MBA

Profiles

Akshay Ghulati, MBA 2009

Akshay Ghulati's career has been a hybrid of continuity and the conquest of new territory. After graduating from Wharton, he initially returned home to New Delhi to work in his family's real estate business. "I started a new division focused on retail real estate," Akshay says. After eight months he sold many of the holdings to a private equity investor and broke new ground again – as the first non-MBA hired by A.T. Kearney. "I helped them set up an office in Dubai," says Akshay. "Now they've established a regular recruitment program of college graduates from the U.S."

Seeking the skills he would need as an entrepreneur, Akshay decided to get an MBA. "You can get finance and accounting skills just about anywhere," he says. "But I wanted to acquire a more holistic, global viewpoint and to develop new management and leadership skills – the things that HBS emphasizes."

Support and structure

Midway through his first semester, Akshay's personal life took a turn that might have made his studies more challenging: he got married. "The section experience is what makes it or breaks it for you," Akshay says of an HBS education. "My section has been so supportive during a hectic time. They really helped me out. People who are married gave me advice and recommendations for the honeymoon. I got regular emails while I was away. Most important was the spirit of it – the congratulations and support."

In general, Akshay notes, "business students are motivated, but easily distracted by both personal and business interests. Everything at HBS – the section experience, the learning teams, the classrooms – is structured to help you learn, to help you get the best out of the school. That's why there's a uniformly high satisfaction level among students here."

For developing leadership abilities, "the greatest learning," says Akshay, "has been in the case discussions. It's like being in front of clients every day. Most often, there are others who know more about the subject than you do – that's great training for real-life situations where you have to lead people who may be better informed than you are."

Change in India

In the first semester, Akshay had been actively involved in the India conference, which allowed participants to "compare the perspectives of companies from India to those of U.S. companies", like Staples and Best Buy, who are doing business in the country. "One of the most frequent criticisms of India has been its cumbersome bureaucracy," says Akshay. "But we heard many voices saying bureaucracy is becoming less of an obstacle."

For his summer internship, Akshay will join the Parthenon Group in London to consult in private equity firms as they conduct due diligence. "As a potential entrepreneur – one of my long-term goals – I want to be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various business opportunities."