Ali Nourang Syed

Yale School of Management

“An empathetic, dependable, and resilient individual who leads by inspiring others and identifying their strengths.”

Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan

Fun Fact About Yourself: I taught my 6-year-old niece wrestling and let her regularly practice on me.

Undergraduate School and Major: Georgia Institute of Technology, B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Head of the Office for Finance and Accounting for the District of Sialkot / Civil Servant, Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan

The Yale School of Management is regarded as a purpose-driven program. What is your mission? How will your MBA at Yale SOM help you fulfill that mission? My mission is to help bridge the gaps between public budgetary shortages and private investment pools across the globe – especially in emerging countries – to promote sustainable development and societal welfare. Yale SOM will further my mission by teaching me the best practices and knowhow of modern finance. This will provide meaningful and instrumental relationships and open a pathway to the intriguing world of private sector finance.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Yale SOM’s MBA curriculum or programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I chose Yale SOM because of the holistic mission it espouses (i.e. educating leaders for business and society). This mission eclipses private sector management to encompass broader areas of management such as public welfare and societal well-being. In doing so, Yale SOM resonates most with my ideals and unique set of experiences.

What course, club, or activity excites you the most at Yale SOM? I look forward most to being a part of the Finance Club at Yale SOM, where I will be able to interact with and learn from the brightest minds through discussions on areas that interest us.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I spearheaded the establishment of the Quality Assurance Cell for the Accountant General’s Office, which caters to a State consisting of over 120 million citizens. This cell employed data-driven auditing techniques of public financial data on SAP to identify data gaps and potential areas of financial fraud and irregularities. In doing so, this initiative became one of the first of its kind in Pakistan that helped tap the huge yet underexplored potential for data-driven interventions and decision-making.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? Through my experience in public finance, I have learned that one of the major hurdles to prosperity in emerging countries like Pakistan is the insufficiency budgetary provisions for public sector projects. One way to address this challenge is by engaging the private sector and mobilizing private investment for public infrastructural development. I hope that an MBA will help me learn more about the ways in which this is being done across the world. Furthermore, after graduation I would hope to gain invaluable experience at investment banks that play an instrumental role in shaping and executing such transactions. In the long run, I would supplement this experience with my current knowledge of public finance to help bridge the gap between private resources and public needs at the policy level in emerging countries.

What is one thing you have recently read, watched, or listened to that you would highly recommend to prospective MBAs? Why? I would suggest that prospective MBAs listen to Acquired, which is one of my favorite podcasts. Acquired provides detailed and engaging narrations of some of the most interesting business stories in the world, It provides a multitude of ideas and experiences on what business should or should not be about.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Yale SOM’s MBA program? I believe, first, that all potential applicants should get a feel for the mission that drives Yale SOM. Applicants who find this mission inspiring should devote time really contemplating why they want an MBA and specifically at Yale SOM. After doing so, candidates can rest assured that being honest and articulate about their unique story through the application will give them a reasonable chance at securing admission.

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