Tapan Sharma

Indian Institute of Management, Indore

“A passionate soul, a musician working each day on adding notes to the melody called life.”

Hometown: Jind, Haryana

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have just released my first indie-pop song on YouTube and all audio streaming platforms!

Undergraduate School and Major: Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Technical Product Manager at EPAM Systems Inc.  I worked on companies’ key initiatives of establishing new product teams for the world’s largest Card network and building product strategies focusing on innovation.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Indore’s MBA program that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The wholesome experience that Planet-I gives you is unique to the institute. Very few B-schools can boast such an academic profundity while maintaining an infrastructure that pushes you to be creative. I FELT AT HOME INSTANTLY when I visited the campus before joining the program. The lush green campus – the serenity – lets you internalize your learning at ease. The rigor of the program is well compensated by the honking of peacocks in the morning or the constant chirping of crickets once the sun sets down.

An early morning walk to the gymnasium or an occasional squash game is enough to re-energize you to take the day head-on.

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? The case-based learning was something that enticed me from the beginning. I was always curious about solving these cases in a live classroom, and that’s where reality hit me. There are always so many angles to look at a problem. So far, my favorite subject has been marketing, and I am sure I have the learning of a lifetime from the sessions.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I have been able to challenge a decision made on a product purchase by the CIO group of the company and change the decision by producing a white paper of my findings. This effort came as a surprise to a lot of peers and everyone in the organization realized how important it is to develop an explorative bend of mind on the job.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: Working closely with many of my batch mates on their aspiration goals, I have been able to help them with their career plans. I come from a traditional technology product background, which puts me in a position to guide my peers looking to move into the same roles post-MBA.

What has been your most memorable experience at IIM Indore? Why was it so special? My most memorable experience at Planet would be when I played my original composition to the whole campus under a sky full of stars and on a stage backed up by the chirping of crickets. I will never forget how all my batch mates sang with me. That was the moment of a lifetime.

What do you hope to do after graduation? I plan to move into a senior product manager role where I can lead innovative product building in the fintech space.

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