Previous Occupation: Marketing Executive, Xansa Technologies
Present Occupation: Senior Manager, Bharti Airtel Limited
Sector: Telecommunications
Work Experience: 6 years.
Interests – Professional/Personal: Fitness (especially Yoga), Experimenting with different cuisines and experiences and watching movies

Tell us about yourself and recap your professional life after the ISB including your career progression

Before the ISB, I was in a marketing role in an IT services company.  The role involved engaging with potential/existing customers through newsletters, case studies, webinars, etc which would hopefully get us some critical leads that would give us business. After about two years of being a part of this small enterprising team that also cracked a deal in the US, I joined the ISB.

I joined Bharti Airtel immediately after the ISB, where I joined the team that was focusing on Small & Medium Business. During my tenure there, I decided that I needed to join a smaller company, for at least sometime to accelerate my understanding of a business in totality.  It so happened, that a semi-entrepreneurial opportunity came my way and I joined a start up in life sciences. This involved marketing in a B2B environment and creating a team for business development across segments that we targeted.  Two years in this environment has given me a lot of real world perspective and an opportunity to learn more about managing people.

After a great learning experience of almost two years, I am back in the telecom sector in a national role, responsible for acquiring customers for one of our segments.

What was your key take-away from the ISB?

The key take-away for me from the school was of course, the exposure to a diverse set of people and ideas. Every lecture, conversation with a professor/fellow student threw light on something new. Even as an alumnus, every opportunity to visit the school or get connected with the network leaves me inspired.

How do you think the ISB has contributed to your career growth?

Besides a great pedigree, education and learning resources, the ISB has provided me with a vast network of alumni/professors that I have often fallen back on when I needed advice, insights or even information and that has contributed to my career growth. The ISB has contributed in a big way to the way I think and my outlook towards not just business problems but also life.

What is your vision for the School?

One of the things that Ajit said at the ISB@10 session was that the school’s main tagline has been ‘Getting Future Ready’ and that now it has to change to ‘Shaping the Future’! - that is exactly what the larger vision should be.

What are the strengths that the School can leverage upon and areas it can improve?

One of the major strengths of the school is the backing by powerful industry leaders and their shared vision for the school which is evident in the way the school is shaping up. Another is its global faculty – their advance methods of teaching and a real world perspective offer incomparable edge in learning. The infrastructure, resources and association with top B Schools also go a long way in providing a world class experience. I am certainly looking forward to improving our resource bank of case studies written by our permanent faculty and be recognised as not just a consumer, but also a creator of knowledge resources.

How do you think alums can associate with the School or alum’s role in building the School?

We are the brand ambassadors of the school wherever we go. So, of course, by doing well in our respective jobs, we are also contributing to the brand identity of the school. But besides that, how we associate with the school is a direct outcome of how we feel about the school. There are many opportunities and ways to contribute – by participating in pre-admissions process, mentoring current students or volunteering for ISBAA. These are all ways to keep the connect alive and make a starting point to how we can associate with the school.

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