Fabian Frick
Home Region

Frankfurt, Germany

Undergrad Education

University of Applied Sciences, Trier, Computer Science, 2012

Previous Experience

McKinsey; SAP

“I’m not 100% sure what I want—it’s important to learn from other people’s experiences.”

Fabian Frick’s career trajectory continues to evolve as he allows curiosity to guide his interests. Although he studied computer science through undergraduate and graduate degree programs, Frick found that software development was not sufficiently satisfying. “I couldn’t see the impact I was making; I wanted more of a management role,” says Fabian.

A consulting assignment with McKinsey gave him the opportunity to explore strategic digitization projects. “In Germany,” Fabian notes, “we have lots of large, traditional companies that are still paper-based. Decisions take ages. Digitization takes ages.” After two years in which he assumed escalating responsibility—and a small team to manage—Fabian realized that he found client interactions “very rewarding. As an engineer, I was confined to the same room, the same people. But as a consultant, I worked in different countries with different clients. I loved the change.”

Pursuing a broader understanding of business

“Marketing, finances, accounting—these were all new to me,” says Fabian. “I wanted something broader, not focused on IT: a foundational understanding of business, general management.”

To get that understanding, Fabian wanted an MBA, but he did not want a traditional classroom environment. “I had spent five years studying in lecture-based classes. But the one class that stayed with me was a case study.”

One of the reasons Fabian chose HBS was for its case study pedagogy, one that encourages interaction and mutual learning among peers. “It’s the social aspect, the working with so many people from different countries,” he says. “I’m not 100% sure what I want—it’s important to learn from other people’s experiences.”

At the top of the list of desired lessons: technology and its application in American business. During the summer, Fabian will fulfill a digitization project with McKinsey. Long-term, Fabian plans to return to Europe with a more informed perspective on technology, “not as a software developer, but in a management role that leverages what I’ve learned at HBS and McKinsey.”