Ash Singh

UC Davis Graduate School of Management

“An HR Professional with eight years of global HR experience in talent strategy, change management and transformation.”

Hometown: Hazaribagh, Jharkhand – India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a professional squash rackets player and have captained the Delhi University’s Squash Team at the All India Inter University National Squash Championship winning the Gold Medal.

Undergraduate School and Major:

Hansraj College, University of Delhi – Bachelor of Commerce

University of Calcutta – Master of Human Resource Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Amazon India, Senior HR Business Partner

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the MBA curriculum or activities that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? As a STEM-designated MBA program, the UC Davis curriculum offers highly-advanced electives in the field of organizational behavior and strategy, including Managing People in High-Performance Organizations, Innovation & Enterprise Culture, Organizational Effectiveness and Change Management. The advanced Collaborative Leadership Program is a distinctive proposition. In this era of evolving technology and innovation in AI, the program offers courses in Data Mining, Wrangling, Visualization and Big Data Analytics. It is a perfect blend of technology and business acumen.

What quality best describes your MBA classmates and why? Diversity and inclusion. In our close-knit cohort, we have students from five continents, with amazingly diverse backgrounds in education and work experience. The unique expertise of each individual ignites intriguing conversations during the group discussions and team projects.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: As the Chief Manager HRBP, leading a workforce of over 2,500 employees, we achieved 97% at Workplace Conditions Assessment (WCA), which is 12% more than the high-performance organizations globally. This led us to “Preferred Supplier” status driving sustainability.

What has been the biggest surprise in your first three months of business school? The Graduate School of Management’s 21-Week Anti-Racism Challenge has been one of the greatest confluence of thoughts, ideas and conversations. This structured program was developed by the school’s Action for Diversity Community Group. Weekly topical discussions with fellow students, alumni, staff and faculty makes it a life-changing experience. It speaks volumes about the UC Davis MBA program and culture.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? As an aspiring global HR leader, I am pursuing an MBA to develop a robust base in business administration, which is a prerequisite for the field. Technology and AI are playing a crucial role in HR functions, so it’s a great time to hone my skills.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duke University

What do you see yourself doing ten years from now? My long-term career interest lies in human capital consulting. I see myself as a global HR leader specializing in organizational development and building organizational effectiveness.

DON’T MISS: Meet The UC Davis Graduate School of Management MBA Class of 2022