Geet Raval

Texas A&M, Mays Business School

“I balance ambition with humility, and I aspire to be a servant leader who leads with grace and optimism.”

Hometown: Pune, India

Fun fact about yourself: I enjoy reading detective fiction novels and I have read over 60 of Agatha Christie’s books!

Undergraduate School and Degree: Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology, India

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I worked as a Consultant with Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune, India

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? Dell Technologies; Austin, TX

Where will you be working after graduation? I will be working with Dell Technologies as a Senior Advisor-Global Supply Management in Austin, TX

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Second place winning team member, Humana-Mays Healthcare Analytics Case Competition 2023
• Team Captain for Texas A&M’s representative team at the SEC MBA Case Competition 2023
• MBA Capstone Project Leader for a supply chain optimization engagement for Swiftwall, a fast-growing construction material company
• Winning team member of McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship’s MBA Entrepreneurship Challenge (Business Plan)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Operations Management
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Corporate Strategy and Political Environment
• Pro-bono Consultant as a member of AiB (Aggies in Business)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of achieving 2nd place in the prestigious Humana-Mays Healthcare Analytics Competition, which is the premier healthcare analytics case competition in the United States. My partner, Taylor Boles, and I competed against 150+ student teams from 45 business schools. Our challenge was to predict which patients were most likely to default on their treatment for lung cancer due to side effects and provide recommendations to improve adherence to their treatment. This experience was particularly rewarding as I learned a lot about the healthcare industry, a field in which I had limited exposure. Despite being a two-member team in a competition dominated by larger teams, we managed to excel and emerge among the Top 5 finalists. What made this win even more special was that our team, Mays Anatomy, was the first from Mays Business School to achieve this feat.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Last summer, I interned with Dell’s Technology & Software Procurement (T&SP) team. Given the recent political developments after the CHIPS and Science Act was passed by the US Government in 2022, I was tasked with developing a framework for my team that would help them monitor geopolitical risks related to the semiconductor supply chain in China and Taiwan more proactively. This was a daunting task because it was a new initiative that my team wanted to explore, meaning that I had no references to prior frameworks, and I was the sole person assigned to this project. What raised the stakes even more was that my team managed procurement spends of over $15B! The potential to create an impact was huge. Over the summer, I spent countless hours acquainting myself with the geopolitical relations and export compliance laws between the US, China, and Taiwan. During my interviews with internal stakeholders, I realized that they were notified of geopolitical risks after they had already become a serious problem and that there was no system to preempt potential risks. I created a simple but effective questionnaire from my research and interviews for Dell’s suppliers that would compute a ‘risk score’ based on their responses. These scores would then be aggregated across all suppliers and be projected on a PowerBI dashboard that would allow users to visualize which locations were most prone to risk. I also documented governance models and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) within my team to ensure accountability. My recommendations were well-received by my Senior Vice President and Vice President. I am most proud of this achievement because not only did it result in a full-time offer, but it also led to my project mentor calling me the most mature intern that he had worked with in his 30-year career.

Why did you choose this business school? My undergraduate class had over 700 students. While I had an excellent experience studying there, I realized that there was simply no way I could have gotten to know all my classmates. When I decided to apply to a business school, I knew from the outset that I wanted to join a program that would be highly selective and focused on recruiting small class sizes because being a part of a close-knit community was extremely important to me. Mays Business School immediately stood out during my research as I learned about the Aggie Network from a few friends who came here for their graduate study. I was able to form lasting relationships with my class and I found the community that I was looking for. Besides recruiting a small cohort, Mays also offers a tremendous return on investment in terms of tuition cost.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? I had the most fun attending Dr. Rogelio Oliva’s Operations Management class. He teaches using the case-based method and pushes you to think about how an organization makes money and to constantly question where the real bottleneck in a system lies. He would bring the classroom to life by often making students role-play the situations described in cases. One of my most favorite quotes by him is “Management is not a spectator sport” and this really changed the way I thought about operations before joining the MBA program. I had the honor of serving as his Graduate Teaching Assistant and working with him made me realize that there was a method to the madness. He has been one of the most influential teachers in my life.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? I really enjoyed Services Marketing taught by Dr. Leonard Berry. The course focuses on the concepts of branding and marketing a service and what a service organization can do to perform better. I did not have any experience in marketing and was curious to learn what this class was about. What piqued my interest in this course even more was the fact that Dr. Berry is among the most distinguished professors in the University, having served as the President of the American Marketing Association (AMA). In his lectures, Dr. Berry shared insights that he had gained from years of research in healthcare. I appreciated his style of teaching because he always reinforced course concepts through personal anecdotes and humor. This course not only influenced my perception of marketing but also challenged me to think differently.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have loved to spend more time getting to know my professors at a personal level. We have some of the most renowned professors in their fields. They do really cool things outside the classroom, such as working on consulting projects with corporations and leading research initiatives. I am certain that they have a lot of wisdom to share outside the classroom too. Our MBA program is extremely fast-paced, and the semesters have a quick turnaround. Reflecting on my MBA experience, I would have enjoyed the opportunity to connect with my professors and learn more about their life experiences.

What is the biggest myth about your school? The biggest myth surrounding Texas A&M is the misconception that it’s solely a ‘farm school’ due to its reputation in agricultural studies and its status as the oldest higher education institution in Texas. This couldn’t be further from the truth. My MBA cohort had students from all over the world who brought different perspectives and experiences that ranged from banking, healthcare, technology, and the military (among others). This diversity enriched our collective academic environment. Also, my experience in College Station, the home of Texas A&M, was far from what one might expect from a traditional ‘farm town’. Instead, I found it to be a vibrant and modern community.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? College Station is a mostly quiet town that comes alive during football games. The first image that comes to my mind when I think of College Station is that of people wearing maroon and walking towards Kyle Field, our football stadium, on home gamedays. The only problem that I have with College Station is that there aren’t enough Indian restaurants!

What surprised you the most about business school? I was definitely surprised by the pace of the program. 18 months go by a lot quicker than one can imagine and the constant prep for quizzes, cases, and presentations did leave me with withdrawal symptoms when it finally came to an end. It feels surreal that the time flew by so quickly.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? While all my classmates have positively impacted me in some form or the other, one friend that really stands out in showing consideration for others and who created a very positive impression on me is Fan Feng. He is always the first one to offer help to anyone in need and is a hard-working and dependable teammate. I had the pleasure of being on his team for three courses and his work ethic inspired me. He is also one of the most humble and intelligent people that I’ve met in my life. I admire his ability and willingness to serve others without expecting anything in return.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? At present, my goal is to work for one of the best supply chains in the world at Dell. I believe that the pandemic, along with the dynamic geopolitical environment, has made supply chain resilience even more prominent, and I want to be at the center of solving some of the most complex supply chain challenges as I return to Dell in June 2024.

Another aspiration on my professional bucket list is transitioning into academia. Prior to my MBA, I had not seriously considered this path. However, after witnessing the impact my professors have had on me, I aspire to pay it forward by imparting the knowledge gained from my industry and research to shape and inspire young minds.

What made Geet such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

”I met Geet in the Fall of 2022, when I taught the required Operations Management class for our MBA program. Since the beginning of the term, Geet distinguished himself by being a solid participant in class (class taught by the case method) and for bringing an insightful perspective informed by his previous experience in EY Business Consulting. Memorable among his participations was his ~7-minutes detailed description of the processing and waiting times for the manufacturing of a knitted garment in a plant considering the transition into a cell layout. Not only was he able to recall case facts, but it was clear that he had thought beyond them and had also internalized the discussion up to that point. Looking back at my notes from class participation, I note Geet’s consistency throughout the term – he was present with substantive contributions in two thirds of the classes – and how thoughtful and grounded his comments were. Not surprisingly, he gave a solid final exam for the course. I was delighted to learn that he enjoyed the class so much that he volunteered to TA for me the following year.

His service as TA in the Fall of 2023 was exceptional. Not only did he perform the expected tasks – assist recording class participation, some grading, and assisting students with the class challenges: critical concepts and the mechanics of successful class participation – but went beyond expectations by learning (and teaching me) how to check assignments for LLM generated content. During my interactions with him he showed high sense of order, discipline and gave particular attention to details. He asks for advice, accepts constructive criticism, admits mistakes, and tries very hard for improvement. Undoubtedly, he has been one of my most dedicated and conscientious TAs over the years. It has been a privilege to witness Geet’s growth during our program and I believe he has fully leveraged the transformational opportunities that we are trying to create here at Mays. He is a deserving member of your 100 Best and Brightest MBA distinction and I fully support his nomination.”

Dr. Rogelio Oliva
Professor
Robyn L. ’89 and Alan B. Roberts ’78 Chair in Business
Mays Business School, Texas A&M University

“When I think of the Class of 2024, Geet Raval is one of the students who immediately comes to mind because of the impact he made while in the program. That impact is not limited to those around him in the program; rather, it extends to many within the University community and even beyond.

To expand on his impact in the program, Geet was selected as the team leader for our SEC MBA Case Competition Team, the teaching assistant for our Operations Management and Corporate Strategy in the Marketplace courses, and a participant in the Humana-Mays Case Competition, where he achieved 2nd place with his teammate. Geet has worked with a variety of his peers throughout all these experiences, and he has always been able to build strong relationships with them and lead in a subtle but clear and transformational manner.

I can only imagine the number of individuals Geet will continue to impact as he guides others to invest in the best and brightest ideas for the future. Geet’s ability to influence a variety of individuals both while in the program and after it makes him an invaluable member of the Class of 2024 and a leader who will meet the vision of Mays Business School to “advance the world’s prosperity.”

Dr. Sarah Jaks
Director, Full-Time MBA Program

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