I was in Hyderabad, I was part of the Admission Committee of PGPMAX for a couple of years.