Sumit Saini

Indian Institute of Management, Indore

“Driven and ambitious banker passionate about sports, learning, and making a difference.”

Hometown: Panchkula, Haryana

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have lived in 7 cities across 4 states and UTs over the last 7 years, and Indore is now my eighth.

Undergraduate School and Major: Graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from VIT University, Vellore

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: State Bank of India as a Branch Manager

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Indore’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school, and why was it so important to you? Despite being one of the most Rigorous MBA programs in India, IIM Indore had one of the most Vibrant Campus life as compared to other B schools. And I believe what a campus has to offer outside the classrooms can have an even greater impact on the all-round development of leaders.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Indore? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? Favorite Course- My favorite course at IIM Indore was Accessing and Creating Customer Value (ACCV). It was our first and foundational course on marketing, and it taught us the fundamentals of the discipline. Even though I had been working in sales and marketing at SBI, I had never considered the dimensions in which we were made to apply our understandings in the course. The course improved my understanding of marketing and broadened my scope for improving consumer-perceived value. One of the major lessons I learned was to keep pushing the envelope or upping the ante, even when you are at the top.

Extracurricular Activity- Squash I had always been actively engaged in sports, and here I could try my hands on something new that I had never done before: squash.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of my greatest achievements so far has been to clear the prestigious SBI PO examination on my first attempt, despite it being one of the most competitive exams in India, with over ten lakh candidates appearing for it and only a few thousand selected. I am also proud of the fact that I was promoted to Deputy Manager and Branch Manager shortly after completing my probation period as opposed to at least one year after probation.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: One of my biggest accomplishments so far has been to successfully organize a new HR Conclave as a coordinator of the Corporate Interactions Committee in August instead of being previously conducted in the shadow of another event in December. The platform helped in providing immense networking opportunities to our cohort and provided much-needed industry insights.

What has been your most memorable experience at IIM Indore? Why was it so special? The most memorable experience was the token of appreciation from the Industry Expert for successfully organizing the inaugural Anubhav – The HR Conclave on August 19. The main reason was that it had been just one month since the corporate interactions committee was formed when it was decided to conduct an HR conclave, which previously had never been done in August, and we were working on a very tight schedule of close to 5 weeks to pull this event off. The appreciation of industry leaders who attended this event further boosted our morale, and now I look forward to organizing an even grander Annual conclave named Prabodhan.

What do you hope to do after graduation? With over five years of experience in the BFSI domain and an affinity and passion for technology, I want to enter FinTech, providing technology-driven solutions to our future banking problems.

DON’T KNOW: MEET THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT INDORE EPGP CLASS OF 2024