Prashant Bhavaraju
PGPMAX Founding Class
Director, Research & Marketing - Trianz



Previous Occupation: Director, Business Operations - Megasoft/Visual Soft
Present Occupation: Director, Research & Marketing - Trianz
Sector: Information Technology
Work Experience: 14 years of experience spanning software programming / architecture / IT consulting, project / program management, sales / relationship management, marketing and research, of which over a decade was at various locations in the US and the rest in India.
Interests – Professional/Personal: Professional: Finding something that I enjoy in every role I play at work
Personal: Magic has been my hobby since childhood.


Can you tell us a little about your family background/history?
"I am the only child to my parents, but have over 3 dozen first cousins. My wife and I have an Engineering background. We have two children and they are quite a handful to handle!"

Tell us about your profile pre ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB including your career progression
After I completed engineering in computer science, I briefly experimented with entrepreneurship - I very quickly realized that I should first work for someone and learn the trade. And therefore I started working at a firm in Hyderabad as a software engineering doing java programming. Soon after, I was placed at Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati to implement their web services, and then moved from project to project with clients like Motorola, Brink’s, Panasonic, etc. My role progressed to IT consulting, Project / Program Management, and at one point found myself doing sales and relationship / account management. I then made a conscious shift to Marketing and moved back to India. During this time, I also pursued my Masters in Information Systems at DePaul University, acquired Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification from Purdue University and Project Management Certification from Penn State University..

Describe your fondest memory at ISB
Our term at Brazil _ trust me, we were studying there.

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?
I have had a tremendous boost in confidence levels. I realize I still have a long way to go, but certainly have been able to look at things differently, and react differently.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
I am more aware now and can make better choices and decisions.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
The gala dinners we used to have for each term at ISB.

Word of advice for the current class?
Make the most of it – in all aspects.

What was your favourite course/class at ISB and why?
While all classes had something or the other that was interesting, the OB-related classes were definitely an eye-opener.

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?
I was fortunate to have 59 mentors (all of my class)… each with a wealth of knowledge and experience that I was able to gain from while at ISB and later too.

What are the areas that you can contribute in to ISB?
I am happy to put my skill and resources to use whenever possible and look forward to such opportunities.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I get to interact and learn from analysts / academia as a part of research initiatives, and get to work with industry leaders in marketing initiatives.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
On the technology front, it is Cloud & Mobility all over and as a result there is a need for increased Security. Big data has been getting bigger and social media has been getting more social (I still wonder if anyone would ever be interested in paying for this though). Improving the results of strategic business initiatives will continue to remain an area of interest to many and  research shows that 65% of initiatives fall short of achieving their intended business results (68% in case of IT initiatives) - we have initiated a new study on this topic at my organization.