Meet IIM Kozhikode’s PGP-BL Class Of 2024

THE BEST COURSE

What have they been studying? Ameya Agrawal cites Managing People and Performance in Organizations from Professor Roopak Gupta as the best class he has taken (so far). In many ways, it was a deep dive into the complexities of human behavior. In the process, Agrawal says, he learned how to consider the factors driving behavior and use it to manage different personalities.

“Looking back, the most significant takeaway for me personally would be to avoid rushing to judgment about ourselves and people around us,” he writes. “Everyone has a different interpersonal need and being able to understand and somehow fulfill that is a sign of effective leadership.”

For Apoorva Chaturvedi, the course forced her to look back on important conversations she had over the past decade in a new light. At the same time, the course’s Psychometric Test gave her insights into her own motivations and strengths. The test also illustrated to Dharan Chakravarthi who he was – with some of his qualities coming as quite a surprise to him. That wasn’t the only course activity that made an impression on him.

“The group projects were very unique and the professor gave us the freedom to be as creative as possible to present the topics in class,” Chakravarthi adds. “Each group went above-and-beyond to make their presentation outstanding by organizing interesting group activities for the entire class, making short films, enacting skits, and much more. For our final project, we interviewed a business leader who inspired me about navigating the path of leadership by understanding his skills, experiences, and success stories.”

A HUSBAND-AND-WIFE COMBO

Outside of class, Vrushali Agrawal has found solace leading the Creativity Circle, a sort of welcoming committee that organizes events such as get-togethers and birthday celebrations. “These events breathe new life into our classmates, bringing them a sense of rejuvenation,” she writes. “Witnessing their stressed faces transform into expressions of enjoyment and happiness brings me a sense of tranquility…Every event teaches us valuable lessons; if there is no lesson to be learned, then we must be doing something incorrectly. This extracurricular activity has taught me significant lessons in time management, resource allocation, effective task execution, and ensuring the event’s objectives are successfully accomplished.”

Vrushali Agrawal didn’t come to campus alone. She is joined by her husband, Ameya Agrawal. Amid the demands of the PGP-BL program, Ameya says his wife has been a source of calm and comfort.

“Both of us hitting the pause button on our careers to pursue our dreams at the same time felt like a very bold move,” he admits. There’s something incredibly special about navigating the ups-and-downs during the rigorous program together. Each day, we would share our learnings, brainstorm solutions, and broaden our perspectives based on each other’s experiences. It led to a newfound respect for each other and deepened our relationship.”

CELEBRATING VISHU

For others, the Vishu festival was the most memorable event for the class. A South Indian staple, Vishu enabled the class to don their Kurta and Mundu and participate in the rituals. Ashutosh Ranjan describes this as an icebreaker, since it fell so early in the program, where students could connect over prayer, feasting, and dance.

“The event was organised end-to-end by the batch, right from the lighting of the lamp to a lip-smacking Sadhya (feast) and fun games,” Naina Nedungadi writes. “As the first-ever cultural festival with the team, and having celebrated Vishu for the first time away from home, it felt surreal as if it was home away from home. The bonding that ensued helped us experience the IIMK culture very early on campus.”

Rewati Bulusu notes that Vishu is a celebration of one of Kerala’s two harvest seasons. For Bulusu, the festival started traditionally: waking up to see the Vishukkani.

“It is a ritual arrangement of auspicious items like rice, fruits, vegetables, betel leaves, and coins, all arranged in a vessel in front of a mirror. The Sadhya (feast) is a major part of all Kerala festivals, and special dishes called Vishu Kanji, Thoran, and Vishu katta are also made. The day was filled with prayers, laughs and fun-filled activities, making it a memorable experience. It was special because it was my first time draping a saree with a golden border worn by the locals.”

Outside of class, Ameya Agrawal boasts an artistic side as someone who performs skits and writes – even publishing a self-help book titled A Leap Within. Hs wife, Vrushali, writes poetry and has performed in front of 2.500 people. Ashutosh Ranjan holds an MMA victory at New Delhi’s Super Fight League. Let’s just say Apoorva Chaturvedi can write her own ticket when she graduates.

“My multilingual skills include English, Hindi, Gujarati, and Marathi. At the moment, I’m learning intermediate French. This year, I aim to become proficient in French.”

LONG-TERM AMBITIONS

How did the Class of 2024 end up at IIM Kozhikode? For many, there was a sense that something was missing. After developing her technical chops in the IT industry, Rewati Bulusu experienced a growing boredom from staying in her comfort zone. Beyond the drift, Naina Nedungadi wanted to take that next step, “to be part of the bigger picture and a catalyst of change.”

“After my MBA, I aspire to be a marketing manager. Having authored and presented a research paper in the FMCG sector, my exposure to consumer buying behaviour has provided me with unique insights and learnings,” Nedungadi explains. “In this role, I see myself adopting a design thinking approach, keeping consumers at the heart of the business, and weaving customized strategies across the various aspects of marketing, to address their ever-growing needs.”

For Ashutosh Ranjan, IIM Kozhikode has been a time to reflect, “to take risks and explore diverse career options.” In contrast, Dheemanth Reddy is using his time to fill his skill gaps, which were exposed from being an entrepreneur. In the case of Ameya Agrawal, business school was the tonic to hitting his ceiling, a bridge to pursuing executive and consulting projects that make a greater difference in society.

“In the long term, I plan to use my past experiences to start my own social enterprise and collaborate with international organizations like the World Bank and United Nations. I vision is to build a system that would ensure that the social and corporate sectors work hand in hand to empower marginalized communities.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH AN ALUM

By the numbers, the PGP-BL Class of 2024 features 61 students, broken out between 68% men and 32% women. On average, they are 28 years old and possess 5.2 years of professional work experience (though 16 members bring 6 or more years of experience to the classroom). The largest segment of the class – 24% — last worked in the Services industry. Another 22% came from IT, followed by Manufacturing (21%), Automotive (18%), Consulting (10%), and Public Sector (5%). The class has also worked at some of the world’s top employers, including Accenture, Disney, Hewlett Packard, Deloitte, SAP, and Nayara Energy.

This fall, P&Q reached out to Sunmeet Sethi, a ’23 grad, to learn more about IIM Kozhikode’s PGP-BL experience. Here is what prospective applicants can expect…

P&Q: What is your current company, location, and role? What are two things you did at IIM Kozhikode that prepared you for this position? How do you use these experiences and skills every day in your role?

Sethi: “I’m currently a Product Manager at Publicis Sapient. I’m based in India’s capital, Delhi. I’ll soon be joining a fintech firm as a Lead Product Manager.

It’s hard to pick just two things that I did at IIM Kozhikode and are helping me in my product role because the one-year at IIMK was a package of so many new experiences for me.

I come from Delhi and have done my schooling, undergraduate studies, job – everything in Delhi. From Delhi, which is in the North of India, to go to Kozhikode, which is in the South of India, was a very different and interesting experience for me. I was the first engineer in my family and now, I’m the first MBA in my big extended family. Culturally, socially, professionally, and psychologically – the MBA was a very unique experience.

Still, if I have to pick two things, I’d pick my time as a Students’ Council Member, as the first. Within a month, the batch trusted me and democratically elected me to be the face of the batch. I got fortunate to be a part of a diverse Students’ Council Team in which one guy was from Hyderabad, two women (both married) from Jharkhand and Hyderabad and I was from Delhi.

Working together for the batch was initially a challenge because there were so many differences of opinion, but gradually I learned the art of managing people from different cultural and professional backgrounds. In my role as a Product Manager, I have to work with engineers, designers, marketers, and business folks and take them all together to build a product that delivers a superlative customer experience to the customers.

The second thing was participating in and winning Case Study Competitions. The case study competitions gave me a chance to work with my batchmates who eventually became the best of my friends on varied problem statements. These ranged from creating a Market Entry strategy for Formula E, Digital Product Launch Strategy for Amazon to creating a Subscription Model for a Powersports Manufacturer based in the US. I got a chance to learn so much through my friends while ideating, creating presentations, and presenting solutions for industry folks. As luck would have it, through winning Case Study Competitions, I got fortunate to do an internship with Mahindra Racing, got featured on Forbes, and became InsideIIM’s Most Employable Graduate for the year. Apart from the industry recognition, the learnings of good presentation skills, stakeholder management, product understanding, and creating different kinds of MVP products have been immensely helpful in my PM career as I grow in it.”

P&Q: What is the most memorable, signature experience you’ve had in your program? Why did it resonate so much with you?

Sethi: “It’s very tough to pick one memorable experience from the whole MBA journey as there were so many experiences that have now become sweet memories. But if I have to pick one, it’d be winning the Amazon S.M.A.R.T Challenge with my best friends. Saumya and Priyanka. The Team Kollaborators participated in the first edition of Amazon’s case study competition with another 10,000 teams across Indian business schools with no thought in mind that we’d end up winning it.

It was a journey worth remembering, from the quiz round to the solution draft round and finally to the presentation round in the finals – where we were evaluated by Amazon senior leaders alongside top 10 teams from ISB, IIM Ahmedabad, and IIM Bangalore to name a few,. We burnt the midnight oil, skipped our meals, supported each other, laughed at each other, and made memories together through the journey of this competition spanning a month.

I still remember when our names got announced as the winners: we couldn’t believe it. In our hostel room, we started shouting, the girls had tears in their eyes, I was dancing, I lifted Priyanka on my shoulders, and we had a group hug saying – We did it!

When I go back to those days and reflect on them, I feel that the journey and the whole experience of this competition resonates with me so much because no one thought that we could do it. We had to beat the 2-year MBA program students in our institute and all from other b-school institutes in the country, and the 1-yr MBA students from business schools arguably better than ours. We got unconditional support from our batchmates, friends, professors, and even IIM Kozhikode alumni sitting in Dubai.

It was a true significance of how an underdog wins when the whole world starts supporting her to win!”

Next Page: Profiles of 12 IIM Kozhikode students.