Over two months and countless kilometres, I discovered that every market has its own rhythm, every dealer has a different perspective, and every conversation has the power to challenge assumptions. More than learning about business, I learnt to appreciate the people behind it.
As part of my MBA journey at BITSoM, I spent eight weeks as a Summer Associate at McKinsey. When I think about my internship, I remember it as an experience that was exciting, fun, challenging, stressful at times, and above all, full of learning. It was one of those experiences that pushed me outside my comfort zone almost every day, while also giving me the confidence to handle responsibilities I had never imagined taking on as a Summer Associate.
When the commercial head at Nestlé asked me what CTA meant during my interview, I answered confidently: “Call to action: the button that gets people to click on an ad.” It’s what every digital marketer learns on day one. He smiled and told me I’d learn a very different definition over the next two months. He was right. By the end of my internship, CTA had come to mean something rooted in shelves, retailers, and real people walking into real stores, not a button on a screen.
The most meaningful business decisions are not driven by data alone. They begin with understanding people, asking better questions and transforming insights into purposeful action. My summer at Vodafone Idea Limited showed me how classroom learning becomes real business impact.
After spending nearly three years managing large infrastructure projects at Ambuja Cement and the Adani Group, I chose to pursue an MBA at BITSoM to transition from project execution to business strategy and leadership.
Nobody really prepares you for what a full-time MBA feels like when you walk in with years of work and life already behind you.
Every journey begins with a calling. Mine began with history.
Ever since I was a child, I wanted to become a historian of India’s past. I admired scholars like Kalhana, who preserved our civilization’s memory, and I dreamed of making even a small contribution of my own. It felt like a clear purpose, something meaningful and intellectually fulfilling.
Before joining BITSoM, my path had already taken a few unexpected turns. I had about 28 months of work experience, first as a copywriter in startups, where creativity and storytelling shaped most of my work. Later, I moved to France to work under the French Education Ministry as an English language assistant, stepping into a completely new environment. That experience pushed me outside my comfort zone in ways I hadn’t anticipated and made me reflect more deeply on what I wanted from the next stage of my career.
As BITSoM students, we, Team “Ambassadors of Quan” (Kartik Sharma, Ria Jha, Sanklan Chandak, Sreelakshmi M K, and Vedang Poddar), are thrilled to share the incredible journey our team went through at the recent 2025 Cornell Emerging Markets Institute (EMI) Corning Case Competition, where we represented our school on a global stage and emerged as champions. This experience was not only a personal achievement but also a proud moment for BITSoM as a young B-school competing with the best in the world.
In an age of rapid credentials, carefully curated LinkedIn narratives, and increasingly outcome-driven learning, some of the most transformative lessons tend to emerge not from structured lectures or predefined frameworks, but from honest, unfiltered conversations.
